The New York Times: White House Considers Using Storm Aid Funds As A Way To Pay For The Border Wall
President Trump traveled to the border on Thursday to warn of crime and chaos on the frontier, as White House officials considered diverting emergency aid from storm- and fire-ravaged Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas and California to build a border barrier, perhaps under an emergency declaration. In a sign of growing unease about the partial government shutdown, some Senate Republicans came off the sidelines to hash out a deal that would reopen the government as Congress worked toward a broader agreement tying wall funds to protection for some undocumented immigrants and other migrants. (Tackett and Hirschfeld Davis, 1/10)

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Lays Groundwork To Declare National Emergency To Build Wall
The president and members of his administration have been depicting a humanitarian and public safety crisis at the border, focusing on drugs flowing into the United States and violence by unauthorized immigrants. There was a significant uptick in border apprehensions in 2018, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, especially of immigrant families, but border apprehensions remain much lower than the high levels seen in the 1980s through the 2000s. Asked about a timetable for a national emergency declaration, the president said he would see how it goes with Congress. (Werner, Dawsey, DeBonis and Kim, 1/10)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Vows He Will 'Probably' Declare National Emergency If Congress Doesn’t OK Wall Money
Trump has received conflicting advice about declaring an emergency from administration aides and friends outside of Washington. Some view it as an effective way out of the prolonged stalemate that would still show the president’s supporters that he continues to fight to achieve his signature campaign promise. Other conservatives, however, have cautioned that declaring a national emergency to bypass a stubborn Congress would set a dangerous precedent, one that could backfire on Republicans in the future should Democrats retake the presidency and attempt to fund other initiatives without legislative approval. (Stokols and Hennessy-Fiske, 1/10)

Kaiser Health News: Federal Shutdown Mostly Spares Health Coverage, But Other Issues Loom 
As the partial government shutdown drags on, about 800,000 federal employees who work for the shuttered agencies — and their families — are facing the reality of life without a paycheck. And those workers need to consider a host of other related issues as they attempt to make ends meet. (Appleby, 1/11)

Politico: FDA Looks To Restart Safety Inspections For Risky Foods Amid Shutdown
The FDA is working to restore some food-safety inspections for products deemed high-risk, such as seafood and raw fruit, that have been suspended or delayed because of the government shutdown. "We’re taking steps to expand the scope of food safety surveillance inspections we’re doing during the shutdown to make sure we continue inspecting high risk food facilities," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Wednesday in a thread on Twitter. (Evich, 1/10)

Politico: Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Child Abuse Could Be Hit Next By Shutdown
Survivors of domestic violence, child abuse and a slew of other crimes could be next to feel the squeeze of the partial government shutdown. Shelters across the country are bracing for federal funds to dry up in the coming weeks. The Justice Department has been warning the state agencies and nonprofits that run them that it will only be able to process funding requests until Jan. 18. Justice is one of nine departments shuttered by the dispute over funding for President Donald Trump's border wall. (Wermund, 1/10)

The Associated Press: Shutdown Suspends Federal Cleanups At US Superfund Sites
The government shutdown has suspended federal cleanups at Superfund sites around the nation and forced the cancellation of public hearings, deepening the mistrust and resentment of surrounding residents who feel people in power long ago abandoned them to live among the toxic residue of the country's factories and mines. "We are already hurting, and it's just adding more fuel to the fire," says 40-year-old Keisha Brown, whose wood-frame home is in a community nestled among coking plants and other factories on Birmingham's north side. (Knickmeyer and Chandler, 1/11)

Politico Pro: Financial Conflicts Stall Trump HHS Nominee
The nomination of a Minnesota economist picked two years ago to be HHS’ top policy adviser has expired, and he has told colleagues that he no longer expects to be confirmed amid questions about his financial disclosures, say five people with knowledge of the situation. Stephen Parente, a University of Minnesota professor and a top Republican health policy consultant with industry ties, was nominated by President Donald Trump in April 2017 to be the HHS assistant secretary overseeing planning and evaluation. (Diamond, 1/10)

The Associated Press: California Heads To Court To Fight Trump Birth Control Rules
A U.S. judge will hear arguments Friday over California's attempt to block new rules by the Trump administration that would allow more employers to opt out of providing no-cost birth control to women. Judge Haywood Gilliam previously blocked an interim version of those rules — a decision that was upheld in December by an appeals court. But the case is before him again after the administration finalized the measures in November, prompting a renewed legal challenge by California and other states. (1/11)

