Politico: Establishment Dems Give Medicare-For-All The Brush Off
House Democratic leaders gave their liberal lawmakers what they wanted on health care. Now they’re fighting to keep “Medicare for All“ from devouring the party. Progressives emboldened by this week's bill rollout are vowing to turn up the pressure on fellow Democrats to back the single-payer blueprint and build momentum ahead of the 2020 election. That’s already creating headaches for top Democrats who fear the political blowback of the plan’s most liberal elements, including abortion funding and the elimination of most private health insurance. (Cancryn, 2/28)

The Hill: Pelosi On Single-Payer Health Care: 'How Do You Pay For That?' 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) expresses some skepticism about single-payer health insurance in a new interview, asking how the trillions of dollars in new spending would be paid for. “That is, administratively, the simplest thing to do, but to convert to it? Thirty trillion dollars. Now, how do you pay for that?” Pelosi said of single-payer in an interview with Rolling Stone. (Sullivan, 2/28)

The Hill: Key Dem Chairman Voices Skepticism On 'Medicare For All' Bill 
House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) is expressing skepticism about a new "Medicare for all" bill introduced this week, although he has supported similar measures in the past. Yarmuth, who has supported Medicare for all bills since arriving in the House in 2006, says a new version introduced this week by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) goes far beyond what he considers to be Medicare for all. (Hellmann, 2/28)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ ‘Medicare-For-All’ Debate: Who’s Going To Pay
House Democrats, led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), have formally introduced their “Medicare-for-all” legislation. The bill, which would ensure coverage for almost every medical service most people need, did not come with any suggestions for financing. But it will likely reflect the far-left end of the Democratic debate in progress. (2/28)

Meanwhile, a man shares his experience with another country's socialized medicine —

The Washington Post: Taiwan Hospital: American Student With No Health Insurance Gets Full Treatment For $80
The Facebook post was illustrated with an image of an IV. “Went to the ER in Taiwan,” it began. Kevin Bozeat, a 25-year-old student, wrote about coming down with severe gastrointestinal symptoms while studying in Taiwan: stomach cramps, bouts of vomiting that would not abate and perhaps worst of all, he couldn’t keep any fluids down. Around 3 a.m., he decided it was time to go to the hospital for treatment, not knowing what to expect having never been to a hospital in Taiwan — a country that has a national health care system, or as Bozeat wrote, “socialized medicine.” (Rosenberg, 2/28)

Politico: HHS Demands Apology From House Ethics Chair For Comments On Abuse Of Migrant Children
Health and Human Services officials refused Thursday to meet with Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), saying the House Ethics Committee chair must first apologize for stating publicly earlier this week that HHS staff sexually abused migrant children in agency custody. "By deliberately or negligently mischaracterizing the data during a televised hearing, you impugned the integrity of hundreds of federal civil servants," Jonathan Hayes, the HHS refugee director, wrote Deutch on Thursday, in a letter obtained by POLITICO. HHS has been seeking an apology for two days. (Diamond and Bresnahan, 2/28)

In other news —

Arizona Republic: Arizona Clears Southwest Key Shelters To House New Immigrant Children
State health officials Thursday cleared a Southwest Key shelter in central Phoenix to again accept immigrant children, four months after lax background checks caused state officials to ban the company's Arizona shelters from accepting kids.Casa Lighthouse will start housing children once the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement sends children to the facility. It is the first of 11 Southwest facilities that company officials hope to again take new placements; state health officials said they expect to approve more for new admissions in the coming weeks and months. (Pitzi, 2/28)

Arizona Republic: ICE Detention Center Holding High Number Of Infants, Complaint Says
There has been an "alarming increase" in the number of infants being held in a federal immigration detention center, which is poorly equipped to provide adequate medical care to very young children, advocacy groups said in a complaint filed Thursday with the Department of Homeland Security. There were at least nine infants under the age of one detained as of Thursday at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, according to the complaint filed by the American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (González, 2/28)

The New York Times: With Ground Zero Payments Slashed, A Push To Replenish A 9/11 Fund
It has been more than 17 years since the World Trade Center collapsed in the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, and since 2011, a rededicated fund has compensated emergency personnel and others who responded to the scene and have since gotten sick, as well as the families of the deceased. But with medical claims on the rise, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is running out of money: Already, more than $5 billion of the $7.375 billion it was allotted in 2015 to give away over five years has been spent. (Goldmacher, 2/28)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

The Hill: GOP Senator: Legislation Combating Surprise Medical Bills Could Come In March 
A bipartisan group of senators working on legislation to stop patients from getting massive, surprise medical bills is hoping to release new legislation by the end of March, a senator says. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), one of the leaders of the effort, said Thursday that “our goal” is to release a new piece of legislation by the end of March. (Sullivan, 2/28)

