The New York Times: A Key Republican Demands Subsidies To Calm Insurance Markets
A powerful House Republican said Thursday that Congress should immediately provide money for subsidy payments to health insurance companies, which have been demanding big rate increases or fleeing from Affordable Care Act markets because of President Trump’s threat to cut off the funds. The Republican, Kevin Brady of Texas, who is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, went out of his way to make clear that he now believes that Congress should continue the subsidies, which compensate insurers for reducing deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for seven million low-income people. (Pear, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Top Republican Seeks Action Now To Steady Insurance Markets
"We should act within our constitutional authority now to temporarily and legally fund (subsidy) payments as we move away from Obamacare," Brady said at a budget hearing. He and his GOP colleagues are trying to roll back President Barack Obama's signature law that provided the financial assistance in the first place. "Insurers have made clear the lack of certainty is causing 2018 proposed premiums to rise significantly," added Brady. That's also a midterm election year, in which every seat in the Republican-controlled House and 33 seats in the GOP-controlled Senate are on the ballot. (6/8)

CQ Roll Call: House Chairman Asks Administration To Fund Health Subsidy
The cost-sharing reduction payments are expected to cost about $10 billion in fiscal 2018, while other federal subsidies for premiums may run about $48 billion. The cost-sharing subsidies are intended to help people with low incomes pay other costs associated with insurance such as deductibles and copays. (Young, 6/8)

Morning Consult: Price Dodges Specifics On Obamacare Payments To Insurers
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price defended the need to overhaul the Affordable Care Act but didn’t offer new ways the administration would give insurance companies much-needed answers during his testimony to a Senate panel Thursday. “Nobody is interested in the system dying. What we’re interested in is making sure that the system works for patients and families and doctors,” Price said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the president’s budget. “Nobody is cheering the challenges that we have in this system.” (McIntire, 6/8)

The Hill: No Certainty On Cost-Sharing Payments To Insurers
Insurers didn’t get certainty from Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price that they’ll continue to receive key payments from the federal government, despite Democratic pressure at a Thursday Senate Finance Committee hearing. The administration hasn’t said how long it will continue the payments to insurers that go toward decreasing out-of-pocket costs for lower-income ObamaCare consumers. Lawmakers have said they want to stabilize the market in some way, but haven’t said definitively if Congress will decide to fund cost-sharing reduction payments. (Roubein, 6/8)

And in the states —

The Wall Street Journal: Two Washington State Counties Lack ACA Health Insurer For 2018
Washington state has no insurer willing to offer Affordable Care Act plans next year in two of its 39 counties, opening up a third U.S. region that is poised to be without coverage through the health law’s marketplaces. The latest announcement, from Washington’s state insurance regulator, is likely to add to the political pressure over the status of the ACA’s marketplaces, which are showing growing signs of strain around the country. (Wilde Mathews and Radnofsky, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: As Delaware Insurance Options Shrink, Families Are ‘Holding Our Breath’
Andy and Serena Ryan get their health coverage through the state’s Affordable Care Act insurance exchange and are increasingly anxious about it. Serena Ryan, 31, who left her part-time job as a nurse in 2016 to care for and home-school the couple’s two children, ages 5 and 3, calls the coverage a “blessing.” Andy Ryan, 33, is a self-employed marketing consultant. “The health insurance has allowed us to live the way we want, to be at home with the kids and create our own business,” Serena Ryan said. “We know we needed the coverage in case something happened, even though it’s a big expense.” (Findlay, 6/9)

Politico: Senate GOP Finds A New Problem For Every One Resolved On Obamacare Repeal
Senate Republicans hoping to get the bulk of an Obamacare repeal bill done within the next few days keep finding a new problem for every old one they get closer to resolving. A burst of optimism that they could agree on a more generous version of the House-passed repeal bill was quickly doused by concerns over the cost. An emerging consensus on subsidies to stabilize shaky insurance markets was countered by a threat that crucial abortion restrictions could derail the effort altogether. And looming over it all, lawmakers are still struggling to bridge the deep divide over the future of Medicaid. (Cancryn, Haberkorn, Everett and Pradhan, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Senate Republicans Consider Keeping Parts Of Obamacare They Once Promised To Kill
In their effort to revamp the nation’s health-care system, Senate Republicans are considering preserving or more gradually eliminating key elements of the Affordable Care Act that the House voted to discard, creating an uncomfortable political situation for the party after years of promises to fully repeal the law. Senate GOP leadership told rank-and-file Republican senators during private talks this week that they favor keeping guaranteed protections for people with preexisting medical conditions — a departure from the House approach of allowing states to opt out of a regulation ensuring such individuals are not charged more for coverage. (Sullivan and Snell, 6/8)