Roll Call: Senators Clash Over Abortion Fee Rule
Senate Democrats and Republicans at odds over a proposed rule that would change how individuals are billed for abortion coverage sent two competing letters to Health and Human Services this week. The public comment period for the rule closed Tuesday, amassing over 74,000 comments.The Republican letter, led by Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, urges HHS Secretary Alex Azar to move forward with the rule. (Raman, 1/10)

And in other women's health and abortion news —

The Associated Press: Lawmaker Hopes State’s Action Lead To Demise Of Roe V. Wade
With Kentucky embroiled in three abortion-related court cases and lawmakers considering tougher restrictions almost certain to draw a legal challenge, a leading Republican senator said Thursday that he hopes the state’s actions lead to a Supreme Court review of the Roe v. Wade ruling. Anti-abortion lawmakers hope to push more abortion-related bills through the legislature — led by a proposed ban on most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which occurs around six weeks of pregnancy. The state already is defending three abortion-related laws in court, and the American Civil Liberties Union says it will challenge the fetal heartbeat bill if it becomes law. (Schreiner, 1/10)

NPR: Restrictions On Mifepristone Limit Women's Access To Miscarriage Treatment
When Kirstin Herbst found out she was pregnant last winter, she and her fiancé were overjoyed. But when she went to the doctor for her first ultrasound, she found out she was having a miscarriage. Her doctor prescribed a medication called misoprostol, which helps the miscarriage to pass. But the misoprostol didn't work right away, and Herbst needed to take another dose. Herbst was optimistic when she became pregnant again this past summer. When she went in for an ultrasound, she learned she was miscarrying again. (Gordon and McCammon, 1/10)

The Hill: Chamber Of Commerce CEO Vows To 'Use All Our Resources' To Fight Single-Payer Proposals 
Thomas Donohue, the president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, on Thursday vowed to use all of the Chamber's resources to fight single-payer health care proposals. "We also have to respond to calls for government-run, single-payer health care, because it just doesn't work," Donohue said during his annual "State of American Business" address.  (Hellmann, 1/10)

The New York Times: Facing Legal Action, Insurer Now Will Cover People Taking Truvada, An H.I.V.-Prevention Drug
Settling allegations of discrimination filed by the Massachusetts attorney general’s office, Mutual of Omaha has agreed not to deny insurance to people who use medications to prevent H.I.V. infection. The insurer also has settled a lawsuit brought by an unidentified gay man in Massachusetts who was turned down for long-term-care insurance after acknowledging that he took an H.I.V.-prevention drug called Truvada. (Kolata, 1/10)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Her Insurer’s Price Tool Estimated Less Than $1,300 For A Breast MRI. Then She Got A Bill For $3,200.
UnitedHealthcare’s price estimator told the 51-year-old Delaware County resident that the cost for the procedure in her area ranged from $783 to $1,375. So Smith was shocked when her share of the bill -- from a facility that the tool suggested -- came to $3,237. (Gantz, 1/10)

Nashville Tennessean: Three Trends That Could Change Health Care For Consumers In 2019
Will the U.S. health care system become any more affordable or transparent in 2019? While big policy changes aren’t expected in the coming year, several trends, business deals and legislative changes could make the industry a little more consumer-friendly.Here are three of these trends that could change health care for consumers in 2019. The Affordable Care Act is nearly a decade old, but the landmark health policy still continues to evolve. The big change this year is that there is now no penalty for failing to comply with the law’s individual mandate. (Tolbert, 1/10)

Modern Healthcare: Verma: Chargemaster Rule Is 'First Step' To Price Transparency 
CMS Administrator Seema Verma said Thursday that the agency is working to improve a new rule requiring hospitals to post chargemaster prices on their websites after experts said the data wouldn't help consumers. Acknowledging that chargemaster prices aren't accurate out-of-pocket costs for insured patients, Verma maintained the requirement is an "important first step" to increase price transparency. She said the agency is "working toward" addressing the concerns but also said "there is no reason hospitals can't do more." (Castellucci, 1/10)

In other hospital news —

Modern Healthcare: Community Health Systems Falls Short Of 2018 Hospital Divestiture Target 
Community Health Systems generated $400 million in gross proceeds on hospital divestitures in 2018, less than half of its $1.3 billion target, leaders from the hospital chain said Wednesday. Thomas Aaron, the Franklin, Tenn.-based hospital chain's CFO, confirmed before an audience at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Wednesday afternoon that the company fell short of its 2018 goal by about $900 million. The hospital chain had repeated the goal on multiple occasions last year, including in its third quarter results. (Bannow, 1/10)