CNN: House Passes 'Charleston Loophole Bill' On Gun Background Checks
For the second day in a row, the House of Representatives passed legislation related to gun control, the latest proposal dubbed the so-called "Charleston loophole" bill, aimed at closing a gap in the background check system that allowed a man to purchase a gun and kill nine members of a church nearly four years ago. The bill, HR 1112 was sponsored by Rep. Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat and -- as House Democratic whip -- the highest ranking African-American member of Congress. (Landers, 2/28)

NPR: House Passes Second Gun Background Check Bill In As Many Days
Thursday's bill seeks to close the so-called "Charleston loophole" that allowed an avowed white supremacist to buy a gun used to kill 9 people at Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston. S.C., in 2015. Currently a gun seller has to wait three business for federal investigators to conduct background check. Most checks are quick, but incomplete data can sometimes cause a delayed response. If the delay lasts more than three business days, the gun sale can move forward. (Booker and Kaste, 2/28)

The Washington Post: House Votes To Lengthen Background Check Window For Gun Transfers, As Lawmakers Speak About Their Experiences With Domestic Abuse
The measure’s passage follows Wednesday’s vote on a separate bill expanding federal background checks for gun purchases and transfers. President Trump has threatened to veto both measures, and they stand little chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Senate. The bills represent the first major firearms legislation in more than a decade, part of a new — if cautious — push by House Democrats to combat the country’s gun violence epidemic since they retook control of the chamber in January. (Sonmez, 2/28)

Politico: New CPAC Stars: Black Gun Rights Activists
For a few minutes at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday afternoon, the message was more Malcolm X than William F. Buckley. Sporting a red hoodie, his hair in cornrows, Maj Toure touted his group, Black Guns Matter. "We go where there's high violence, high crime, high gun control — high slave mentalities, to be perfectly honest,” he said, “and inform urban America about their human right, as stated in the Second Amendment, to defend their life." (Schreckinger, 3/1)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Updates Hospital Star Ratings But Seeks Feedback On More Changes
The CMS is considering scrapping the model it uses to assign hospital star ratings, signaling a big shift from the agency's stance just seven months ago. In conjunction with releasing new ratings on the Hospital Compare website Thursday for the first time in nearly 15-months, the agency also opened a public comment page for stakeholders to provide feedback on potential changes to the ratings program, and one them is tossing out the latent variable model used to assign hospitals ratings. (Castellucci, 2/28)

Kaiser Health News: Medicare Trims Payments To 800 Hospitals, Citing Patient Safety Incidents
Eight hundred hospitals will be paid less by Medicare this year because of high rates of infections and patient injuries, federal records show. The number is the highest since the federal government five years ago launched the Hospital Acquired Conditions (HAC) Reduction Program, created by the Affordable Care Act. Under the program, 1,756 hospitals have been penalized at least once, a Kaiser Health News analysis found.This year, 110 hospitals are being punished for the fifth straight time. (Rau, 3/1)

Look Up Your Hospital:  Is It Being Penalized By Medicare? Use KHN's New Search

Chicago Tribune: In Controversial Ratings, Feds Lower Quality Scores Of Some Of Chicago's Top Hospitals 
Several of the Chicago area’s biggest-name hospitals — including Northwestern Memorial, Rush University, University of Chicago and Loyola University medical centers — saw their scores for quality drop, in controversial ratings released by the federal government Thursday. In some cases, the hospitals, which are often touted as among the best in the area, earned surprisingly low scores. University of Chicago and Loyola University medical centers each earned two out of five stars, according to the ratings released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. They earned three stars the last time ratings were released. (Schencker, 2/28)

Modern Healthcare: Blues Association Hopes To Convince Congress To Stabilize ACA Exchanges
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association wants to resurrect congressional efforts to stabilize the Affordable Care Act's exchanges by boosting tax subsidies and cost-sharing payments. The association, which represents more than 30 Blues plans across the U.S., released a legislative proposal on Thursday to boost subsidies for ACA exchange customers to entice younger people to sign up on the exchanges and help customers that earn too much to get a subsidy. The proposal would also install a reinsurance program, resume reimbursements to insurers of cost-sharing reduction payments and further delay the ACA's health insurance tax. (King, 2/28)

Modern Healthcare: Likely Return Of The Health Insurance Tax To Impact MA Profits
Congress appears unlikely to delay the health insurance tax next year. If that happens, Medicare Advantage plans would see the biggest impact, analysts and insurers say. On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a suspension of the tax, known as the HIT, through 2021. The tax was in place for 2018, suspended in 2019 and is due to take effect again in 2020. (Luthi and Livingston, 2/28)