Roll Call: Senate Moderates Say They Are Closer On Health Care
Moderate Republicans on Thursday said they were getting closer to supporting an emerging Senate health package but are continuing to press for a slower phaseout of the Medicaid expansion than the House-passed bill set out. The Medicaid expansion question seems to remain the biggest unresolved issue as Republicans try to finalize a bill they can vote on before the end of June. To meet their timeline, they would have to send a bill to the Congressional Budget Office for a cost estimate by early next week, according to a Republican aide. (Siddons and Raman, 6/9)

The Hill: Conservatives Push Back On Senate Changes To Health Bill 
Conservatives are pushing back strongly against the Senate’s proposed changes to the House healthcare reform bill, fearing the legislation is moving in the wrong direction. Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) — some of the chamber’s more centrist members — have proposed gradually phasing out extra federal funds for Medicaid over seven years, beginning in 2020. That is longer than a House GOP leadership proposal to eliminate Medicaid expansion funding by 2023. (Sullivan and Roubein, 6/8)

The Hill: Sen. Heller Supports Seven-Year Phase-Out Of Medicaid Expansion Funds 
Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), a key GOP senator on healthcare who is up for reelection next year, said Thursday that he supports a seven-year phase-out of funding for ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid. ... Heller’s comments indicate that he is willing to end the extra federal funding for Medicaid expansion, as long as it is on a slow enough timetable. His comments, and those of other more centrist GOP senators, could indicate that Republicans can find some compromise on the Medicaid issue, one of their biggest obstacles to passing an ObamaCare repeal bill. (Sullivan, 6/8)

The Hill: Senate GOP Paves Way For ObamaCare Repeal Bill
Senate Republicans are paving the way for legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fast-tracked the House bill on Thursday, placing it on the Senate calendar and allowing it — as had been expected — to skip over the committee process.  Senate Republicans are writing their own proposal, but will use the House bill as a shell to get their bill through the upper chamber. McConnell's move will allow him to bring up the legislation quickly once Republicans are ready to vote. (Carney, 6/8)

CQ Roll Call: Hospitals, Advocacy Groups Push For Changes In Health Care Bill
Medical industry and consumer groups are increasingly convinced that Senate Republicans will make only modest revisions to the House health care bill, despite the groups' pleas for significant changes so millions of Americans will not lose access to coverage...Senate Republicans say they want to vote on their version of the House Republican bill (HR 1628) before the July Fourth recess. Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Wednesday that the Congressional Budget Office would need two to three weeks to work up estimates on the bill. (Young, 6/8)

Meanwhile, the vice president will be speaking about health care on his visit to Milwaukee —

The Associated Press: Pence To Discuss Health Care In Wisconsin Visit
Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to Milwaukee on Saturday for a listening session and speech on former President Barack Obama's health care law. The vice president's office says Pence will meet with business leaders and families in Wisconsin to discuss the "adverse effects" of the law. Pence will be joined by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. (6/8)

The Hill: Parliamentarian Threatens Deadly Blow To GOP Healthcare Bill 
The Senate parliamentarian has warned Republicans that a key provision in their healthcare reform bill related to abortion is unlikely to be allowed, raising a serious threat to the legislation. The parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, has flagged language that would bar people from using new refundable tax credits for private insurance plans that cover abortion, according to Senate sources.  (Bolton, 6/8)

Politico: Abortion Restrictions Threaten Senate GOP’s Obamacare Repeal Push
"There's still not a clear ruling from the parliamentarian about the House Hyde language ... I don't think we go to contingencies or Plan Bs until we know that. But I do think there's been some gaming out of how you address it if the House language isn't acceptable," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a GOP leader working on the tax credits. "No taxpayer funding is consistent with the majority of our caucus." (Haberkorn and Everett, 6/8)

Previous KHN coverage: Planned Parenthood Funding Could Thwart GOP Efforts On Health Bill (Rovner, 5/12)

The New York Times: F.D.A. Asks Drug Maker To Stop Selling A Dangerous Opioid
On Thursday, for the first time in its history, the Food and Drug Administration asked a drug company to take an opioid medication off the market. The drug, Opana ER — a form of the painkiller oxymorphone hydrochloride — has been heavily abused and linked to outbreaks of H.I.V., hepatitis C and a serious blood disorder among people who crush the pills into powder and inject it. (Grady, 6/8)

The Washington Post: FDA Seeks Removal Of Opioid Painkiller From The Market
The agency concluded after an extensive review of Endo Pharmaceuticals’ Opana ER that the “benefits of the drug may no longer outweigh its risks.” The company reformulated the drug in 2012 to make it more difficult to snort, but the FDA said that move actually led to more injections — and a major HIV outbreak. (McGinley and Bernstein, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Pushes To Get Endo’s Opana ER Painkiller Off The Market
“We are facing an opioid epidemic—a public health crisis, and we must take all necessary steps to reduce the scope of opioid misuse and abuse,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. “We will continue to take regulatory steps when we see situations where an opioid product’s risks outweigh its benefits, not only for its intended patient population but also in regard to its potential for misuse and abuse.” (Whalen, 6/8)

