The New York Times: Justice Dept. Says Crucial Provisions Of Obamacare Are Unconstitutional
The Trump administration told a federal court on Thursday that it would no longer defend crucial provisions of the Affordable Care Act that protect consumers with pre-existing medical conditions. Under those provisions of the law, insurance companies cannot deny coverage or charge higher rates to people with pre-existing conditions. The Justice Department said the provisions were part of an unconstitutional scheme that required most Americans to carry health insurance. (Pear, 6/7)

The Associated Press: Justice Department Takes Aim At Heart Of Health Law
The decision, announced in a filing in a federal court in Texas, is a rare departure from the Justice Department's practice of defending federal laws in court. Texas and other Republican-led states are suing to strike down the entire law because Congress recently repealed a provision that people without health insurance must pay a fine. The repeal takes effect next year. Texas says that without the fine in place the requirement to have health insurance is unconstitutional and that the entire law should be struck down as a result. (Sherman, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Won’t Defend ACA In Case Brought By GOP States
The bold swipe at the ACA, a Republican whipping post since its 2010 passage, does not immediately affect any of its provisions. But it puts the law on far more wobbly legal footing in the case, which is being heard by a GOP-appointed judge who has in other recent cases ruled against more minor aspects. The administration does not go as far as the Texas attorney general and his counterparts. In their suit, lodged in February in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, they argue that the entire law is now invalid. By contrast, the Justice brief and letter say many other aspects of the law can survive because they can be considered legally distinct from the insurance mandate and such consumer protections as a ban on charging more or refusing coverage to people with preexisting medical conditions. (Goldstein, 6/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Justice Department Won’t Defend Affordable Care Act In Lawsuit Brought By States
The decision to attack the ACA in this way involves a legal, political and policy gamble by the Trump administration, suggesting how much the president still wants to dismantle his predecessor’s signature health law after a failed ACA repeal effort by Republicans a year ago. The move could rattle the insurance markets and shake up the GOP message on health care months before the midterm elections. (Armour, 6/7)

Bloomberg: Trump Sides With Texas, Won't Defend Obamacare In Court 
While U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions argues that no reasonable arguments exist to defend Obamacare, California led a coalition of 15 states and D.C. to fight Texas’s suit, saying the individual mandate has twice survived Supreme Court review and attempts by Congress to repeal the law, thus legitimizing it. Stripping away Obamacare would create a health crisis by putting at risk some $500 billion in health-care funding, according to a statement issued by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. (Mehrotra, 6/8)

Modern Healthcare: Justice Department Won't Defend Obamacare In GOP States' Lawsuit 
It will be up to several Democratic state attorneys general to defend the law, and they have already received permission to intervene in the case. A core group of blue state attorneys general are also fighting the federal government to revive cost-sharing reduction payments for insurers. (Teichert, 6/7)

CQ: Administration Sides With GOP States In Health Law Challenge
Democrats quickly criticized the DOJ for declining to defend the law, and warned the move could lead health insurers to request higher premiums for plans sold on the exchanges set up under the law next year. "By sowing even more uncertainty into the health care markets, tonight’s action could encourage insurance companies to propose even higher rate increases than the double-digit hikes already threatening to hit American families next year," Brad Woodhouse, campaign director of Protect Our Care, said. (McIntire, 6/7)

Modern Healthcare: N.C. Farm Bureau Asks State Lawmakers To OK Coverage That Skirts ACA 
The North Carolina Farm Bureau is hoping to follow Tennessee and Iowa organizations in creating a cheaper health plan that eschews Affordable Care Act rules by varying the price of coverage based on a person's health status. Larry Wooten, president of the Raleigh-based North Carolina Farm Bureau, asked a state Senate healthcare committee on Thursday to pass legislation allowing the organization to launch an association health plan that bypasses ACA rules. (Livingston, 6/7)

CNN: Trump Moves Pushing Up Obamacare Premiums For 2019
Brace yourselves -- it looks like Obamacare premiums could jump by double digits again next year. Insurers in several states have requested large rate hikes for 2019, with many pointing to steps taken by President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress as the main reasons why. New York insurers want to hike rates by 24%, on average, while carriers in Washington are looking for a 19% average premium increase. In Maryland, CareFirst is asking for an average 18.5% rate bump for its HMO plans and a 91% spike for its PPO policies (which have far fewer enrollees), while Kaiser Permanente wants to boost premiums by more than 37%, on average. (Luhby, 6/7)

Politico: The 2 Words You Can’t Say In A Democratic Ad
Democratic voters want single payer health care. But don’t expect to hear Democratic candidates talk about it — at least not in those words. To avoid divisive intraparty fights that drive candidates left — only to be attacked by Republicans for favoring socialized medicine — the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee warned aspirants last year about the political liabilities of endorsing “single payer,” according to sources familiar with the advice. An influential progressive group even urged candidates to discard the often-misunderstood phrase and embrace “Medicare for all” to draw strong connections with the popular seniors’ health program. (Haberkorn, 6/8)

The Hill: Pelosi: 'Medicare For All' Should Be 'Evaluated' If Dems Win House 
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said Thursday that "Medicare for All" proposals should be “evaluated” if Democrats win back the House this year, adding “it’s all on the table." Pelosi has long backed a public option for health insurance, but has not supported going further — as many Democrats want — and setting up government-run, universal health insurance. (Sullivan, 6/7)

The Hill: Poll: Health Care A Top Issue For Voters Ahead Of Midterms 
More than 1 in 5 voters, 22 percent, said in a new NBC News–Wall Street Journal poll that health care is their top issue in the November midterm elections. The economy and jobs followed at 19 percent, with guns at 13 percent, taxes and spending at 11 percent and immigration at 10 percent. The poll found Democrats are more likely to consider health care a top issue. (Hellmann, 6/7)