The Wall Street Journal: CVS Names Chief Information Officer To Lead Aetna Integration
CVS Health Corp. has tapped a new chief information officer tasked with integrating its information technology and data with IT systems used by Aetna Inc., which the drugstore chain acquired last year in a $70 billion deal. Roshan Navagamuwa, who over the past year served as interim CIO, was named CIO and executive vice president of the combined health-industry giant, leading all areas of technology operations and innovation, according to a statement provided by the company. The move is effective immediately. (Loten, 2/28)

Modern Healthcare: Time's Up Launches Healthcare Branch To Address Harassment
A healthcare offshoot of Time's Up will officially launch on March 1 to try to bring safety and equity to the workplace. Time's Up was spawned out of the #MeToo movement, which gained global attention in 2017 as scores of women shared their stories of sexual harassment on social media. Time's Up has since spread to multiple industries as it looks to spur change. (Kacik, 2/28)

Stat: Time’s Up Targets Gender Bias And Harassment In Health Care 
STAT spoke with Dr. Jane van Dis, an OB-GYN in California, the chief executive of the nonprofit Equity Quotient, and founding member of Time’s Up Healthcare, about the group’s goals. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. (Thielking, 2/28)

Stat: NIH Apologizes For Failure To Address Sexual Harassment In Science
The National Institutes of Health on Thursday apologized for its past failures to recognize and address the culture of sexual harassment that has impacted scientists for generations. “To all those who have endured these experiences, we are sorry that it has taken so long to acknowledge and address the climate and culture that has caused such harm,” NIH Director Francis Collins said in a statement. ((Facher and Thielking, 2/28)

And in other news on medical personnel and bias —

USA Today: African-American Enrollment In Medical School Lags Other Groups
Gabriel Felix is on track to graduate from Howard University's medical school in May. The 27-year-old from Rockland County, N.Y., has beaten the odds to make it this far, and knows he faces challenges going forward. He and other black medical school students have grown used to dealing with doctors' doubts about their abilities, and other slights: being confused with hospital support staff, or being advised to pick a nickname because their actual names would be too difficult to pronounce. (O'Donnell and Robinson, 2/28)

Chicago Tribune: Chicago Has One Female, African-American Organ Transplant Surgeon. She Fights Disease — And Distrust Of Doctors 
In some families, a deeply ingrained sense of betrayal, passed down through generations, can permeate doctor visits. It’s a product of medical experiments widely performed on slaves in the mid-1800s, a product of the 40-year Tuskegee syphilis experiment, begun in 1932, that denied hundreds of black men a proper diagnosis or treatment for a debilitating disease, a product of quality medical care existing just out of geographic reach. (Stevens, 3/1)

The Associated Press: Funds Threat Won't End Planned Parenthood Abortion Referrals
Planned Parenthood of Illinois says it will continue providing abortion referrals despite the risk of losing millions of dollars in federal funding under a new rule enacted by the Trump administration. The rule issued last week bars taxpayer-funded family-planning clinics from making abortion referrals and requires clinics to be physically and financially separate from abortion providers, The Chicago Tribune reported. (2/28)

The Associated Press: New Nashville Clinic Seeks To 'De-Stigmatize' Abortion
A health care company known for its outspoken support of a woman's legal right to an abortion is setting up shop in Nashville. After launching clinics in the Washington, D.C., area, Atlanta and Chicago, Carafem will open its Nashville location Friday. Their marketing slogan captures part of their no-nonsense approach to the procedure: "Abortion. Yeah, we do that." (Kruesi, 2/28)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Governor Backs 'Trigger Law' If Roe V. Wade Is Overturned
Gov. Brian Kemp wants Georgia lawmakers to pass a “trigger law” that would ban almost all abortions in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision is overturned. The Republican’s endorsement of the measure opens a new front over cultural legislation at the Georgia Statehouse and stoked fierce opposition from Democrats and abortion rights advocates. (Bluestein, 2/28)

The Washington Post: An 11-Year-Old Pleaded For An Abortion After She Was Raped. She Was Forced To Give Birth.
An 11-year-old rape victim gave birth in Argentina on Tuesday after she was apparently denied an abortion by authorities, infuriating women’s rights advocates in the country who have fought to legalize the procedure. The girl, referred to as “Lucia” to protect her identity, underwent a Caesarean section Tuesday in the 23rd week of her pregnancy, the Guardian reports. Lucia, whose baby is not expected to survive, had previously begged officials to “remove what the old man put inside me.” That man is the 65-year-old partner of Lucia’s grandmother — who took custody of Lucia and her siblings in 2015, after her two older sisters were reportedly abused by their mother’s partner, the Guardian reported. (Brice-Saddler, 2/28)