USA Today: FDA Asks Drugmaker Endo To Withdraw Opana ER
The FDA said in its statement that if Endo does not meet its request, it will take steps to withdraw approval of the drug, prescribed when someone needs a long-term pain medication. Endo reformulated Opana ER in a way that the company said would curb the potential for abuse, but an FDA advisory committee voted 18-8 (with one abstention) in mid March that the benefits of the reformulated version no longer outweigh risks of the drug. (Eversley, 6/8)

NPR: FDA Wants Opana ER, A Powerful Opioid, Off The Market
An increasing number of people, the FDA says, are abusing the powerful prescription pills by crushing, dissolving and injecting them. The sharing of needles by these drug users has fueled an outbreak of associated infectious diseases — HIV, hepatitis C and another serious blood disorder. (Stein, 6/8)

Stat: FDA Wants To Yank An Opioid Painkiller Over Concerns About Abuse
It is unclear, however, whether Endo will comply. In a statement, the drug maker indicated it is “reviewing the request and is evaluating the full range of potential options.” In fact, the company appears ready for a fight. We say that because Endo argued that the FDA request “does not indicate uncertainty” that Opana ER is safe or effective when taken as prescribed. “Endo remains confident in the body of evidence established through clinical research demonstrating that Opana ER has a favorable risk-benefit profile when used as intended in appropriate patients.” (Silverman, 6/8)

Bloomberg: FDA Seeks To Pull Pain Pill Off Market, Citing Risk Of Abuse 
The move marks a shift in FDA policy, pushed by Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, to consider how opioids are used not just by appropriate patients but also by drug abusers. Thousands of Americans die each year from opioid overdoses, as do many more who switch from the pills to heroin. (Edney and Langreth, 6/8)

In other news on the crisis —

The Wall Street Journal: Drug Gangs Open An Online Chinese Connection For Opioids
New York City gang members are increasingly bypassing their usual sources for drugs and buying powerful illicit opioids directly from China online, according to investigators, who say the trend poses tough new challenges for law enforcement trying to crack down on the addiction epidemic. The latest clue came in a package seized after a search warrant was executed in November, investigators say. It contained a kilogram of the opioid drug furanyl fentanyl—and the name of an obscure Chinese company called Shenzhen Unique-Peptide Biotechnology Co. Ltd. (Kanno-Youngs and Whalen, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Opioids, Alcohol, Other Drugs Killed More Marylanders In 2016 Than Ever Before
The increase in drug- and alcohol-related deaths in Maryland in 2016 was the biggest ever recorded in the state, officials said Thursday, the latest sign of an opioid epidemic that has triggered a state of emergency and prompted leaders to dedicate millions in funding to combat addiction. Overdoses killed 2,089 people in 2016, an increase of 66 percent from the previous year, according to data released by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. (Hernandez, 6/8)

The Baltimore Sun: Deaths From Drug, Alcohol Overdoses Skyrocket In Maryland 
The number of people who died in Maryland from drug and alcohol related overdoses surged 66 percent in 2016, compared with 2015, exposing the magnitude of the growing opioid epidemic and the ineffectiveness of the increased resources aimed a stemming deaths. The 2,089 deaths last year represent an all-time high, triple the tally from 2010, according to the data released Thursday by the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Last year's jump is the state's largest recorded annual increase. (Cohn, 6/8)

Columbus Dispatch: "It's Absolutely Everywhere" DeWine Tells DC Panel On Opioids
As lawmakers pondered the economic costs of an opioid epidemic that is devastating Ohio, state Attorney General Mike DeWine offered a set of grim circumstances that seemed to stun them into silence. Babies born drug dependent, confined to neonatal intensive care units for an average of 14 days at tremendous cost to the state’s health care system. (Wehrman, 6/8)

Stat: NIH Drops Controversial Plan To Cap Funding For Individual Labs
Officials at the federal agency that funds medical research Thursday scrapped a controversial plan to free up money for young researchers by capping the amount of grant money it gives to individual labs. The proposal by the National Institutes of Health — which last year handed out nearly $25 billion in research awards to universities and hospitals across the country — came under fire from senior scientists who run labs that stood to lose funding. In its place, the NIH will establish new policies to boost support for early-career lab heads. (Weisman, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: National Institutes Of Health To Boost Grants To Young Scientists
The National Institutes of Health said it would begin redirecting up to about $1.1 billion in research-grant money a year to early- and midcareer scientists to help boost their careers and preserve U.S. science. The agency said it would begin the redistribution immediately with about $210 million annually, but that the amount would steadily increase over five years to about $1.1 billion a year. (Burton, 6/8)

CQ Magazine: NIH Drug Contamination Scandal Back Under The Microscope
The National Institutes of Health is facing scrutiny again from the House Energy and Commerce Committee over a scandal that occurred nearly two years ago at one of the agency’s main research institutions. In 2015, the Food and Drug Administration discovered two vials of a contaminated drug sample at the NIH Clinical Center’s Pharmaceutical Development Section scheduled to be used on human subjects. The agency suspended activity at the lab shortly after. The NIH has said no patients were harmed as a result of the tainted sample, but the discovery sparked national headlines and launched two separate congressional investigations. (Williams, 6/12)