The New York Times: Juul’s Convenient Smoke Screen
Juul Labs, the company behind the insanely popular vaping device, has a message for the nation’s estimated 37.8 million adult smokers: It really, really, really cares about them. And it wants them (and only them — got that, teens?) to try vaping instead. “For smokers. By design,” blares the company’s website. A new $10 million TV ad campaign, called “Make the Switch,” echoes that theme, featuring testimonials from ex-smokers, all comfortably above the legal smoking age, who have swapped their cigarettes for a Juul. (Roose, 1/11)

In other health industry news —

Stat: Digital Health Is Attracting Huge Investments, But Will Patients Buy It? 
For two days in the desert, its exponential growth was on full display at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. What was once an exclusive showcase for must-have gadgets for your home, car, and pocket is now a place where doctors mingle with giant technology companies that are promising, with a straighter face than ever, to make health care their top priority. Attendees discussed efforts to use artificially intelligent voice technology to diagnose the onset of stroke or mental illness; others demonstrated software programs that help Alzheimer’s patients recover lost memories, get toddlers to brush their teeth like dentists, and push diabetes patients to drive down their blood sugar and improve their exercise habits. (Ross, 1/11)

The Associated Press: Surgeons Fear Pelvic Mesh Lawsuits Will Spook Patients
Doctors who specialize in female pelvic medicine say lawsuits by four states, including Washington and California, over products used to treat pelvic floor disorders and incontinence might scare patients away from the best treatment options — or maybe even push the products off the market. Sixty-three Washington surgeons signed a letter to state Attorney General Bob Ferguson , arguing his consumer-protection lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and its Ethicon Inc. subsidiary is off-base. (Johnson, 1/10)

CNN: Drug Overdose Deaths Among Women Have Skyrocketed, CDC Study Says
As America continues to combat its opioid epidemic, the rate of deaths from drug overdoses among women has soared in recent years, according to new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. From 1999 to 2017, the drug overdose death rate among women 30 to 64 years old climbed more than 260%, according to the report published Thursday. (Howard, 1/10)

The Washington Post: D.C. Police Don’t Carry The Overdose Antidote Naloxone. Should They?
As government officials across the country struggle to slow the death toll of America’s opioid epidemic, thousands of police departments from coast to coast have equipped their officers with naloxone, a lifesaving overdose antidote. But police officials in the nation’s capital — which in recent years has experienced one of the country’s sharpest increases in fatal overdoses — refuse to do so, prompting D.C. lawmakers to advance legislation that would require officers to carry the medication. (Jamison, 1/10)

Oregonian: Oregon Doctors Face Little Regulation For Opioid Over-Prescription
State officials know of 160 doctors with suspicious prescribing patterns, but Oregon law shields those doctors from further scrutiny. Legislators put few teeth into a 2018 law that requires doctors to register for a program that monitors drug prescriptions. Doctors, for instance, face no sanction if they don’t join, according to state officials. Doctors identified as perhaps improperly prescribing opioids only get a letter from the state suggesting more education. Doctors can and do ignore even those mild letters with no fear of a sanction. (Withycombe, 1/10)

The Associated Press: Inmates Battling Addiction Get An Unlikely Ally: A Puppy
Caitlin Hyland’s New Hampshire jail cell looks like those of many of her fellow inmates, featuring family photos, a few books and a cot. But one thing sets it apart: the cage on the floor for a 4-week-old puppy. Hyland, a 28-year-old from Concord, New Hampshire, who is serving time for a drug conviction, is one of four inmates at the Merrimack County jail who are training puppies for the next month. In a partnership between a group called Hero Pups and the jail, two male and two female inmates, who are all in the jail’s drug treatment program, will raise the puppies for the next two months. They will eventually be handed over to military veterans and first responders who are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and other challenges. (Casey, 1/11)

California Healthline: Addiction Rooted In Childhood Trauma, Says Prominent Specialist
Dr. Gabor Maté, a well-known addiction specialist and author, spent 12 years working in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a neighborhood with a large concentration of hardcore drug users. The agency where he worked operates residential hotels for people with addictions, a detox center and a pioneering injection facility, where drug users are permitted to shoot up and can get clean needles, medical care and counseling. (Waters, 1/10)