NPR: Measles Outbreaks Prompt More States To Restrict Vaccine Exemptions
All U.S. states require most parents to vaccinate their children against some preventable diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella and whooping cough, to be able to attend school. Such laws often apply to children in private schools and day care facilities as well as public schools. At the same time, beyond medical exemptions, most states also allow parents to opt out of this vaccination requirement for religious reasons. And 17 states permit other exemptions — allowing families to opt out of school vaccination requirements for personal or philosophical reasons. (Neighmond, 2/28)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Vaccination Opt-Out Laws Come Under Fire After Measles Outbreaks
Measles outbreaks in Washington and New York states have focused new attention on exemptions like the one embedded in Wisconsin law, which allows parents to opt out of immunization "for reasons of health, religion, or personal conviction." Sixteen other states have similar laws, which critics say contribute to a rise in the number of unvaccinated kids. (Haynes, 2/28)

The Oregonian: Hundreds Pack Oregon Hearing To Oppose Bill To End Vaccine Exemptions 
After three hours of testimony on a bill that would eliminate most vaccine exemptions, 180 people still waited to speak their minds. Nearly all of them were there to oppose House Bill 3063, which the Oregon Legislature has taken up in the midst of one of the largest measles outbreaks the Pacific Northwest has ever seen. The chairwoman of the House Committee on Health Care prioritized people who had traveled from within Oregon to get to the Capitol, and about 75 people were able to speak. Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego, said that as of the 3 p.m. start time, more than 1,000 written documents had been submitted for the record at such a rapid pace that workers putting the documents online couldn’t keep up. (Harbarger, 2/28)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Vaccine Laws: Doug Ducey Says He'll Veto Bills That Could Erode Coverage
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey says he is "pro-vaccination" and will not sign any bills that could erode vaccine coverage in the state. ...Disregarding warnings from health officials, the state House Health and Human Services Committee last week endorsed three bills that could lead to lower immunization coverage among Arizona's schoolchildren. (Innes, 2/28)

The Hill: Texas Lawmaker Says He’s Not Concerned About Measles Outbreak Because Of Antibiotics 
A Texas state lawmaker suggested that he is not worried about the recent outbreak of measles across the country because antibiotics can treat the virus. Texas state Rep. Bill Zedler (R) made the comments Tuesday to the Texas Observer and said he had a case of measles when growing up, before a vaccine for it was developed. (Daugherty, 2/28)

CNN: Measles Cases At 'Alarmingly' High Levels Around The World, UNICEF Says
Global measles cases increased by 48.4% between 2017 and 2018, according to calculations by UNICEF of data on 194 countries from the World Health Organization. Ten countries, including Brazil, the Philippines and France, accounted for nearly three-quarters of the total increase in measles cases in 2018, according to figures released by the UN's agency for children. This "alarming" global surge in measles cases poses a "growing" threat to children, UNICEF says. (Avramova, 2/28)

Meanwhile, in New York —

The Wall Street Journal: Measles Cases In Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish Communities Rise
The measles outbreak in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community continues to grow, New York City health officials said Thursday, even after the city ordered schools to bar unvaccinated students in some ZIP Codes from attending. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said 121 cases have been identified since October, up 31 from last week. It is the worst measles outbreak in New York City since 1991. Most cases in this outbreak are children in Borough Park and Williamsburg. The first to become sick had visited Israel, which faces a major outbreak now. (Brody and West, 2/28)

CNN: Newly Discovered Alzheimer's Genes Further Hope For Future Treatments
An analysis of the genetic makeup of more than 94,000 people in the United States and Europe with clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's led to the discovery of four new genetic variants that increase risk for the neurodegenerative disease. These genes, along with others previously identified, appear to work in tandem to control bodily functions that affect disease development, the study found. (LaMotte, 2/28)

The Washington Post: Weekend ‘Catch-Up Sleep’ Is A Lie
The negative health effects of skimping on sleep during the week can’t be reversed by marathon weekend sleep sessions, according to a sobering new study. Researchers have long known that routine sleep deprivation can cause weight gain and increase other health risks, including diabetes. But for those who force themselves out of bed bleary-eyed every weekday after too few hours of shut-eye, hope springs eternal that shutting off the alarm on Saturday and Sunday will repay the weekly sleep debt and reverse any ill effects. (Johnson, 2/28)

The New York Times: ‘Crippling’ Attacks Force Doctors Without Borders To Close Ebola Centers In Congo
Two attacks on Ebola treatment centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have forced the international aid group Doctors Without Borders to close the facilities, it said on Thursday, warning that the outbreak was not under control. In the first attack, on Sunday night, unidentified assailants threw stones at a treatment center in Katwa, in northeastern Congo, and set fire to the structure. They destroyed much of the building, equipment and patient wards, and the brother of a patient died, though the circumstances were unclear. (Yuhas, 2/28)