Politico Pro: Health Insurance Questions Complicate Lujan Grisham’s Gubernatorial Run
Lujan Grisham was dogged by questions over the last week about whether she used political clout to keep a New Mexico health program for seriously ill patients open for personal financial gain, even as Obamacare rendered such programs around the country virtually obsolete. Lujan Grisham, who was New Mexico’s top-ranking health official before she ran for Congress, says she did not do anything untoward. (Strauss and Pradhan, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Health Care Politics, Midterm Edition 
The 2018 midterm elections were supposed to be a referendum on President Donald Trump, not about issues such as health care. Still, voters, Democrats and, to a lesser extent, Republicans seem to be keeping health care on the front burner. The news from Medicare’s trustees that its hospital trust fund is on shakier financial footing than it was last year, hefty premium increases being proposed in several states and activity on Medicaid expansion all take on a political tinge as the critical elections draw closer. (6/7)

The New York Times: House Votes To Trim Unused Funding, A Gesture Of Fiscal Restraint
With annual budget deficits nearing $1 trillion, the House took a modest step on Thursday to broadcast fiscal responsibility, narrowly approving a White House plan to rescind nearly $15 billion in unspent funding that had been approved in past years. The bill would reduce actual spending by a total of $1.1 billion from 2018 to 2028, according to the Congressional Budget Office, a small act of penance after Congress approved a $1.5 trillion tax cut in December, then a $1.3 trillion spending plan in March whose heft exasperated conservatives. The new bill would have little practical effect, given that much of the funding was not expected to be spent anyway. (Kaplan, 6/7)

The Associated Press: Trump Plan To Cut $15B In Spending Squeaks Through House
While Democrats blasted the cuts, the real objection to some of them, such as $7 billion from popular Children's Health Insurance Program funding, is that it would take that money off the table so it couldn't be used later as it was in the earlier spending bill. The CHIP cuts wouldn't affect enrollment in the program, which provides health care to children from low-income families that don't qualify for Medicaid. "Targeting CHIP for a rescission prevents Congress from reinvesting in other priorities like child and maternal health, early childhood education, biomedical research and our community health centers," said New York Rep. Nita Lowey, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. (Taylor, 6/7)

Reuters: U.S. Suicide Rates See Sharp Increase From 1999 To 2016: CDC
Suicide rates rose in nearly every U.S. state from 1999 to 2016, with the rate spiking by more than 30 percent in half of the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday. Though mental health is often blamed for suicides, more than half of the people who took their own lives in 27 states in 2015 had not been diagnosed with a mental illness, the CDC said. (Brice, 6/7)

The New York Times: Defying Prevention Efforts, Suicide Rates Are Climbing Across The Nation
The new analysis found that nearly 45,000 Americans aged 10 or older died by their own hand in 2016. The increase varied widely by state, from a low of 6 percent in Delaware to more than 57 percent in North Dakota. The rate declined in just one state, Nevada, where it has historically been higher than average. Social isolation, lack of mental health treatment, drug and alcohol abuse and gun ownership are among the factors that contribute to suicide. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, and one of three that is increasing. The other two are Alzheimer’s disease and drug overdose, in part because of the spike in opioid deaths, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the C.D.C. (Carey, 6/7)

Los Angeles Times: Suicides Have Increased By More Than 30% Since 1999 In Half The States, CDC Says
In a closer look at suicides in 2015, CDC researchers found that 29.4% took place within two weeks of a crisis — most commonly a breakup or other problem related to an intimate-partner relationship. Among the less-common factors presumed to have contributed to the suicides studied were physical health problems, legal difficulties, a family relationship issue or a job-related problem. (Healy, 6/7)

The Washington Post: Suicide Rates Rise Sharply Across The United States, New Report Shows
“The data are disturbing,” said Anne Schuchat, the CDC's principal deputy director. “The widespread nature of the increase, in every state but one, really suggests that this is a national problem hitting most communities.” It is hitting many places especially hard. In half of the states, suicide among people age 10 and older increased more than 30 percent. “At what point is it a crisis?” asked Nadine Kaslow, a past president of the American Psychological Association. “Suicide is a public health crisis when you look at the numbers, and they keep going up. It’s up everywhere. And we know that the rates are actually higher than what’s reported. But homicides still get more attention.” (Nutt, 6/7)

The Wall Street Journal: CDC Finds Rise In Suicide Rates Across The U.S.
“We have a long way to go to strengthen our community and health systems to make sure when someone is at risk we get them to care,” said Jerry Reed, an executive committee member of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. The alliance is working with more than 250 hospitals to ensure that someone brought in after a suicide attempt is connected to long-term mental-health care, Dr. Reed said. Churches, schools and police also need to get better at recognizing people at risk for suicide and helping them get treatment or feel less isolated, he said. Limiting access to guns for people who are unwell is also a priority, he said. “We have to ask people who are at risk if they have a firearm, and while they’re in recovery or treatment, recommend safe storage of that firearm,” he said. “It might be a good idea while they’re in treatment if someone could hold onto that firearm.” (Whalen, 6/7)

NPR: U.S. Suicide Rates Rise By More Than 30 Percent In Half Of States Since 1999
"So it's not just about firearms, it's also about other methods of suicide such as hanging, suffocation, poisoning and the like," she said. "We are concerned with all aspects of suicide prevention, including access to lethal means, and so we do include that in a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention." But Anestis believes that it's important to not beat around the bush when it comes to guns and to talk about the importance of things like setting waiting periods for purchase, and storing guns locked and unloaded. (Greenfieldboyce, 6/7)