The Hill: GOP Senators Push To Allow Sale Of Short-Term Insurance Plans
A group of 14 GOP senators want the Trump administration to sell short-term insurance plans while they try to repeal ObamaCare. The senators, led by Ron Johnson (Wis.), ask Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to reverse a rule issued by the Obama administration last year that limited these plans to three months or less. "These plans have offered great value to people, real protection and broad provider networks," the senators wrote in a letter to Price.  Short-term insurance plans generally don't cover the same benefits that ObamaCare-compliant plans are required to, like pre-existing conditions, prescription drugs and maternity care. (Hellmann, 6/8)

The New York Times: 5% Of U.S. Pregnant Women With Zika Had Baby With A Birth Defect
Five percent of pregnant women with a confirmed Zika infection in the United States territories, including Puerto Rico, went on to have a baby with a related birth defect, according to the most comprehensive report to date from federal officials. The report, published on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also provided for the first time preliminary estimates of this risk by trimester. Previously, there were not enough births following exposure to the Zika virus to make such estimates. (Saint Louis, 6/8)

Los Angeles Times: Microcephaly Or Other Birth Defects Seen In 5% Of Pregnancies Affected By Zika, CDC Says
In this study, the greatest risk was seen in cases where the woman was infected during the first trimester of her pregnancy, and that infection was confirmed with a laboratory test. Among these women, 8% had a fetus or baby with a birth defect. The comparable rate for women from the 50 states was 15%, according to previous research. However, the authors of the new study noted that the number of birth defects was too small for them to be sure that the difference was real and not just a statistical fluke. (Kaplan, 6/8)

NPR: Birth Defects In 5 Percent Of Babies Born To Zika-Infected Women In U.S. Territories
Scientists have had trouble pinning down the risk of Zika to pregnant women. Estimates of birth defects have ranged from 1 percent of pregnancies to more than 10 percent. This latest study, published Thursday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, provides a sharper answer. The study found that even infected women without symptoms of the disease were at risk of giving birth to babies with abnormalities. (Harris, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Zika Risk For Birth Defects Drops For Each Trimester, CDC Finds
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lays out for the first time the risk for Zika-related birth defects for each trimester of pregnancy. Researchers have consistently highlighted the first trimester as the most dangerous for infections involving the virus, which is spread primarily by mosquitoes and sex, but the CDC's analysis provides a detailed breakdown throughout pregnancy. (Sun, 6/8)

In other Zika news —

Stat: 'Part Of The New Reality': Despite Confusion, Zika Warnings Are Here To Stay
Zika has faded from the headlines like a mosquito’s dying buzz.Puerto Rico declared its outbreak over this week. Brazil said its emergency was over in May. In the United States, summer approaches with little discussion of the virus outside public health circles.But the risk the insidious pathogen poses to a pregnancy hasn’t gone away, and public health authorities are grappling with how to get the message out to pregnant women. Despite public confusion over whether Zika remains a public health threat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to warn women who are pregnant to avoid traveling to wide swathes of Latin America and the Caribbean. (Branswell, 6/9)

USA Today: Public Health Officials Fear Trump Budget Cuts In Fight Against Zika Virus
Spending cuts in the Trump administration's proposed budget for 2018 will hit the agencies dedicated to fighting the Zika virus as the season for the mosquito-borne illness is starting and when the demand for higher spending is needed, city and county health officials say. Members of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the March of Dimes are lobbying Congress for more funding that covers a longer period of time to combat Zika, but say they are trying to develop a bigger coalition to make their case (Covington and O'Donnell, 6/8)

Health News Florida: New Zika Test Produces Results In Under An Hour
Florida scientists have developed a new test for Zika that would produce results in less than an hour. And the test can detect the Zika virus in the blood of humans or mosquitoes. (Ochoa, 6/8)

Orlando Sentinel: Zika Concerns Arise After Heavy Rainstorms 
Recent heavy rainstorms have renewed Zika fears in South Florida, leading to more mosquito spraying in four Broward cities. The county’s mosquito control division will spray portions of Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Sunrise and Lauderhill for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which is the variety known to carry and transmit the Zika virus. (Randle, 6/8)

Stat: Personalized Cancer Therapies Show Great Promise. The Hitch? Manufacturing Them Efficiently
It’s been a good month for companies developing the experimental immunotherapies known as CAR-T, as several released data showing strong results in patients with blood cancers.  Now, though, they face a new challenge: Proving they can actually manufacture the highly personalized treatments quickly and efficiently — and get them to cancer patients across the country. ... Here’s how it works: Blood is  taken from a cancer patient’s arm and undergoes a process called apheresis — in which the white immune cells are separated out from the rest of the blood. Those cells are then shipped to a manufacturing plant, where they’re re-engineered to fight the patient’s cancer. They’re grown in sterile vats and shipped back to the hospital, where they’re fed back into the patient to attack his tumors. (Keshavan, 6/9)