WBUR: Boston, Cambridge Mayors Will Tour Supervised Injection Facilities In Canada
The mayors of Boston and Cambridge head to Canada next week to tour facilities where doctors and nurses are on hand while patients inject illegal drugs. ...There are no such supervised injection sites in the United States, although a handful of cities battling the drug overdose epidemic are in the planning stages. (Bebinger, 1/10)

The New York Times: Traditional Masculinity Can Hurt Boys, Say New A.P.A. Guidelines
The American Psychological Association has released several guides for psychologists who work with people belonging to certain groups — members of ethnic and linguistic minorities, for example, or women and girls. It did not have a guide for working with males, in part because they were historically considered the norm. But in August, the A.P.A. approved its first set of official guidelines for working with boys and men. (Fortin, 1/10)

Stat: 'CRISPR Babies' Scientist: 'I'm Actually Doing Quite Well'
The Chinese scientist who shocked the world in November by announcing that twin girls had been born from embryos that he had created using genome editing has told two Western colleagues that, contrary to a flurry of reports that he is under house arrest and possibly even facing the death penalty, he is “actually doing quite well here.” (Begley, 1/9)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: FDA Warns Chocolates Could Be Contaminated With Hepatitis A
Consumers should not eat Bauer’s Candies Modjeskas, an individually wrapped marshmallow candy dipped in chocolate or caramel, purchased after Nov. 14, 2018, because a worker in the facility tested positive for hepatitis A, the FDA said in a statement. The candy can be bought at retail stores, through the QVC shopping network and at BauersCandy.com. (Smajstrla, 1/10)

PBS NewsHour: A Mother’s Story Of Why Mental Illness ‘Should Never Be A Crime’
Jerri Clark’s son Calvin was in college when his erratic behavior began, eventually leading to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. His run-ins with law enforcement convinced Clark that medical and legal systems have very little tolerance for individuals with serious psychiatric issues. She shares her brief but spectacular take on why mental illness 'should never be a crime.' (Goldbloom, 1/10)

The Washington Post: How Your At-Home DNA Test Results Could Solve Cold Cases
The results seem almost miraculous: an arrest in the killing of a young girl in 1988 after 30 years of searching. The murder of a young couple in 1987, solved in a matter of days. These breakthroughs came as a result of an investigative technique called “genetic genealogy,” a blend of DNA analysis and old-fashioned archival research used to point investigators in the direction of a person of interest in a criminal case. (Taylor and Turner, 1/10)

CNN: US Fertility Rate Is Below Level Needed To Replace Population, Study Says
The total fertility rate for the United States in 2017 continued to dip below what's needed for the population to replace itself, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics. The new report also reveals some major state-by-state differences in fertility rates. (Howard, 1/10)

Reuters: China Could Lift Life Expectancy By Nearly Three Years If It Meets WHO Smog Standards: Study
China could raise average life expectancy by 2.9 years if it improves air quality to levels recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), according a new study from a U.S. research group. China has vowed to determine the precise impact of air and water pollution on health as part of its efforts to raise average life expectancy to 79 years by 2030 from 76.3 years in 2015. (1/11)

Boston Globe: Landing Jobs, Finding Care: New Site Hopes To Help Boomers Navigate Post-Retirement Life
With consumers raving and grumbling online about nearly everything these days, Driver believes navigating the later years — landing jobs, deciding where to retire, finding elder care — remains a largely untapped market for ratings and recommendations. This week, he’s launching Age Friendly Advisor, an Internet platform for user reviews, research, and a raft of other information for folks grappling with how and where to spend their post-retirement years. (Weisman, 1/10)

NPR: Time In The ICU Means Worse Outcomes For Pregnant Moms With Severe Flu
Need another reason to get the flu shot if you're pregnant? A study out this week shows that pregnant women with the flu who are hospitalized in an intensive care unit are four times more likely to deliver babies prematurely and four and a half times more likely to have a baby of low birth weight. (Neighmond, 1/10)

CNN: High-Fiber Diet Linked To Lower Risk Of Death And Chronic Diseases
People who eat diets that are high in fiber have lower risk of death and chronic diseases such as stroke or cancer compared with people with low fiber intake, a new analysis found. Dietary fiber includes plant-based carbohydrates such as whole-grain cereal, seeds and some legumes. Fiber's health benefits have been recorded "by over 100 years of research," Andrew Reynolds, a researcher at the University of Otago in New Zealand, wrote in an email. He is co-author of the new meta-analysis of existing research, which was published Thursday in the journal The Lancet. (Avramova, 1/11)