The Star Tribune: Suicide Rates Rise Sharply In Minn., Across Country, Report Shows
The suicide rate in Minnesota jumped 40.6 percent over 18 years, part of a nationwide trend that saw increases in all but one state and prompted public health officials to urge people to get help when facing a crisis. The findings, released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, confirm what Minnesota officials had already been tracking. Between 1999 and 2016, suicide rates in Minnesota increased across age, sex and racial groups, but lately the rates have been going up the most in rural parts of the state. (Howatt, 6/7)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Suicide Rates Climb In Louisiana And In 48 Other States, Report Says 
Since the year 2000, suicide rates in Louisiana have risen by more than 29 percent among both men and women. Our state wasn't alone, according to a report released Thursday (June 6) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide rates rose in 49 states between 1999 and 2016 across all age groups, ethnicities, gender and race. (Clark, 6/7)

Boston Globe: Suicide Rates Rise Sharply Across The US, New Report Shows
Thomas Delaney, a faculty member at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine who studies suicide, said Thursday that several aspects of Vermont life have been linked to higher rates of suicide. The state is rural, and studies show a connection between suicide and living in rural areas. (The state with the highest suicide rate is Montana.) Vermont is home to a high proportion of white people, and whites as a group have higher suicide rates than ethnic groups. The population is also older, and suicide is more common among older people. Firearm ownership is common, and Delaney said “the literature is getting pretty strong” that states with easier access to guns have higher suicide rates. (Freyer, 6/8)

Meanwhile, Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain's deaths shine another spotlight on the issue —

The New York Times: Kate Spade’s Suicide Prompts Self-Disclosure And An Outpouring Of Empathy
When news of Kate Spade’s suicide broke Tuesday morning, many readers responded with an outpouring of empathy and support for both Ms. Spade and her family. The death also prompted several Times commenters to reflect on how their own lives had been touched by a similar experience. Many of those readers discussed their personal experiences with suicidal depression and stories of relatives and friends who had taken their own lives. (Moore, 6/7)

The New York Times: What To Do When A Loved One Is Severely Depressed
Reports of Kate Spade’s suicide and struggle with depression have transformed her from symbol of polished prep to a blunt reminder that suffering affects all types. Her death has inspired hundreds to tweet some version of the same message: Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. (Murphy, 6/7)

Kaiser Health News: Kate Spade’s Death Ignites Concern About Rising Suicide Rate
Fashion designer Kate Spade’s death Tuesday has reminded Americans of the enormous toll of suicide, a growing problem that claims nearly 45,000 lives a year. Suicide rates in the U.S. have risen nearly 30 percent since 1999, according to a report released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicides increased in both men and women, in all ethnic groups and in both urban and rural areas. Suicide and “self-harm,” a category that includes attempted suicides, cost the nation $70 billion a year in medical care and lost work time. (Szabo, 6/7)

CNN: CNN's Anthony Bourdain Dead At 61
Anthony Bourdain, a gifted storyteller and writer who took CNN viewers around the world, has died. He was 61. CNN confirmed Bourdain's death on Friday and said the cause of death was suicide. "It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain," the network said in a statement Friday morning. "His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time." (Stelter, 6/8)

The New York Times: Blood Test Might Predict Pregnancy Due Date And Preterm Birth
Scientists have developed an inexpensive blood test to predict a pregnant woman’s due date and possibly identify women who are at risk of giving birth prematurely. The research, which is still preliminary and involved small numbers of women, was led by a prominent pioneer in the field of genetic blood testing, Stephen Quake at Stanford University, who said the test could eventually provide a low-cost method of gauging the gestational age of a developing fetus. (Belluck, 6/7)

Stat: Blood Test Might Help Predict Both Preterm And Healthy Delivery Dates
“It’s really hard to understate the potential of what these folks are proposing,” said Dr. Thomas McElrath, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston. “The potential for how that may feed into care and into research and into furthering not just maternal but neonatal outcomes is huge. We’re just probably beginning to get a sense of what that may involve.” (Weintraub, 6/7)

The Associated Press: Study Says Vaping By Kids Isn't Up, But Some Are Skeptical
Vaping held steady last year in high school students and declined in middle school kids, according to new government data, but some researchers are skeptical because the survey may have missed out on a booming e-cigarette brand. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey did not specifically ask about Juul e-cigarettes, and research suggests some kids don't equate the trendy devices with other types of e-cigarettes. (6/7)

Kaiser Health News: He Started Vaping As A Teen And Now Says Habit Is ‘Impossible To Let Go’
The debate over the health risks of Juul, vaping and e-cigarettes is now spilling into the public square. In one of the most restrictive measures nationwide, San Francisco voters this week upheld by what looks to be a large majority — nearly 70 percent in a preliminary tally — a ban on the sale of flavored vaping products, as well as conventional menthol cigarettes. (Daley, 6/8)

The New York Times: Tonsillectomy Risks May Outweigh Benefits
More than 530,000 children have their tonsils or adenoids removed in the United States each year to prevent recurrent infections and sleep or breathing disorders. But a new study suggests that the surgery may have long-term risks that in some cases outweigh any short-time benefits. The report, in JAMA Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery, compared 60,667 Danish children under 9 who had tonsillectomies, adenoidectomies or both with 1.1 million who had not had the surgeries. They were born between 1979 and 1999, and researchers followed their health for up to 30 years. (Bakalar, 6/7)