WBUR: With Cancer Diagnoses, Better-Off Americans May Get Too Much Attention
It's just common sense: People who are better off get better medical care. But when it comes to cancer screening — to find hidden malignancies when they're early and curable — a new analysis says conventional wisdom doesn't hold up. The analysis, in the New England Journal of Medicine, challenges the intuitive notion that well-insured Americans, who are more likely to get screened regularly for cancer, have a lower risk of dying from the disease. (Knox, 6/8)

Miami Herald: Landmark Clinical Trial Aimed At Bringing Cuban Lung Cancer Vaccine To U.S. Patients 
The first patients in a clinical trial at Roswell Park Cancer Institute have begun receiving monthly doses of CIMAvax-EGF, a Cuban lung cancer vaccine that U.S. researchers say shows promise in preventing the recurrence of lung cancer — the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. The Roswell trial, which was authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last fall, is the first time that a Cuban-made therapy has been tested on U.S. patients. (Whitefield, 6/8)

And in other public health news —

NPR: Fetuses React To Face-Like Patterns
Provocative new research suggests that fetuses have the ability to discern faces when they're still in the womb. A study involving 34-week-old fetuses found they were more likely to focus on a pattern of lights that resembled a human face than on the same lights configured to look nothing like a face. (Stein, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: Quantity Over Quality? Minorities Shown To Get An Excess Of Ineffective Care
Minority patients face a double whammy: Not only are they more likely to miss out on effective medical treatments than white patients, but, according to a new study, they’re also more likely to receive an abundance of ineffective services. The study, published in the June issue of Health Affairs, examined 11 medical services identified as “low value” by the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely initiative. That program pinpoints unnecessary, overused medical tests and treatments in an effort to reduce waste and avoid needless risk in the health care system. (Andrews, 6/9)

Tampa Bay Times: Less Invasive Treatment Lowers Risk For Those With An Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm 
An aneurysm looks like a big bubble bulging out from the side of a blood vessel. In the case of an AAA, it occurs on a weakened wall of the aorta, a major blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the abdomen, pelvis and legs. If the bubble bursts, a patient can bleed to death in minutes. (Maher, 6/8)

Roll Call: Gianforte To Plead Monday
Montana’s incoming Rep. Greg Gianforte is expected to make a plea on Monday to misdemeanor assault charges over his body-slamming of a reporter the day before his election last month. Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert told Reuters Gianforte is also expected to be sentenced that same day. (Garcia, 6/8)

The Missoulian: Gianforte To Appear In Court Monday To Plead No Contest To Assault Charge
On May 24, Gianforte assaulted [Guardian reporter Ben] Jacobs, who entered a room where the then-candidate preparing to give an interview to another reporter. Jacobs tried to ask Gianforte about a health care bill, but Gianforte became enraged and shoved Jacobs down, breaking his glasses. In a recording that Jacobs took, which has been widely circulated since the assault, the reporter can be heard saying Gianforte "body-slammed" him and broke his glasses. Gianforte yells, "Get the hell out of here." (Michels, 6/8)

Reuters: Montana Congressman-Elect To Be Sentenced For Altercation With Reporter
Gianforte's campaign initially suggested Jacobs instigated the incident by barging into the candidate's office and shoving a recording device in his face as he was preparing for a TV interview. But in a letter of apology to Jacobs issued on Wednesday, Gianforte said his "physical response to your legitimate question was unprofessional, unacceptable and unlawful." (Dobuzinskis, 6/8)

Health News Florida: Pulse Shows Flaws In Mass Casualty Response 
The Pulse shooting shed light on a flaw in the health care system: The closest hospital gets the most patients in a mass casualty incident. It’s been documented in research looking at other disasters. And it’s something hospitals have to be prepared for. (Aboraya, 6/8)

Orlando Sentinel: Local Hospitals Increase Security Measures 
It was a year ago that ORMC had to take extra security measures in response to the Pulse shooting: It started guarding its entrances. Shortly after, leaders decided to limit the number of entry points to the facility and installed metal detectors at the main entrance of ORMC and its two sister hospitals, Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies. And none of these changes are likely to go away, said Eric Alberts, manager of emergency preparedness for ORMC’s parent company, Orlando Health. (Miller, 6/8)

WMFE: After Pulse, An LGBTQ Effort For Gun Control
The Pride Fund to End Gun Violence says it has raised $125,000 in the year after the Pulse mass shooting, the deadliest in modern American history. The fund is aimed at candidates who support gun control. It is one of an array of funds established after the massacre at the gay nightclub. (Green, 6/8)