The New York Times: Trans Fat Bans May Be Good For The Heart
In 2006, New York City began restricting the amount of trans fats allowed in restaurant food. The regulation has apparently had the desired effect: lower blood levels of trans fatty acids for New Yorkers who dine out. Trans fatty acids, or TFAs, come mostly from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils like shortening or margarine. They raise blood levels of LDL, the “bad cholesterol,” and lower those of HDL, or “good cholesterol.” Their consumption is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. (Bakalar, 2/28)

The Wall Street Journal: The Hidden Costs Of Stressed-Out Workers
Every employer is in the health care business, like it or not. Employee health benefits cost Starbucks more annually than coffee beans; General Motors spends more on them than on steel. But beyond that giant budget item, every company’s business practices affect the physical and mental health of its employees. That can put another big, if less visible, hit on the bottom line. (Pfeffer, 2/28)

WBUR: Report: Child Poverty Could Be Cut In Half Over 10 Years, At A Hefty Price
Child poverty in the U.S. could be cut in half over the next 10 years with a few simple steps, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.The cost would be high — at least $90 billion a year. But the National Academies report warns that the price of not doing anything would be far greater. (Fessler, 2/28)

The Associated Press: New Sensors Monitor Sick Babies Without Wires Blocking Hugs
Peek into any U.S. hospital's baby ICU, and you'll see sick and premature newborns covered in wired monitors that tear at fragile skin and make it hard for parents to cuddle their kids. Now researchers have created tiny skin-like wireless sensors that may finally cut those cords. "This need was so compelling," said John Rogers, a Northwestern University bioengineer who led the sensors' development. "Without the wires, it's much easier for the parents, mothers in particular, to interact and hold their babies." (2/28)

The New York Times: Massachusetts Bill Would Ban Tackle Football Until After Seventh Grade
Less than a month after the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl, a group of Massachusetts lawmakers has proposed a bill that would ban organized youth tackle football until after seventh grade. The bill, which moved to the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health this week, follows attempts by legislators in five other states who have tried — but failed — to pass similar measures to protect growing brains from traumatic injury. The bipartisan bill, known as No Hits, would impose financial penalties for any school league or other entity that does not comply. (Rueb, 3/1)

Houston Chronicle: New Bill Will Get Patients Out Of Middle Of Billing Fights 
Texas patients would be removed from the middle of fights between insurers and health care providers, and the longstanding practice of balance billing would be curbed under legislation filed Thursday. "Enough is enough," said state Sen. Kelly Hancock at a press conference to announce the bi-partisan measure. Hancock filed the measure along with state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio. (Deam, 2/28)

Texas Tribune: Sweeping Legislation Takes Aim At Shock Emergency Room Bills In Texas
Typically, the unexpected and often confusing bills result when disputes between out-of-network doctors and insurance companies leave patients holding the bag — even if they had no choice in selecting their medical provider. But now, state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, and Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, want to keep those disputes from spilling over onto patients' bills. They unveiled their bipartisan legislation at the Texas Capitol Thursday. (Root and Najmabadi, 2/28)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Medicaid Expansion Patients Would Face Co-Pays, Premiums Under New Bill
A new bill in the Ohio Senate would require Medicaid expansion enrollees to pay premiums and make copayments on some medical services. Senate Bill 60, which would start a program called in the bill the Medicaid Personal Responsibility Initiative, doesn’t have specific dollar amounts for co-pays and premiums. That’s purposeful, said sponsor Sen. David Burke, a Union County Republican. (Hancock, 2/28)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Evers Budget: Wisconsin Governor Rolls Out Plan For Medicaid Expansion
The governor has proposed covering adults in BadgerCare Plus, the state’s largest Medicaid program, up to the threshold that would enable Wisconsin to receive the additional federal dollars available through the Affordable Care Act. That would free an estimated $320 million in state revenue over the biennium that the governor has proposed partially spending on health programs, including spending $43 million on an array of initiatives to improve access to dental care for low-income children and adults. (Boulton, 2/28)

The Associated Press: Kansas Lawmakers Struggle Over School Aid, Medicaid, Taxes
Kansas lawmakers have hit the halfway point of their annual session and they haven't had a hearing on a Medicaid expansion plan or pushed an education funding bill out of committee in the face of a court mandate to boost spending on public schools. And the GOP-dominated Legislature doesn't just appear to be slow-walking new Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's big initiatives. Despite Republican supermajorities, an income tax relief bill that GOP leaders consider an urgent priority hasn't cleared both chambers. (2/28)