CNN: Excessive Body Fat Around The Middle Linked To Smaller Brain, Study Says
Big waist, small brain? If you're too heavy, especially around your middle, you probably have shrunken gray matter volume in your brain, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Neurology. Gray matter contains most of your brain's 100 billion nerve cells, while white matter is filled with nerve fibers that connect the brain regions. "Previous studies have shown associations between gray matter atrophy and risk of developing dementia," study author Mark Hamer, a professor of exercise as medicine at Loughborough University in England, wrote in an email. (Scutti, 1/9)

Health News Florida: Study Aims To Answer Why Some People Don't Lose Weight When They Exercise
Why do some people not respond to exercise? A new $170 million study funded by the National Institutes of Health will attempt to answer that question. The Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity in Humans project will study up to 2,000 participants nationwide over the next three years. Locally, the Translational Research Institute at AdventHealth Orlando – formerly Florida Hospital — will study 150 to 200 people. (Aboraya, 1/10)

The Associated Press: California Governor Offers $144B Budget, Sees Big Surplus
California Gov. Gavin Newsom released a state budget proposal Thursday that seemingly does it all — boosts spending toward his ambitious campaign promises and sets aside significant contributions toward debts and savings. It appears he can have his cake and eat it too because he's projecting a massive $21.5 billion surplus — far beyond anything the state has seen in nearly 20 years — as California collects more in taxes than predicted and growth slows for Medi-Cal, which provides health care for low-income people. (Cooper, 1/10)

Reuters: California To Spend Big On Education, Healthcare In $144 Billion Budget
The budget also calls for an overall increase in health and human services spending of 8 percent over the current fiscal year, and $1 billion to double the state's earned income tax credit for low-income families. Subsidized premiums would be increased under Covered California, the state's version of Obamacare, while expanding Medi-Cal, the state's medical plan for the poor. The proposed Medi-Cal expansion would extend coverage to roughly 138,000 young adult immigrants, from age 19 through 25, who are in the country illegally. (1/10)

California Healthline: Newsom Diverges Sharply From Washington With Health Care Budget
The progressive blueprint embraces a state health insurance mandate, beefed-up insurance subsidies, coverage for undocumented immigrants and six months of paid parental leave — not unexpected from a Democrat who campaigned on expanding health care and criticized President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans for eroding the Affordable Care Act. The new governor declared his $209 billion state budget proposal, of which health care accounts for nearly 30 percent, “a reflection of our values.” (Young and Ibarra, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: Gov. Gavin Newsom Threatens To Cut State Funding From Cities That Don't Approve Enough Housing
For 50 years, California has required cities and counties to plan for enough new housing so that residents can live affordably. But many local governments fail to approve new development, contributing to the state’s housing crunch. Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a radical new step: punishing communities that block homebuilding by withholding state tax dollars. (Dillon, 1/10)

KQED: Gavin Newsom Looks To Spend And Save In First Budget Proposal
In a nod to the recent wildfires that have decimated California communities, Newsom also is proposing hundreds of millions in new spending on emergency response and preparedness, including new technology for Cal Fire and $60 million to start upgrading the state's antiquated 911 system. (Lagos, Marzorati and Dembosky, 1/10)

Sacramento Bee: What’s In Gavin Newsom’s 2019 Budget Proposal
The total proposal — including money earmarked for special purpose funds — tops $209 billion. That’s about $8 billion more than Brown’s final budget. (Bollag and Koseff, 1/10)

The Wall Street Journal: New York Gov. Cuomo To Introduce State Budget Weeks Before Deadline
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would unveil his proposal for a new state budget on Tuesday, weeks before the deadline. ... The total budget is projected to exceed $170 billion, with operating costs around $102 billion, according to the most recent state financial plan, which was released in November. The state budget will include updated allocations for school aid, Medicaid and infrastructure spending. (Vielkind, 1/10)