Los Angeles Times: Nevada Moves Closer To A Landmark Medicaid-For-All Healthcare Model
With his signature on a novel Medicaid-for-all-type bill, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval could rewrite the way many of his constituents get healthcare, and establish a model that other states might eventually follow in the absence of congressional action to fix or replace Obamacare. He got the bill delivered to his desk Monday. He hasn’t said what he will do with it. If he doesn’t sign or veto it by June 16, it will automatically become law. (Montero, 6/8)

Tampa Bay Times: Florida Senate Set To Roll Back Hospital Cuts, But Don't Expect The House To Go Along 
Senators are poised to vote today to roll back $260 million in cuts to Medicaid that they passed during the regular session, bringing hospital funding yet again into a political stalemate between the House and Senate. During regular session, lawmakers agreed to $521 million in cuts to hospital payments, with about $92 million coming from Tampa Bay. (Auslen, 6/9)

News Service of Florida: Cap On Damages In Medical Malpractice Cases Overturned In Florida 
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a law limiting pain-and-suffering damages in medical malpractice cases is unconstitutional, rejecting a controversial change that the Legislature and then-Gov. Jeb Bush approved in 2003. Justices were sharply divided, with the four-member majority finding that the caps on “non-economic” damages violated equal-protection rights. (Saunders, 6/8)

The CT Mirror: Wade May Be Fined For Withholding Records On Aetna-Humana Merger
Katharine Wade, head of the Connecticut Insurance Department, may be fined $1,000 for violating public records laws because her agency declined to release documents relating to her approval of a proposed merger between Aetna and Humana. In a proposed ruling, a Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission hearing officer has determined the Insurance Department failed to prove the records were exempt from disclosure and has recommended a rare civil fine against Wade “after consideration of the entire record in this case.” (Radelat, 6/8)

Los Angeles Times: More Than $30 Million In Prop. 47 Savings Will Go To Mental Health And Drug Rehab Programs In The Los Angeles Area
California state officials on Thursday named the 23 government agencies that will receive $103 million in grant funds from a ballot initiative that downgraded six drug and theft crimes to misdemeanors. For the large coalition of supporters behind 2014's Proposition 47, it is a long-awaited step forward. Other states have passed similar laws. But California is the lone state investing the money saved from keeping fewer people behind bars in services to help people stay out of prison. (Ulloa, 6/8)

Houston Chronicle: Methodist Hospital Sued Over Alleged Secret Taping Of Patient Calls 
A prominent doctor alleged in a lawsuit filed in state district court that Houston Methodist Hospital secretly recorded telephone conversations between patients and nurses without their knowledge for as long as eight years. The practice, if true, may violate state and federal privacy laws, legal specialists said. Eric Haufrect, who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology, said he complained to top Methodist officials when he learned of the recordings from his nurse and believed it was his duty to report the breach of confidentiality to executives, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in state district court in Harris County. (Sixel, 6/8)

Columbus Dispatch: Families Fight Class-Action Status In Disability Rights Lawsuit
More families are trying to stave off class-action status in the court battle between the state and the legal advocacy group Disability Rights Ohio. Parents and guardians filed nearly two dozen motions Thursday in federal court in Columbus, saying they want a voice in the case. Larry Koebel Sr., whose 46-year-old son has severe developmental disabilities, said he and others are trying to prevent loved ones from being swept up in a broad action that could someday push them out of the residential centers they call home. (Price, 6/8)

The Oregonian: Feds Coming Knocking At Failed Zoom Health
Federal investigators are looking into the sudden demise of Zoom Health Plan, the failed insurance arm of the better-known ZoomCare chain of medical clinics. Investigators showed up at the downtown Portland offices of Zoom Health at about 10 a.m. Thursday and interviewed staff, confirmed Lisa Morawski, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. She would not say which agencies were involved. (Manning, 6/8)

Sacramento Bee: Family Of Mentally Ill Man Shot By Sacramento Police File Second Lawsuit Seeking Answers
The five siblings of a mentally ill black man fatally shot by police in North Sacramento nearly a year ago filed a lawsuit Thursday in their continuing efforts to learn if the officers who fired the shots were disciplined, and what if any changes the department has made to lower its use of force. ... The lawsuit is the second filed by the Mann family. (Chabria, 6/8)

Cincinnati Enquirer: TriHealth Steps Up Its Cancer Care With $100M Investment, New Building
TriHealth announced Thursday a $100 million expansion of its cancer care with a new $62 million clinical building at Bethesda North Hospital to open in two years as a “one-stop shop” for treatment... The emphasis on cancer medicine also serves to elbow UC Health, as it strives to win more federal dollars to expand cancer research in the region. (Saker, 6/8)

Iowa Public Radio: Budget Cuts Force Closure Of Southeast Iowa Domestic Violence Offices 
The Domestic Violence Intervention Program is closing offices in Burlington and Keokuk this summer to prepare for cuts to victim services funding. The closures come as Iowa programs that help victims of domestic and sexual violence are trying to figure out how to deal with a combined $5.7 million cut in state and federal funding. (Sostaric, 6/8)