Sacramento Bee: HPV Vaccines Save Lives But Could Save More, UCD Cancer Center Says. It's Spreading The Word
Human papillomaviruses account for nearly 40,000 new cases of cancer every year. Most HPV-related cancers are preventable with a vaccine, and yet the United States has relatively low vaccination rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. (Sullivan, 6/7)

The New York Times: Depression In Older People Tends To Be More Severe
Depression in older people tends to be more severe, last longer and be less likely to remit than the same disease in younger people, a new study concludes. The reason remains unknown, but it is apparently unconnected to known risk factors like social isolation or the chronic diseases of old age. In a study published in Lancet Psychiatry, Dutch researchers followed 1,042 people ages 18 to 88 with diagnoses of major depression. They tracked four indicators of disease over two years: the likelihood of still having the diagnosis at the end of the study, how persistent symptoms were over time, the likelihood of reaching remission and the degree of improvement in depression severity. (Bakalar, 6/7)

Stat: A Set Of Ancient Teeth Unlock A Bacterial Secret About The Bubonic Plague
Nearly 4,000 years ago, a woman and a man were buried together just east of the Volga River in modern-day Russia, with a secret locked away in the pulp of their teeth. The bodies were uncovered just a few years ago, the teeth pulled and sent westward to the Max Planck Institute in Germany, where Maria Spyrou was working on a Ph.D. in paleogenetics. When she subjected the pulp to a bevy of genetic tests, she found something surprising: an ancestor of the bacteria responsible for the Black Death. (Swetlitz, 6/8)

The Associated Press: E-Cigarette Sellers Turn To Scholarships To Promote Brands
A growing number of e-cigarette and vaporizer sellers have started offering college scholarships as a way to get their brands listed on university websites and to get students to write essays about the potential benefits of vaping. The tactic is taken from a method that was once believed to improve a site's ranking in search results, and it has successfully landed vaping brands on the sites of some of the nation's best-known universities, including Harvard. It also has drawn criticism that the scholarships are a thinly disguised ploy to attract young customers. (6/8)

Tampa Bay Times: The Zika Threat Has Waned. But With Summer Rains On The Way, Officials Still Urge Caution.
As more rain threatens to drench Tampa Bay in the coming days, health officials warn Florida residents and visitors to be vigilant against Zika, even though the threat of the virus has waned. The Florida Department of Health reports 44 cases of the mosquito-borne illness so far this year, with no local cases or current active zones. (Griffin, 6/7)

Reuters: U.S. Expands China Health Alert Amid Illness Reports
The U.S. State Department on Friday issued an expanded health alert for all of China amid reports some U.S. diplomats based in the country had experienced a mysterious malady that resembles a brain injury and has already affected U.S. personnel in Cuba. A previous statement in May only mentioned the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou as the location for the health alert, though it was sent to U.S. citizens throughout the country. (Martina, 6/8)

The New York Times: U.S. Issues Alert To Americans In China In Wake Of Sonic Attack Fears
The alert, posted on the department’s website, said those who suspected that they had such symptoms should not try to locate the source of any “unidentified auditory sensation” and should seek medical care as soon as possible. More than two million American citizens travel to China each year, and about 175,000 Americans hold Chinese resident visas. The advisory came after at least two employees at the United States Consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou, who showed symptoms similar to those suffered by American diplomats in Cuba in 2016, were flown out this week for testing by specialists at the University of Pennsylvania. (Perlez and Myers, 6/8)

The Associated Press Fact Check: Trump's Overhaul Of Vets Care Is No Quick Fix
President Donald Trump is setting up veterans for likely disappointment as he tells them they have freedom to get quick medical care from private doctors when they're unhappy with government-run health care. He is casting a bill that he signed into law Wednesday as an immediate cure-all to long wait times for medical treatment. But he glosses over the fact that the private-sector program often takes longer to provide care than Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. Trump also neglects to mention that the White House is opposing a plan to fund the newly expanded Choice program, which could see escalating costs as more veterans seek the flexibility of picking their own doctors. (6/7)

Bloomberg: Buffett Says Health Venture CEO Pick To Be Disclosed In Weeks
The health-care venture between Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. has picked the person who will lead the initiative. “The three of us and the new CEO, we’ve basically reached agreement,” Berkshire Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett said Thursday in an interview with CNBC, without naming the individual. “We’re just tidying up a couple of things. We should have an announcement on that matter within maybe two weeks.” (Chiglinsky and Tracer, 6/7)

CNBC: Buffett, Dimon And Bezos To Name Health-Care CEO Within Two Weeks
The three announced a partnership in January to tackle rising health-care costs. Buffett said they've picked a leader and are "just tidying up a couple of things." In an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick, Buffett and Dimon praised their incoming leader and acknowledged the daunting task ahead. Health-care experts have expressed skepticism on whether the three, while business icons, could simplify the current system. Many agree there's plenty of costs to cut, but they doubt the companies can do it. (LaVito, 6/7)

In other health industry news —

New Orleans Times-Picayune: UnitedHealthcare Plans To Purchase Metairie-Based Peoples Health
Peoples Health, a Metairie-based Medicare Advantage Plan provider, confirmed Thursday (June 7) that it has entered into an agreement to be purchased by UnitedHealthcare, a managed healthcare company and the largest health insurer in the U.S. A spokesperson for Peoples Health confirmed the agreement with UnitedHealthcare, based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and issued the following statement: "Joining with UnitedHealthcare preserves our foundation as a local company with deep ties to Louisiana while creating greater stability and enhancing what we offer to the people we serve. There's no better partner for us as we look to navigate a rapidly changing industry and grow into an even stronger health plan." (Clark, 6/7)