Georgia Health News: Health Care Agenda: Will Longtime Disputes Be Resolved?
Despite a new lineup of legislators – as well as a new governor and lieutenant governor — many health care issues in the upcoming session of the Georgia General Assembly will have a familiar look. They are largely the same ones that have percolated under the Gold Dome in past years. Health care regulations. Surprise medical billing. Rural health care. Medical marijuana. (Miller, 1/10)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: VRS Says Northam's Budget Plan To Boost Law Enforcement Health Credits Would Raise Liabilities By $76 Million
Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposal to raise state health insurance credits for law enforcement would add $76 million in unfunded liabilities to two plans that already are funded at less than 10 percent of their long-term obligations, according to the Virginia Retirement System. The governor’s budget proposal already has drawn fire from House Appropriations Chairman Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, who called the increases for state police, sheriffs and their deputies, and other state law officers “fiscally irresponsible” and unfair to other public employees who receive the credits after retirement to help pay for health insurance. (Martz, 1/10)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ New Year, New Health Proposals
The new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives took its first steps on health care — voting to intervene in the appeal of a Texas-led lawsuit that found the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional in December. And around the country, Democratic governors and mayors unveiled new initiatives aimed at making health care cheaper and more accessible. (1/10)

The Baltimore Sun: Former Prosecutor To Review Johns Hopkins' Heart Institute In Florida After Investigation Revealed Problems 
The Johns Hopkins Medicine Board of Trustees has appointed a former federal prosecutor to review the Heart Institute at All Children’s Hospital in Florida after a Tampa Bay Times investigation found high injury and death rates among pediatric patients at the center. F. Joseph Warin of the law firm Gibson Dunn will lead an external review of the Heart Institute, which offered specialized care for children with heart defects, the hospital said in a statement Tuesday. It’s one in a series of measures the St. Petersburg hospital is taking to reform its pediatric heart program after a yearlong investigation by the Tampa Bay Times that found nearly one in 10 patients died in 2017 and others were left with extensive injuries after treatment at the center. (Meehan, 1/10)

The Associated Press: Expert: Comatose Woman May Not Have Shown Signs Of Pregnancy
A doctor examined an Arizona woman in a vegetative state nearly nine months before she gave birth but did not find that she was pregnant, and medical experts said Thursday that it's possible she displayed no outward signs that workers who cared for her every day would have noticed either. Police are looking for her rapist and say it appears none of the staff members at a Phoenix long-term care facility knew about the pregnancy until the baby was born Dec. 29, a notion that has drawn skepticism. (1/10)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Gender Clinic Aims To Improve Medical Care For Transgender Patients In New Orleans 
Transgender patients face huge challenges in Southern states where the number of medical providers trained to work with this patient group is limited, advocates say. In New Orleans, CrescentCare is on a short list of three health systems that have policies in place to provide equal access to healthcare for LGBT patients, employees and visitors. Transgender patients sometimes have to travel from neighboring states and rural areas of Louisiana to get medical care at the clinic in New Orleans. (Clark, 1/10)

Reuters: Massachusetts Man Gets 10 Years In Prison For Hospital Cyberattack
A Massachusetts man was sentenced on Thursday to more than 10 years in prison for carrying out a cyberattack on a hospital on behalf of the hacking activist group Anonymous to protest the treatment of a teenager in a high-profile custody dispute. Martin Gottesfeld, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton in Boston nearly three years after he was rescued from a disabled powerboat off the coast of Cuba by a Disney Cruise Line ship after fleeing the United States amid a federal investigation. (1/10)

Detroit Free Press: Macomb County Health Department: That Scam Call Not From Us
The Macomb County Health Department's name and phone number is being used to try to scam folks. The department said it has received hundreds of calls from all over Michigan and outside the state during the past week inquiring about the spoof calls. But the department said the calls were not made by anyone on its staff. The callers are falsely displaying the department's information on caller IDs and trying to obtain Medicare insurance information and other sensitive information from the public, according to a news release. (Hall, 1/10)

Sacramento Bee: Camp Fire Cleanup Under Fire After Troubled Contractor Is Picked
A Pasadena-based firm previously caught falsifying soil tests during the cleanup of a former shipyard in San Francisco has been awarded one of the first contracts for the Camp Fire project, prompting a call by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, for a federal review of that company’s numerous government contracts. Continuing his war on the state’s forest management practices, President Trump tweeted a threat this week that he may withhold federal emergency funds to California, which are expected to cover 75 percent of the cleanup costs. Butte County residents are upset about where the state plans to truck the debris, some of which is toxic. (Bizjak, 1/10)