Health News Florida: DeSantis Backs ‘Shared Savings’ Health Plan
Gov Ron DeSantis is throwing his support behind a proposal that could lead to insurance companies and HMOs returning premiums to savvy customers who are willing to shop around for health care. Appearing at Memorial Regional Hospital in Broward County on Wednesday, DeSantis supported bills filed for the upcoming legislative session that would establish “shared savings incentive” programs. (Sexton, 2/28)

Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Lawmakers Debate Support For Families, Children With Disabilities
In Tennessee, nearly all children with severe disabilities who come from middle- and high-income families do not qualify for the state's Medicaid program because their parents' salary is too high. Many of these families have private insurance and at least one working parent — and some have savings. But for the families of kids with complex medical needs and long-term disabilities, those safety nets aren't enough. (Bliss, 2/28)

Austin American-Statesman: Texas Senate Committee OKs Bill That Smacks Down Austin's Sick Leave Policy
Austin’s ordinance mandating paid sick leave for private employees got a swift diagnosis from detractors Thursday — a bad case of government overreach — even as supporters called it a boon for low-wage workers and for public health overall if it ever takes effect. The comments came during a hearing at the Capitol over Senate Bill 15, a proposal that would prohibit Austin and other local governments from regulating sick leave policies for private businesses or from putting in place other regulations “requiring any terms of employment that exceed or conflict” with federal or state law. (Sechler, 2/28)

Georgia Health News: Legislative Effort To Overhaul CON System Stalled In Senate
The proposed reform of the state’s certificate-of-need (CON) system faces an uncertain fate, just days before a legislative deadline. Lawmakers are considering the broadest revamp of the controversial regulatory program in years, and several hearings have been held on the issue. (Miller, 2/28)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Poll: Children's Mental Health Screenings Favored By Most Iowans
More than three-quarters of Iowans support a proposal to routinely screen children for mental health issues, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows. Seventy-seven percent of Iowa adults favor a universal mental health screening program for children, with a provision allowing parents to opt their kids out of it. Just 15 percent oppose the proposal, and 8 percent are unsure. (Leys, 2/28)

The Wall Street Journal: New York Requests Documents From Facebook, Apps On Data Sharing
A New York regulator is ramping up a promised investigation of how Facebook Inc. gathered sensitive personal information from popular smartphone applications, after a report by The Wall Street Journal revealed that some apps were sending the social-media giant data, including users’ body weight and menstrual cycles. The state’s Department of Financial Services on Wednesday sent a series of letters seeking information and documents from Facebook and the developers behind the at least 11 apps mentioned in the Journal’s reporting, according to a person familiar with the investigation. (Schechner, 2/28)

Modern Healthcare: Cleveland Clinic Outlines Ambitious Goals For Serving More Patients
Cleveland Clinic, already a behemoth in healthcare, wants to double the number of patients it treats in just five years, clinic president and CEO Dr. Tom Mihaljevic announced Wednesday morning, Feb. 27, in the State of the Clinic address. In the annual speech, he highlighted the system's finances, which took a hit in 2018, as well as the health of the institution's care of its patients, its caregivers, its community and itself. (Coutré, 2/28)

Stat: University Of California Breaks Up With Major Publisher Over Access Dispute
After months of negotiations, the University of California system has decided not to renew its subscriptions to journals put out by the major publisher Elsevier — a decision that could have big ripple effects for the way that academic research gets read and paid for. The move, announced in a release from the university system on Thursday, follows a breakdown in negotiations over payments for open-access research, which is made freely available to the public online. The dispute comes amid a larger effort by academics to try to shift toward greater open access in research and loosen the grip of publishers like Elsevier on the process. (Robbins, 2/28)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas ISD Trustees Adopt Expanded Sex Education Plan 
Dozens of speakers packed a Dallas school board meeting Thursday to make their voices heard on two hot-button proposals: one expanding sex education and another that would create partnerships with charter schools for some prekindergarten campuses. Trustees adopted the expanded sex education plan 6-1 with board member Lew Blackburn voting against it. Trustee Joyce Foreman was not present at the vote. (Ayala, 2/28)

WBUR: Beth Israel Lahey Health Is Set To Become Official
The new Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) has 13 hospitals that cover eastern Massachusetts from Gloucester to Plymouth. A total of 4,300 physicians and 9,000 nurses practice in those hospitals, and the network has nearly 35,000 employees and 1.3 million patients. (Mullins and Bebinger, 2/28)