The Associated Press: Superbug Infections Rising Among Injection Drug Users
One type of superbug bacteria is increasingly spreading among people who inject drugs, according to a new government report. Users of heroin and other injection drugs were 16 times more likely than other people to develop severe illnesses from MRSA, said the report published Thursday. "Drug use has crept up and now accounts for a substantial proportion of these very serious infections," said Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, one of the study's authors. (Stobbe, 6/7)

The Associated Press: White House Launches Anti-Opioid Ad Campaign Aimed At Youth
The White House launched a series of new advertisements Thursday aimed at warning young people about the dangers of opioids, taking another step in the effort to turn the tide against the deadly epidemic. The White House said its first public service campaign would include several partners, including the Ad Council and the Truth Initiative, surrounding four new ads featuring the true stories of young people who have battled addiction. (Thomas, 6/7)

The Associated Press: Lawsuit: Washington Jail Must Provide Addiction Treatment
In a novel case that could have national implications, the Washington state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sued a county sheriff's office to force it to provide opiate-withdrawal medication to prisoners, rather than requiring them to go cold turkey. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, says the Whatcom County Jail's refusal to provide the medicine violates the Americans with Disability Act, because opioid addiction qualifies as a disability under the law. Prisoners suffering from opioid addiction are as entitled to medication as those with any other condition requiring medical treatment, the lawsuit says. (Johnson, 6/7)

CQ: States Explore Grass-Roots Approaches To Opioid Crisis
States that are monitoring congressional legislation to curb opioids addiction are also moving forward on their own efforts that could serve as models or be expanded later. Though the opioid epidemic is an overarching problem, states are taking different approaches due to regional differences in policy and the specific problems they face. New Mexico is considering ways to prevent repeat overdoses. Alaska officials are distributing kits with the opioid reversal drug naloxone. West Virginia is relying on data to guide new policies affecting limits on initial opioid prescriptions and clinics' distribution of medication-assisted treatments. (Raman, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Records: Louisiana Spent Over $1M Defending Abortion Laws
Louisiana has spent more than $1 million to defend its abortion restrictions against a series of lawsuits since 2014, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press through open-records requests. And it's set to spend even more. Contracts with private law firms show the state repeatedly adding thousands of dollars to the agreements, extending them as the cases drag on while Louisiana fights to implement anti-abortion policies that have been halted by the courts. State officials say they'll keep spending to defend their laws. They say you can't put a price tag on human life. (Izaguirre, 6/7)

KCUR: Missouri Family Planning Groups Say Proposed Title X Changes Would Threaten Healthcare Safety Net 
Newly proposed federal rules would force Missouri clinics to choose between providing comprehensive healthcare and receiving federal funds, according to family planning groups. Leaders of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, Missouri Family Health Council Inc. and other Missouri health groups on Thursday denounced proposed changes to the federal Title X program, which provides funding for family planning and reproductive health providers throughout the country. (Smith, 6/7)

And in other news —

Reveal: Axed Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs Win Back Federal Funds
A federal judge in a fifth lawsuit has ruled that the Trump administration illegally terminated the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, restoring grants to all 81 programs nationwide that had their funding abruptly axed last year. U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s decision on a class action suit, issued last week, ordered the administration to handle all the applications “as if the agency had not undertaken to shorten these grantees’ federal awards.” (Kay, 6/7)

ProPublica: First Responders Speak Out About PTSD, Two Years After Pulse Nightclub Shooting
Nearly two years after the tragedy, Delgado and other first responders who were on the scene at Pulse shared their consequent struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder at an event co-hosted by ProPublica, 90.7 WMFE and the Orlando Public Library on Wednesday night. Held at the Orlando Public Library’s Melrose Center for Technology, Innovation and Creativity, the event also featured family members of first responders, advocates, mental health counselors and elected officials. (6/7)

Meanwhile, in Texas —

Texas Tribune: After Santa Fe Shooting In Texas, A Lawsuit Aims To “Effect Change”
The target wasn’t Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the 17-year-old high school junior authorities have charged with killing 10 and injuring 13 more. Instead, the lawsuit, filed by the families of shooting victims, names Pagourtzis’ parents, whose legally owned guns Pagourtzis reportedly used in the attack and who, the victims’ parents claim, “utterly failed to teach their son any respect for life whatsoever.” (Platoff, 6/8)

The New York Times: Doctor Who Danced During Surgery Is Suspended By Georgia Medical Board
A dermatologist who can be seen on video dancing to the hip-hop song “Cut It” while performing a surgical procedure was suspended on Thursday by the Georgia medical board, which said her continued practice “poses a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare.” The dermatologist, Dr. Windell Davis-Boutte, is the medical director and chief executive of Boutté Contour Surgery & Skin in Lilburn, Ga., an Atlanta suburb. On her website she describes herself as a “DOCTOR TO THE STARS!” — someone with “a surgeon’s hands” and “a woman’s touch.” (Caron, 6/7)

Sacramento Bee: California Accuses 2 Manufacturers Of Selling Toddler Formulas With Dangerous Levels Of Lead
The California Department of Justice announced Thursday that it had discovered dangerous levels of lead in toddler formula produced by two businesses serving state consumer, and it is suing the companies to ensure they take action to improve quality assurance testing. ... As part of its mandate to do testing on substances covered by Proposition 65, the team at the Department of Justices environmental unit found levels that exceeded not only levels mandated by California law but also the mandated by less-stringent federal laws. (Anderson, 6/7)