The Associated Press: Ex-Student Sues Counselor After Trying To Kill Himself
A university and its counselor are being sued for $12 million each by a former student who says they didn’t do enough to stop his suicide attempts. The Roanoke Times reports that a lawsuit filed this week by Kionte Burnette accuses Washington and Lee University and counselor Rallie Snowden of negligence. (1/10)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Agency Improperly Shares Families' Personal Information
The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services shared the personal information of nearly 350,000 families with a local nonprofit’s holiday gift program.DFCS provided the information — including names, addresses, races, genders and children’s dates of birth — to the Empty Stocking Fund, a nonprofit that gives holiday gifts to children in metro Atlanta each year. Federal law prohibits the sharing of medical information, including the source of someone’s health care or insurance. (Prabhu, 1/10)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: OSHA Fines Contractors Nearly $26,000 In Fatal Sun Prairie Explosion
Two underground construction firms responsible for work that caused an explosion that leveled a city block and killed a firefighter face nearly $26,000 in fines, federal authorities announced Thursday. ...The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Bear Communications and VC Tech — two subcontractors doing work for Verizon Wireless on the day of the blast — for not seeking to identify the location of an underground natural gas line that workers ultimately hit, causing the fatal explosion. (Beck, 1/10)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cuyahoga County To Enhance Medical Services Inside Troubled County Jail
Cuyahoga County announced Thursday that MetroHealth will assume total control of health care services in the troubled county jail that includes adding medical staff, improving recruitment and training and expanding medically assisted treatment. The new plan, which calls for adding 32 positions and spending an additional $5 million a year, comes after the death of eight inmates in the county jail system and a report by the U.S. Marshals Service that found deplorable conditions in the downtown jail. (Krouse, 1/10)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Scientists Develop Universal Treatment For Full-Blown Ebola 
Texas scientists who developed an effective vaccine for the deadly Ebola virus are now reporting promising results with new medication to better treat full-blown cases of the disease. In a laboratory study published this week, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston showed a single injection of two antibodies successfully treated monkeys infected with all strains of the virus, a significant advance on current treatment options which only cover one strain and require multiple injections. (Ackerman, 1/10)

Fox News: Beware: Medicare-For-All Is Fool's Gold
There’s a health care reform idea making the rounds and garnering significant attention these days. It is the very plausible sounding Medicare-for-all. Who could argue with expanding a program that America’s seniors generally like and indeed have come to rely on? After all, if it’s good enough for the grandparents, isn’t it good enough for everyone else? Well, just as not every shiny thing has value when you’re panning, this idea truly is “fool’s gold.” (Dan Weber, Jeff Szymanski, 1/11)

San Jose Mercury News: Wildfire Tweet Shows Heartless Trump At His Worst
The contrast between Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Trump’s leadership on California’s wildfire crisis couldn’t be more stark. The governor on Tuesday announced he would propose $305 million in new funding as part of his first state budget to expand California’s ability to fight wildfires and better alert residents of impending disasters. Newsom also joined with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in sending a letter to President Trump asking the federal government to double its funding for fire prevention efforts in the three states. This comes after wildfires last year killed nearly 100 Californians, burned thousands of homes and were responsible for an estimated $30 billion in damages. President Trump’s response? He tweeted Wednesday that he was cutting off FEMA relief funding for California wildfires, potentially leaving thousands without the ability to find temporary housing or start rebuilding their homes. (1/9)

JAMA: When High Prices Mean Needless Death
I have spent the last 5 years of my life as a journalist writing about the irrational costs and prices across the US health care system. But if there is 1 fact that should cause national embarrassment it is the high price tag we affix to living with type 1 diabetes. The medicinal and technological advances of the last century have turned type 1 diabetes from a rapidly fatal disease into a treatable illness. But doing so takes discipline and care—as well as increasingly expensive technology and medicine—that is far more expensive in the United States than elsewhere. (Elisabeth Rosenthal, 1/7)

Stat: The Real Border Crisis: Medical Neglect Of Migrants
In his Oval Office address on Tuesday, President Trump called the situation at the border a “growing humanitarian and security crisis.” His declaration failed to acknowledge the real crisis at hand — the medical neglect at border facilities and the more than 200 immigration jails across the country that has led to more than 20 deaths since 2010. (Chanelle Diaz, 1/10)