California Healthline: California’s Aid-In Dying Law Turns 1, But Not All Doctors Have Adopted It
John Minor of Manhattan Beach epitomized the active Californian. The retired psychologist was a distance runner, a cyclist and an avid outdoorsman, says his daughter Jackie Minor of San Mateo. “He and my mom were both members of the Sierra Club,” Jackie said. “They went on tons of backpacking trips — climbing mountains and trekking through the desert. He was just a very active person.” But in September 2014, he fell ill with terminal pulmonary fibrosis — a lung disease that his family says slowly eroded his quality of life. (O'Neill, 6/9)

The Oregonian: 18 Cases Of Whooping Cough At Lincoln High; 2 At Skyline Elementary 
Lincoln High School has been hit with an outbreak of whooping cough, with two cases also emerging up at Skyline Elementary. The first case popped up at Lincoln in April, said Dave Northfield, a spokesman for Portland Public Schools. Multnomah County Health Department alerted parents twice, urging them to have sick children treated with antibiotics to curtail transmission...A total of 18 cases, some confirmed, some suspected, emerged at Lincoln, Vines said. The illness affected all grades: freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. The last case dates to mid-May. (Terry, 6/8)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Fayette To Explore School Health Centers
Studies relating children’s health to their education success are prompting Fayette County to consider the feasibility of school-based health centers. Head Nurse Debbie King briefed the Board of Education recently about the link between school performance and hunger, chronic illness and physical or emotional abuse. King cited a study showing that nearly 6,000 children, primarily in northern Fayette, live in areas considered to have “very low child well-being,” and often lack health insurance. (Jill HowardChurch, 6/8)

Tampa Bay Times: All Children's Hospital, UnitedHealthcare Resolve Contract Dispute That Affected Thousands 
UnitedHealthcare members can once again pay in-network rates at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, the hospital and the insurance company announced Thursday. All Children's had been out of network since May, when contract negotiations between United and the hospital broke down. All Children's wanted United to pay more; United said All Children's was asking for too much. (McGrory, 6/8)

Denver Post: Englewood Pain Cream Manufacturing Business Owner Charged With Health Care Fraud
The owner and founder of a large compounding pharmacy that sold pain creams around the country and once employed more than 100 workers has been charged with introducing an unapproved drug into interstate commerce. Darby C. Brown’s company, Brown’s Compounding Center, on Wednesday was charged separately in federal court with health care fraud. Brown illegally sold compounded prescription pain cream through pharmacy benefit managers like CVS Caremark, according to court records. He faces fines of up to $500,000, court records indicate. (Mitchell, 6/8)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Philly's Largest Nursing-Home Owner Sells All Its Facilities
Mid-Atlantic Health Care LLC, the largest nursing-home operator in Philadelphia, has sold its facilities here, along with one in Montgomery County it bought for $39 million in 2014. The sale closed May 30, Scott Rifkin, Mid-Atlantic’s chief executive, confirmed Wednesday. He said he was not prepared to comment further. The price was not disclosed. The buyer was MIMA Healthcare, of New Jersey, according to SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, a union that represents thousands of licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants at 108 nursing homes in the state. (Brubaker, 6/8)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Ochsner Announces Baton Rouge Expansion With 450 Jobs 
Ochsner Health System is going after more of the health care market share in Baton Rouge through a more than $100 million expansion. Leaders announced plans Thursday morning (June 8) for additional facilities that they said will create more than 450 permanent jobs in the next four years. The big construction plans signal Ochsner following the health care industry's overall move toward putting resources behind outpatient care, rather than acute services at hospitals. The new facilities will include a medical office building, a "micro-hospital" and a surgical center along the Interstate 10 Bluebonnet/Siegen corridor. The three new buildings are expected to be finished for 2019. (Larose, 6/8)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Penn Study Says Retailers Charge Women More Than Men For Common Hair Loss Medications
According to findings published online Wednesday in JAMA Dermatology, women on average pay 40 percent more than men for minoxidil foams – a hair-loss fighting product most commonly sold as Rogaine...The price differences were found even though the men’s and women’s versions of the foam formulas contain the same drug strength and inactive ingredients, the report found. (Giordano, 6/8)

Houston Chronicle: Demand For Dental Services Keeps Tomagwa Program Busy 
Tomagwa offers health care to uninsured, low-income families and individuals throughout northwest Harris, southwest Montgomery and southeast Waller counties. To qualify for its dental services, one must be no more than 200 percent of the federal poverty line and without insurance. Those patients still contribute some, which helps provide a sense of ownership in their care but also leads to fewer missed appointments according to Jonathan Sanderson, another dentist, who's been with Tomagwa since 2013. (Hill, 6/8)