The Associated Press: Ohio State Says More Victims In Alleged Doctor Misconduct
Former student-athletes from more than a dozen Ohio State sports teams have now reported alleged sexual misconduct by a university doctor who died in 2005. Investigators have scheduled or conducted interviews with more than 130 people who said they have information about possible misconduct by Dr. Richard Strauss, the university said Thursday. Reports also came from former non-athlete patients of the student health center. (6/7)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: PEP Connections Funded For One Year In Bill Passed By Ohio Legislature
Ohio legislators threw a $2.5 million life raft to PEP Connections on Thursday, easing fears the popular Cuyahoga County behavioral health program would be unable to serve at-risk youth in a few weeks. PEP Connections, a program run by Positive Education Partners, had operated for decades with money from a Medicaid waiver. (Borchardt, 6/7)

The Baltimore Sun: State Employees In Catonsville Hospital Complex Relocated Because Of Flooding
The state is relocating 61 employees at the Spring Grove Medical Center in Catonsville because of extensive flood damage caused by the same storms that destroyed businesses in downtown Ellicott City last month. The Maryland Health Department said that the employees work in the Bland Bryant building of the psychiatric hospital. The building is home to the state’s Office of Health Care Quality, which oversees the safety of Maryland hospitals and health facilities. (McDaniels, 6/7)

NEPR: UMass Inventor Insists On Due Credit For Nurses Who Innovate
A UMass Amherst nursing professor has been named to a national panel of inventors — the first nurse to be honored alongside engineers and computer scientists from companies like Microsoft and IBM. Rachel Walker said it's about time her profession got credit for its innovations. (Brown, 6/7)

KQED: Health Officials: Contra Costa Junkyard Fire Sent Out Dangerous Levels Of Smoke
Potentially hazardous amounts of particulate matter were released by a smoky junkyard and brush fire that started in a homeless encampment in Pittsburg late Wednesday, according to Contra Costa County health officials. More than a half-dozen air tests downwind from the blaze detected at least 300 micrograms per cubic meter in the hours after the fire began, said Randy Sawyer, the county's chief environmental health and hazardous materials officer. (Goldberg, 6/7)

Tampa Bay Times: Another Day, Another Delay For Smoking Medical Marijuana
The First District Court of Appeal on Thursday gave marijuana supporters until Friday at 3 p.m. to “show cause” why the court should not stay the ruling by Judge Karen Gievers, which lifted the stay on her previous ruling that halted the ban on medical marijuana. Until then, the First DCA says there will be an automatic stay on Gievers’ ruling lifting the stay of her ruling which said that the law banning smokable marijuana is unconstitutional. (Klas, 6/7)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Rep. Dave Joyce Introduces Bill That Would Let States Decide Their Own Marijuana Laws
The former Geauga County prosecutor teamed up with Oregon Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer as well as Colorado GOP Sen. Cory Gardner and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren to introduce the "Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States" Act. The bill would ensure that each state has the right to determine for itself the best approach to marijuana within its borders, and respect their voters' decisions on cannabis use. (Eaton, 6/7)

Pediatrics: Hospitalization For Suicide Ideation Or Attempt: 2008–2015
Encounters for SI and SA at US children’s hospitals increased steadily from 2008 to 2015 and accounted for an increasing percentage of all hospital encounters. Increases were noted across all age groups, with consistent seasonal patterns that persisted over the study period. The growing impact of pediatric mental health disorders has important implications for children’s hospitals and health care delivery systems. (Plemmons et al, 6/1)

The Commonwealth Fund: Complex Needs Medicaid Expansion Enrollees Low Incomes
Early Medicaid expansion enrollees in urban Minnesota were largely nonwhite, male, and unmarried and had low educational attainment. In this very poor population, rates of homelessness, substance use, and mental illness were very high. More than 25 percent of adults dealt with two or more of these challenges, while 10 percent experienced all three. Providing access to a range of highly integrated health and social services may be the best way to help these individuals. (Shippee and Vickery, 5/31)

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation: Tracking 2019 Premium Changes On ACA Exchanges
Insurers submit filings every year to state regulators detailing their plans to participate in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces (also called exchanges). These filings include information on the premiums insurers plan to charge in the coming year and which areas they plan to serve. Each state or the federal government reviews premiums to ensure they are accurate and justifiable before the rate goes into effect, though regulators have varying types of authority and states make varying amounts of rate review information public. This analysis looks at preliminary lowest-cost bronze and second lowest-cost silver premiums in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. (Kamal, Cox, Long, Semanskee and Levitt, 6/6)

Brookings: How Did The Individual Mandate Affect Insurance Coverage?
The ACA’s individual mandate appears to have meaningfully increased insurance coverage among people with family incomes above 400 percent of FPL. While extrapolating this estimate to the non-elderly population as a whole introduces considerable uncertainty, the estimates presented in this paper suggest that the individual mandate increased the number of people with insurance coverage by at least several million in 2016. (Matthew Fielder, 5/31)

Employee Benefit Research Institute: The Impact of Length of Time Enrolled in a Health Plan on Consumer Engagement and Health Plan Satisfaction
The survey found that engagement and satisfaction for the most part do not change with the length of time an individual has been enrolled in their health plan. What appears to be disengagement among individuals with the longest enrollment length may merely reflect their familiarity with various options available to them. Plan sponsors and employers may need to think about different ways to engage plan members with different lengths of plan tenure. (Frontin, Dretzka, Greenwald et al., 5/22)

JAMA Internal Medicine: An Advance Care Planning Video Decision Support Tool For Nursing Home Residents With Advanced Dementia: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial
In this cluster randomized clinical trial of 402 patients with advanced dementia, do-not-hospitalize directives, care preferences, and burdensome treatments did not significantly differ between trial arms. In intervention facilities, residents were more likely to have directives to withhold tube-feeding, and, when comfort care was preferred, to have do-not-hospitalize and no tube-feeding directives. (Mitchell et al, 6/4)