Boston Globe: Things To Watch As Beth Israel, Lahey Merger Becomes Official
After years of planning, the merger between Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health becomes official Friday. ...The system will be nearly equal in size to Partners HealthCare, the state’s dominant health care provider and parent of several hospitals, including Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General. (Dayal McCluskey, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: He Overdosed In Jail On Medication For His Mental Illness. His Family Is Suing For Answers
Lewis Nyarecha was found unresponsive on a top bunk at the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles by a fellow inmate. He had missed dinner the night before and breakfast that day. Two L.A. County sheriff’s deputies began to haul the 25-year-old Nyarecha off the bunk, only to drop him, slamming the back of his head on a metal desk and sending blood gushing. Though he received CPR, Nyarecha would be declared dead on a June morning last year. The county coroner found the cause of his death was quetiapine toxicity; he was given the drug because he was schizophrenic. (Winton, 2/28)

Pioneer Press: Hospital Errors On Rise In Minnesota But Remain Rare, State Report Says 
Hospital errors rose in the last year across Minnesota, according to the state’s Department of Health’s annual report on the subject. The Minnesota Department of Health reported 384 “adverse health events” from October 2017 to October 2018, the highest number in the last 10 years. The report, which was the first of its kind in the nation, counts on hospitals to self-report preventable incidents such as falls, pressure ulcers and medication errors. (Lundy, 3/1)

Kansas City Star: KU’s Watkins Health Center Expands Transgender Services
A collaboration between Watkins Health Services and the university’s counseling and psychological department, combined with support from student government leaders, prompted the university to expand the services it offers trans students at the Lawrence campus. Until now, transgender students seeking health care — particularly services related to transitioning physically — had limited options. (Bergen, 3/1)

Denver Post: Aurora Hills Middle School Students, Staff To Be Tested For Tuberculosis
Some individuals at Aurora Hills Middle School were infected with tuberculosis, test results last week showed, according to Denver Public Health. So officials are expanding testing to all students and staff who were at the school during the fall semester. A news release from the agency stated that people who were potentially exposed to the disease were tested in January but didn’t show signs of infection. However, new test results of the same people showed that some did get infected. (Hindi, 2/28)

Boston Globe: Marijuana Cafes One Step Closer To Reality — Slowly
Now, the commission is poised to take up the issue again, after an advisory panel voted unanimously this week to recommend that regulators allow cannabis “bars” to open. This time, however, the agency is moving forward much more cautiously, contemplating a slow rollout of marijuana cafes and one-off events in a limited number of cities and towns that opt in. (Martin, 3/1)

The Associated Press: Police Pledge Thorough Investigation Of Patient Deaths
Law enforcement authorities on Thursday pledged a "thorough investigation" into allegations against an intensive-care doctor accused of ordering painkiller overdoses for dozens of Ohio hospital patients. In addition, the state attorney general's office confirmed it is conducting a Medicaid fraud investigation related to the doctor. (2/28)

The Star Tribune: Health Care Costs In Minn. Projected To Grow By 7.4% A Year For Years To Come 
The overall cost of health care in Minnesota grew at a relatively low rate during 2016, according to a new state report, but the broader trend points toward a likely doubling of expenses over the next decade. Total health costs in 2016 came in at $47.1 billion, a 4 percent increase over the previous year, according to the annual study by the Minnesota Department of Health. The report cited relatively low payments to health insurers that manage care in state public health insurance programs as contributing to the low growth rate. (Snowbeck, 2/28)

Denver Post: Colorado Disabilities Activist, Carrie Ann Lucas, Dies After Illness
Carrie Ann Lucas, a Colorado attorney and activist who advocated for parents with disabilities, died on Sunday. She was 47 years old. Lucas, who lived in Windsor, died from septic shock after becoming sick last year, said her mother Lee Lucas. ...Carrie Lucas was an advocate of people with disabilities and worked to promote the rights of parents with disabilities, including helping pass a state law that eliminated disability as a reason a child can be removed from a home, according to her obituary. (Seaman, 2/28)

WBUR: The Title X 'Gag Rule' Plays Politics By Attacking Women's Health
It puts clinicians in the untenable position of either violating medical ethics by withholding information from their patients, or being expelled from a federal program intended to ensure that people struggling to make ends meet can still access contraception, sexually transmitted disease testing, cancer screenings and other essential reproductive health care. By requiring clinics that offer abortions to maintain separate books and establish “physical separation” between abortion and any other medical services it provides (such as requiring separate entrances and exits, hiring separate staffs, etc.), this rule will make it physically and financially impossible for organizations receiving Title X funds for any reason to perform abortions. (Julie Wittes Schlack, 3/1)