Dallas Morning News: Taking Away A Patient's Access To Health Care Is Morally Flawed
Imagine you are a hard-working mother of five diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Your body is under attack, your energy depleted, and your mind saddened by just how much life has changed. You are fighting through the nauseating effects of chemotherapy and afraid others will know you are wearing a wig. All the while, you are doing everything you can to be there for your kids knowing that they need you. Your treatment is only possible because you purchased a health care plan through the Affordable Care Act exchange. Now, you are at risk of losing your health insurance because of a recent ruling by Judge Reed O'Connor on Texas vs. United States that the Afforadable Care Act is unconstitutional. (Hussain Lalani, 1/11)

The Washington Post: California Gets It Right With Its New Health-Care Initiative
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wasted no time making a splash, announcing on Monday, his inauguration day, a major new health-care initiative that would make his state a leader in resisting Republican efforts to unravel the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Newsom’s plan is a promising reform that other states — and, if Congress and the president ever come to their senses, the federal government — should consider. As have many progressive politicians, Mr. Newsom has embraced a Medicare-for-all-like “single payer” system. But his opening health-care push is more practical, adding to the existing Obamacare framework rather than scrapping it for a more radical change. (1/10)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Republicans Got Tested On Their Midterm Pre-Existing-Condition Vow. They Failed.
Remember when Republican politicians around the country suddenly declared themselves champions of insurance coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions? They hastily adopted that position before the Nov. 6 elections — after they realized Americans were rejecting the long-held GOP health care policy of, “Sorry, you’re on your own.” Republicans have gone largely silent on the topic since the election. But on Wednesday, they got a chance to show that their late embrace of pre-existing-condition coverage was more than just a campaign bumper sticker: The House voted on a measure defending the Affordable Care Act from a lawsuit that would eliminate coverage for millions. Unsurprisingly, Republicans overwhelmingly opposed the measure — and America now sees where they really stand. (1/10)

JAMA: Unhealthy Alcohol Use In Primary Care—The Elephant In The Examination Room.
Unhealthy alcohol use is a serious public health challenge that requires full attention. In its recommendation statement, supported by an evidence report and systematic review, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) “recommends screening for unhealthy alcohol use in primary care settings in adults 18 years or older, including pregnant women, and providing persons engaged in risky or hazardous drinking with brief behavioral counseling interventions to reduce unhealthy alcohol use (B recommendation).” One in 8 adults in the United States reports unhealthy alcohol use. (E. Jennifer Edelman and Jeanette M. Tetrault, 1/7)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Insurance System Blocks Comprehensive Pain Treatment
Philadelphia has made numerous efforts to address the opioid epidemic—but too little has been done to increase access to non-opioid treatments for pain.Guidelines such as those written by the CDC and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health hope to reduce the availability of prescription opioids as one solution to combat the epidemic. Instead of opioid medication for pain management, these guidelines recommend that providers offer non-pharmacological treatment such as physical and behavioral therapies. Unfortunately, most people cannot access these treatments or are unaware how they can help — both concerns that likely contributed to the opioid crisis in the first place. (Amy Janke, 1/11)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: To Tackle The Opioid Epidemic, Mike DeWine Needs To Preserve Ohio’s Medicaid Expansion. That’s One Of Many Lessons Of Dayton’s Evidenced-Based Approach To The Epidemic
After making the opioid epidemic a centerpiece of his campaign, it is time that Gov.-elect Mike DeWine show us that he is serious about joining in this fight. As he prepares to take office, I hope the governor-elect will look to Dayton and Montgomery County for lessons in how to tackle this crisis statewide. (Nan Whaley, 1/10)

Arizona Republic: Woman In A Vegetative State Gets Pregnant And No One Notices?
There is one piece of good news in the stunner of a story of a woman who gave birth last month despite spending the last decade in a vegetative state at a Phoenix long-term care facility. A healthy baby boy is now in the arms of his family, members of the San Carlos Apache tribe. (Laurie Roberts, 1/9)

The Star Tribune: Medical Aid In Dying Is The Ultimate Religious Freedom
For decades, Gallup Polls have shown that a majority of Americans support medical aid in dying as an end-of-life option. Twenty state legislatures, including Minnesota’s, have introduced bills similar to Oregon’s Death with Dignity law. But, despite widespread support, lawmakers are reluctant to act. Why? Despite the overwhelming support of people of faith, some religious leaders are fighting it, insisting that Americans die by what they call a “natural death.” Suffering, they argue, is redemptive (“to change for the better”). Even the loved ones surrounding the dying person, it is believed, are changed — redeemed — by the experience. (Harlan Limpert, 1/9)