Annals of Internal Medicine: Association Between Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and Nonfatal and Fatal Drug Overdoses
Evidence that PDMP implementation either increases or decreases nonfatal or fatal overdoses is largely insufficient, as is evidence regarding positive associations between specific administrative features and successful programs. Some evidence showed unintended consequences. Research is needed to identify a set of “best practices” and complementary initiatives to address these consequences. (Fink et al., 6/5)

Urban Institute: Changes To Title X Funding Could Affect Access To Health Care For Millions Of Women
On May 22, the department of Health and Human Services released proposed regulations, supported by the White House, that would place new restrictions on the use of Title X family planning program funding. Title X provides $286 million a year to safety net family planning clinics like Planned Parenthood and state public health departments to provide birth control services, pregnancy tests, screenings, and general medical care. Federal funds currently cannot be used to pay for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or endangerment of a woman's life. The proposed rule would withhold all federal funds from family planning clinics and providers that perform or refer patients to abortion services. (Johnston and Shartzer, 5/23)

Health Affairs: Balancing Affordability And Access: Lessons From New Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs
The lessons learned from PCSK9Is can inform the design of more effective approaches to balancing budget affordability and appropriate access for future beneficial but expensive specialty drugs for broad populations. First, we have learned that blunt one-size-fits-all and highly burdensome PA requirements and processes that reward administrative competence instead of fast-tracking clinical urgency are likely to stand in the way of value-based care and allow high-risk patients to fall through the cracks. Second, we have learned that payers and manufacturers can work together and meet halfway in an attempt to improve access through innovative payment arrangements. (Doshi et al., 6/5)

JAMA Internal Medicine: Effect Of Increased Inpatient Attending Physician Supervision On Medical Errors, Patient Safety, And Resident Education: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Increased direct attending physician supervision did not significantly reduce the medical error rate. In designing morning work rounds, residency programs should reconsider their balance of patient safety, learning needs, and resident autonomy. (Finn, Metlay and Chang, 6/4)

Los Angeles Times: Social Security And Medicare Are In Danger? Nothing To See Here, Says Trump's Treasury Secretary
Trustees overseeing Social Security and Medicare issued yet more warnings this week about the worsening financial health of the programs. In response, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin told Americans not to worry — the rip-roaring economic growth the Trump administration is whipping up will take care of everything! Except that it won’t, and pretending that the looming funding shortfalls will magically fix themselves is irresponsible and cowardly. (6/8)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Medicare's Chronic Prognosis Is Dire
One fact is indisputable: Going forward, Medicare and Social Security taxes will not be sufficient — not even close — to pay for the benefits Americans have been promised for decades. It’s time for politicians to act like statesmen and address the looming entitlement catastrophe that they and their predecessors have so blithely created and ignored. (6/7)

USA Today: New Title X Birth Control Rules Heed Conservatives, Ignore Women
The Trump administration's emphasis on natural family planning methods guts the core mission of Title X — to help women (and men) plan their families by providing the full range of birth control methods. Title X funds should not be used to further religious or ideological objections to certain types of birth control, but instead should be used to help all women get the effective methods of birth control that they want. (Katherine Strandberg and Kristine Hopkins, 6/7)

The Washington Post: Arkansas Has Made Access To Safe, Legal Abortion Even More Difficult
The Supreme Court's refusal to hear a challenge of an Arkansas law governing medication abortion had immediate effects. Women en route to appointments to receive the pills used in the procedure were forced to go home with no backup plan. Two clinics offering only medication abortions had to tell women they could no longer provide this service, leaving the state with just one health center that performed surgical abortions. No doubt the law’s framers were pleased with having accomplished their goal of limiting access to abortion. But, for the sake of the health needs of Arkansas women, their victory ought to be short-lived. (6/6)

Stat: Is This The Year The AMA Finally Joins The Single-Payer Movement?
Today, in the midst of a revived Poor People’s Campaign, physicians and medical students are again pressuring the AMA to be more responsive to the needs of the nation’s uninsured and underinsured. At the AMA’s House of Our wildly inefficient system is currently dominated by private insurance companies, a health care model spearheaded by the AMA. It produces some of the worst health outcomes in the industrialized world — the U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate and the highest number of avoidable deaths — and devours an ever-increasing share of our economy, with health spending accounting for a whopping 17.9 percent of our gross domestic product. (Jonathan Michels, Robertha Barnes and Sydney Russell Leed, 6/8)

Des Moines Register: Returning Medicaid To State Management Will Not Take 'Years'
During a recent gubernatorial debate, Democratic candidates all said they supported repealing the privatization of Iowa’s Medicaid program. They also advocated exercising caution in bringing it back under state control. One called it a “process” that should involve lawmakers. Another suggested it could take as long as three years.“I’m not going to do what the Republican governors have done and do something behind closed doors and do it instantaneously and without a plan," said candidate Ross Wilburn. While such prudence seems reasonable, overthinking a transition back to state-controlled Medicaid could cause unnecessary delays. It will not take years unless a new governor hems and haws. Iowa already has a clear “plan” to provide health insurance to 600,000 low-income and disabled Iowans. (6/7)

Louisville Courier-Journal: Matt Bevin's Medicaid Work Requirements: Costly, Intrusive and Doomed
Aside from the obvious moral implications of adopting an approach certain to significantly reduce the number of insured Kentuckians, Gov. Matt Bevin’s work requirements for Medicaid recipients will produce a new bureaucracy that is costly, intrusive and doomed to fail. (Adam Edelen, 6/7)