Arizona Republic: Marijuana Doctor On Her Own After Johns Hopkins Drops Pot Study
Two major research universities have cut ties with a Valley doctor’s efforts to answer this question: Does smoking marijuana help veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder? Dr. Sue Sisley, who was fired by the University of Arizona in 2013 after her study was underway, learned in March that Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University has dropped plans to partner on the first-ever study of cannabis for veterans. (Alltucker, 6/8)

Bloomberg: Republicans Go For A Win In Name Only
The health-care bill that squeaked through the House and is now beginning to possibly move through the Senate had a lot of problems, but at least it had a plausible plan to get through Congress and become a law. The financial-regulation bill the House will consider today (to "repeal" the Dodd-Frank Act) has no plan, and no apparent possibility of going anywhere beyond the House. It will presumably pass on a straight party-line vote, with every Democrat voting against it. (Jonathan Bernstein, 6/8)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Children Are The Forgotten Fallout Of Obamacare Repeal
Our nation's 70 million children have been lost in discussions about the passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), and it has placed our children at significant risk for losing their access to care. The No. 1 insurer for pediatric health care in this country is the Medicaid program, which was initially established with a focus on children in 1965. (William H. Considine, 6/9)

Bloomberg: Trump's Obamacare Crisis
Like too much else in Washington, the slow-motion collapse of Obamacare was an eminently avoidable crisis. The question, now that it is happening, is whether President Donald Trump and Congress want to work together to contain it. With Anthem Inc.'s alarming decision to quit Ohio's health-insurance marketplace, 18 more counties can now be added to the territory where people who qualify for federal subsidies will have no insurance plans to buy next year. Trump has actively sought to destabilize the law -- by repeatedly threatening to withhold federal payments owed to health insurers, making it easier for people to dodge the tax penalty for not having insurance and, with Congress, threatening to replace the law with a system that would separate millions of Americans from health insurance. (6/8)

The New York Times: Dear Paul Ryan: Listen To Planned Parenthood Patients
I visited the three Planned Parenthood clinics in your congressional district in Wisconsin and spoke to women and men arriving full of anxieties. They feared unwanted pregnancy, gonorrhea, breast cancer, and they can’t understand why you’re trying to close clinics that keep them healthy. They’re having trouble reaching you, so I thought I’d help. Speaker Ryan, please listen to your own constituents. (Nicholas Kristof, 6/8)

The Columbus Dispatch: Contraception Revision Could Backfire
The Trump administration is poised to undo what it believed it accomplished on behalf of conservative Christians when President Donald Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. That appointment kept the court from taking a leftward turn and puts the political holy grail for conservative Christians — overturning or Roe v. Wade — within reach if another seat is vacated before the 2020 presidential election. But the administration’s assault on objective reality and its embrace of alternative facts is about to threaten decades worth of progress on the abortion front. (6/9)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Greitens Recalls Legislators To Burnish His Anti-Abortion Credentials
Gov. Eric Greitens is recalling lawmakers for another special session, this time in a direct challenge to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling warning states against overt efforts to restrict abortion rights. Greitens also wants to roll back a St. Louis anti-discrimination law protecting women from being fired or denied housing because they have had an abortion, are pregnant or use contraception. (6/8)

Los Angeles Times: 'Alexa, What's My Blood Sugar Level And How Much Insulin Should I Take?'
It’s become a punchline in the tech industry that every start-up is out to change the world. When it comes to medical technology, however, some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley are poised to do just that. Apple, Google and Amazon have announced or are reported to be developing cutting-edge technologies for managing diabetes, one of the fastest-growing chronic illnesses, affecting more than 420 million people worldwide. (David Lazarus, 6/9)

The New England Journal Of Medicine: Cyberattack On Britain’s National Health Service — A Wake-Up Call For Modern Medicine
As you would expect in a pandemic, the headlines were alarmist: we were reportedly locked in a race against time to protect millions of patients from a new virus of unprecedented virulence that had crippled the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) and was spreading rapidly across the country. Except in this case, the virus was not organic but digital. On May 12, 2017, computer hackers attempted to hold the NHS hostage by exploiting a weakness in Microsoft operating systems. When NHS staff opened an apparently innocuous e-mail attachment, a ransomware worm known as “WannaCry” infiltrated their computers, encrypting data and locking out users. Throughout the United Kingdom, NHS doctors and nurses found themselves helplessly staring at screens that ordered them to pay a Bitcoin ransom to unlock their computers. (Rachel Clarke and Taryn Youngstein, 6/7)

The New England Journal Of Medicine: Effective Legislative Advocacy — Lessons From Successful Medical Trainee Campaigns
“What is the best way for me to get involved politically?” Since last November’s election, I have fielded this question frequently from fellow residents as well as medical students. Many of them have never been politically active, having assumed that the arc of progress would continue uninterrupted, and so, understandably, have focused instead on a demanding training process that largely treats advocacy as extracurricular rather than as a core competency. Now, recognizing the myriad ways in which politics and policy influence the health care we deliver, many trainees feel a new sense of urgency to get involved. (Elizabeth P. Griffiths, 6/7)