The Hill: Why America's Faithful Must Stand Against The Domestic Gag Rule
The religious right in America hitched its wagon to President Trump to impose their beliefs on others and limit the health care people can and cannot receive. It began with President Trump’s first stroke of the pen reinstating and callously expanding the global gag rule. His policy withholds $9 billion in U.S. foreign assistance including, for the first time, almost $6 billion in HIV/AIDS relief — from organizations and governments around the world if they counsel or refer patients for abortion care, even if abortion is legal in their country. The result has drastically undermined the health of the world’s most vulnerable people. Now, President Trump and his ultraconservative allies are doing the same thing at home with a domestic gag rule. (Cynthia Romero and Jack Teter, 2/28)

Boston Globe: Abortion Goes On Trial, Again
The Supreme Court has turned a blind eye to these restrictive laws, using a vague legal test to judge a law’s constitutionality: Does the law impose an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to end her pregnancy before a fetus is viable or put her life or health at risk after that point? But with Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, the Roberts Court is now ready to test the limits of Roe v. Wade once again. (Robert L. Tsai, 2/28)

The New York Times: Give Sept. 11 Survivors The Help They Deserve
After terrorists brought down the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, Terence Opiola, then an agent with the United States Customs Service, worked amid the debris for months, recovering body parts and other evidence to help identify victims. In 2015, like many who had been at the site, he was told he had leukemia linked to his work there. Two years later, his illness forced him to retire at the age of 49 and he applied for benefits through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, created to help sick Sept. 11 emergency workers, civilian survivors and their families. Recently he learned that he and others might get only a small fraction of what was promised when the federal government set up the fund. (2/28)

Stat: Uninsured Americans Ignored When Congress Grilled Pharma Execs
Seven top pharma executives testified before Congress on Tuesday about the rising cost of medications in what some had predicted to be a watershed moment for the pharmaceutical industry. They were grilled about their pricing process, profit margins, and even their own salaries as lawmakers expressed outrage about high drug prices, including those for the lifesaving, necessary medications that so many Americans are now struggling to afford. But that conversation, and the lawmakers’ outrage, centered around a specific group of Americans: those with health insurance. (Nicole Lamoureux, 2/28)

The Washington Post: Black Women Are Facing A Childbirth Mortality Crisis. These Doulas Are Trying To Help.
Doulas have been part of pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum recovery for women of all backgrounds, but specifically women of color, for centuries. It is easy for their grass-roots efforts to get lost in the tragic statistics and stories, but doulas are doing community-based work in cities to give babies and mothers a better chance of survival. “Our team in general is woke,” Patrick said in a Skype interview. She explained that the majority of her team, three founders and 16 doulas, are white and the majority of their clients are white. She said she believes this racial makeup actually helps her see the disparities more clearly. (Sarah Hosseini, 2/28)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Too Many Older Americans Take Five Or More Medications. It’s Time To Cut Back
It’s also common: Thirty-six percent of adults over the age of 65 take five or more medications daily. But the problem transcends pill counts. Every day, my colleagues and I see new patients taking duplicate classes of medications, medications for conditions that have been resolved, or prescribed regimens that cause complex side effects. (Olaoluwa Fayanju, 2/28)

New England Journal of Medicine: Racist Like Me — A Call To Self-Reflection And Action For White Physicians 
I am racist, shaped by the sometimes subtle tendrils of white supremacy deeply embedded in our culture. I mean this not as a sanctimonious admission of guilt, but as a call to self-reflection and action for us white physicians. (Deborah Cohan, 2/27)

Stat: Restore Access To Next-Generation Sequencing For Inherited Cancer 
America’s policymakers are rightly concerned about identifying the best ways to provide access to affordable health care. Whether it’s reforming the Affordable Care Act or trying to implement “Medicare for all,” there is no shortage of discussion about this important topic. So it’s surprising that little attention has been given to an unsound Medicare decision that each year will deprive an estimated 20,000 women from access to comprehensive testing for hereditary breast cancer, along with a smaller number of men and women with other hereditary cancers. (Roger D. Klein, 3/1)

New England Journal of Medicine: Closing The Gap — Making Medical School Admissions More Equitable
The growing gap between the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic makeup of medical school classes and that of the general population means medical education is slipping further out of reach for many poor and minority students. (Efrain Talamantes, Mark C. Henderson, Tonya L. Fancher, and Fitzhugh Mullan, 2/27)

Louisville Courier-Journal: Deadly Hepatitis A Outbreak: Kentucky Must Investigate
Forty-three people are dead. More than 4,000 people sickened. And state officials didn’t do enough to stop it. Now, as the commonwealth faces the largest and deadliest hepatitis A outbreak in the nation, we Kentuckians deserve answers.The Cabinet for Health and Family Services must investigate the state’s grossly inadequate response to this crisis. It must determine what happened, why it happened and who is to blame. And it must take immediate action to stop the current crisis and develop protocols to ensure that it never happens again. (2/28)