The New York Times: Let Dying People End Their Suffering
It was an emotional moment for my friend and for me. As we sat in the living room of her home in California, she told me that the breast cancer that had been responding to treatment for several years had spread throughout her body. “It’s everywhere now,” she said, adding without a trace of self-pity: “I have less than six months to live. I’m so grateful that I won’t have to spend my last days or weeks in extreme agony.” (Diane Rehm, 6/7)

USA Today: Physician-Assisted Suicide Isn't Right For American Doctors
The American Medical Association House of Delegates in Chicago will soon engage in a critical debate over the report of the AMA’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs concerning the practice of assisted suicide. For almost 30 years, pro-assisted suicide organizations have been lobbying for legalized assisted suicide throughout the USA. This practice involves a physician prescribing a non-FDA approved lethal overdose of drugs to a person believed to have a terminal illness. In 2016, the AMA charged the CEJA with reevaluating the AMA’s ethical position, issued in 1994, in opposition to the legalization and practice of assisted suicide. The current AMA position states that assisted suicide “is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.” (Joseph E. Marine, 6/8)

Bloomberg: To Reduce Suicide In The U.S., Regulate Guns 
In its alarming new report on America’s fast-rising suicide rate, the Centers for Disease Control cites many pressures that might lead people to take their own lives: problems with relationships or work, substance abuse, money troubles, or housing insecurity. No doubt all such stresses can drive some people to the brink. The report also offers several strategies to prevent suicide. States can promote employment and tackle housing shortages, for example, and health-care providers can offer treatment online and by phone. Employers, schools and communities can help people feel supported and unashamed to seek help. And everyone can become alert to warning signs. All such changes would reduce the suffering that leads to suicide. But there’s another prevention strategy, and the CDC ignores it: stronger gun laws. (6/7)

The New York Times: Kate Spade And The Illness Hidden With A Smile
Suicide, no matter how well we know a person, usually comes as a shock, even a violation, putting the lie to our conviction that existence is to be cherished. ...But there is no starker reminder of that truth than suicide. Serious depression, which almost always precedes suicide, retains not only the stigma of mental illness and is thus often undisclosed even to one’s nearest, but is also a fairly disguisable illness. Most often, it leaves no track marks. It comes without benefit of casts or bandages. It can be covered up with a smile and denied even by the one enduring it. (Daphne Merkin, 6/7)

The Washington Post: Betsy Devos’s Gun-Less Gun-Violence Study Is Irresponsible — And Unsurprising
“An interesting concept.” That was the wry observation by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) to the disclosure that the federal commission on school safety established in response to the Parkland, Fla., high school massacre will study gun violence without actually looking at guns. Other words come to mind. Daft. Misguided. Irresponsible. And — given this administration’s cowardly deference to the national gun lobby — unsurprising. (6/7)

The Hill: A Spotlight On The 2018 Hurricane Season — Will The Zika Pose New Threats?
With the start of the 2018 hurricane season comes renewed concern about the potential spread of mosquito-borne infectious disease, including the Zika virus. Last year’s hurricane season was one of the most active on record, resulting in conditions that created a breeding ground for mosquitoes. (Antonio Crespo, 6/7)

The Washington Post: Rural America Has Too Few Dentists – But Also Too Few Jobs To Create Paying Patients
Lynnel Beauchesne’s dental office hugs a rural crossroads near Tunnelton, W.Va., population 336. Acres of empty farmland surround the weathered one-story white building; a couple of houses and a few barns are the only neighbors. But the parking lot is full. Some people have driven hours to see Beauchesne, the sole dentist within 30 miles. She estimates that she has as many as 8,000 patients. Before the office closes at 7 p.m., she and her two hygienists will see up to 50 of them, not counting emergencies. (Anne Kim, 6/7)

The New York Times: Every Time I Thought The Purdue Pharma OxyContin Story Was Over, I Was Wrong
When you cover a story for years, it is easy to think you know everything about it. Then you discover how much you didn’t know when last you reported on it. In 2001, I started to look into Purdue Pharma and OxyContin, a company and a drug that have since become emblematic of the opioid epidemic. Back then, I had never heard of the powerful painkiller, of Purdue Pharma or of the company’s owner, the Sacklers, one of the wealthiest families in the United States. (Barry Meier, 6/8)

The Hill: To Discourage Illegal Drug Importation — Give Punishments That Fit The Crimes
A federal judge in Montana recently handed down a sentence to Canada Drugs, an online pharmacy that has been selling fake medicines, counterfeit, misbranded and unapproved, to unsuspecting Americans. Overseen by its pharmacist founder, the company engaged in this illegal activity for more than 17 years and likely contributed to the deaths of highly-vulnerable patients. The judge’s sentence? Canada Drugs will pay a nominal fine, promise to stop selling drugs in the U.S., and return some of its ill-gotten proceeds. No jail time for the company’s founder either. As policymakers and industry leaders search for solutions to address our nation’s opioid crisis, we are overlooking one of the greatest tools at our disposal: imposing the strong deterrents necessary to thwart criminal operations. (Thomas T. Kubic, 6/7)

Sacramento Bee: Ending Prison Contract Will Put Disabled Out Of Work
The Legislature should reject a troubling proposal by the governor to end a state prison's janitorial contract with PRIDE Industries in favor of hiring unionized state employees. A failure to do so will result in a loss for taxpayers, for a vital part of the state's prison health care system and, most importantly, for hard-working people with disabilities. (Patricia Bataes and Jesús Andrade, 6/6)