The New York Times: Senate Passes Broad Bill To Combat Drug Abuse
Responding to a drug crisis that has contributed to more American deaths than car crashes, the Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a broad drug treatment and prevention bill, the largest of its kind since a law in 2008 that mandated insurance coverage for addiction treatment. “This is big and significant,” said Marvin Ventrell, the executive director of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers. “It had legs and interest because of the opioid crisis that has hit Middle America.” The bill, which passed 94 to 1, is a boon for Republican senators in swing states, which have been hit particularly hard by the drug crisis. Senators Rob Portman of Ohio and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, both Republicans, spent weeks promoting the measure on the floor after seeing opioid-related crime and addiction soar in their states. (Steinhauer, 3/10)

USA Today: Senate Passes Bipartisan Bill To Combat Painkiller Abuse, Heroin Addiction
The legislation authorizes $725 million for federal grants but does not allocate any actual funds, which would have to be approved as part of legislation to fund federal agencies for the 2017 fiscal year. Senate Republicans last week blocked an effort by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., to add $600 million in emergency money to the bill. "Let's not pretend that there is new money for this," [Sen. Sheldon] Whitehouse said. "The sooner we can get this funded, the sooner we can save lives." (Kelly, 3/10)

The Washington Post: Senate Passes Bill To Combat Heroin, Painkiller Abuse
Drug abuse has been in the spotlight this political season, with presidential candidates recalling personal stories about relatives and friends who struggled with addiction and lawmakers from states dealing with the crisis highlighting their efforts to address the problem legislatively. Many of the Republican senators who have most vocally backed the bill face tough re-election battles. (Demirjian, 3/10)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Passes Bill To Fight U.S. Opioid Epidemic
The Senate bill authorizes funding for state and local governments, as well as schools and nonprofits, to prevent and treat prescription drug and heroin abuse. It also would expand the availability of naloxone, a drug that can counter the effects of an overdose, and it makes special provisions to help prisoners, veterans, pregnant women and mothers fighting addiction. The lone senator to oppose the bill was Sen. Ben Sasse (R., Neb.). “I’m not convinced fighting addiction—as opposed to stopping drug traffickers—is best addressed at the federal level,” Mr. Sasse said in a statement. (O'Keeffe, 3/10)

And the crisis is also being addressed in the states —

The Washington Post: Hogan Proposes Additional Spending On Education, Drug Treatment
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced new spending proposals Thursday that would boost funding for K-12 education and drug addiction treatment and pay for new construction at five of the state’s universities. The $77 million plan is the latest addition to the $42 billion budget Hogan (R) pitched to the state legislature in January. The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee is expected to approve the original budget with minor tweaks before next week, sending it to the full Senate for ­consideration. (Hicks, 3/10)

The Connecticut Mirror: Senate Approves Bill To Fight Opioid Abuse That Would Offer CT Help — Within Limits
Senate approval of a bill to fight the nation’s opioid epidemic is still likely to leave states like Connecticut on the front lines of the crisis -- and to leave them short of all the help they need to prevent the destroyed lives that result from the abuse of pain killers and heroin. (Radelat, 3/10)

The Associated Press: Top Republican Unveils $98B In Cuts To Social Programs
A senior House Republican on Thursday reprised a proposal to cut child tax credits for immigrants working in the U.S. illegally. Powerful Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, also wants tougher rules to reclaim overpayments of health insurance tax subsidies under the new health care law as part of package to cut spending by $98 billion over 10 years. The move is part of an effort designed to help GOP leaders make progress in passing the House's annual budget blueprint. (Taylor, 3/10)

The Hill: GOP: ObamaCare Payments Break The Law
Republicans are putting heightened scrutiny on ObamaCare payments that they argue break the law. They say the administration is violating the Affordable Care Act by prioritizing payments to insurers over payments to the U.S. Treasury, and have grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell about the matter at recent hearings. ... At issue is ObamaCare’s reinsurance program, which is designed to protect insurers against high costs for sicker enrollees in the early years of the law. Under the program, the government collects money from insurers and then gives it to plans with high-cost enrollees. (Sullivan, 3/10)

The Hill: ObamaCare Official: Troubled Co-Op Should Have Been Closed Sooner
A top ObamaCare official acknowledged Thursday that a troubled nonprofit “co-op” insurer set up under the health law should have been shut down sooner. The co-op, called CoOportunity, operated in Iowa and Nebraska and was shut down by regulators in January 2015 because of financial problems. Andy Slavitt, the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said at a Senate hearing Thursday that the insurer should have been shut down before beginning the 2015 coverage year. (Sullivan, 3/10)

The Fiscal Times: Administration Officials Knew Obamacare Co-Ops Were Failing In 2012
A new report by a Senate investigative panel offers a scathing assessment of the Obama administration’s handling of nearly two dozen non-profit insurance plans created under the Affordable Care Act that led to the shuttering of half of the organizations and the loss of more than $1 billion of federal loans and startup funds. (Pianin, 3/11)

The Washington Post: $1.2 Billion In Loans To ACA Health Insurance Co-Ops May Be A Loss, Report Warns
The new report says the Department of Health and Human Services was told early by its outside financial consultant that the 12 co-ops’ business plans and financial forecasts were inadequate, incomplete or based on unsupported assumptions — and yet officials approved loans anyway. After that, the report says, HHS failed to monitor the co-ops’ status despite being aware of their “severe financial distress,” continued to disburse loans and allowed them to list anticipated payments through the ACA risk-balancing program as assets even after getting “credible warnings that those payments would not materialize.” (Levine and Goldstein, 3/10)

And on health law news from the states —

NPR: Split Views On Health Overhaul In Ohio
Adults in Ohio are divided when it comes to whether they believe the Affordable Care Act has been good or bad for them. And while most rate their own health care positively, far more Ohioans rate the state's overall health care system as fair or poor than rate it as excellent. Those are some of the findings in a series of recent polls by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (Tribble, 3/11)

WBUR: Mass. Small Business Owners Dropping Health Coverage That’s Become Unaffordable
Ryan Cook wanted to help. The office manager at his small Raynham real estate office needed health insurance; her husband had lost his job and with it, the family’s coverage. So Cook looked into adding the woman and her family to his self-employed plan. “And I was seeing prices at about $1,800 a month. That cost was ridiculous, quite frankly,” said Cook, president of FCRG, Inc. (Bebinger, 3/11)

Reuters: Oracle Sues HHS To Compel Probe Of Oregon Exchange Failure
Software company Oracle America Inc has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate Oregon's shutdown of its planned healthcare exchange in 2014. The state blamed Oracle for the failure of the exchange, which was never launched. Oracle's lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, is also seeking an order requiring HHS to direct Oregon to dismiss a lawsuit it filed against Oracle in an Oregon state court. (3/10)

Denver Post: Colorado Study Says Medicaid Expansion Is A Boon To State Economy
A new Colorado Health Foundation report says state expansion of the Medicaid program has created 31,074 new jobs and added $3.8 billion in economic activity. The report concludes that "in the two years since implementation, expansion in the state has had a significant positive effect on the economy at no expense to the general fund" in the state budget. ... Kevin Lundberg, the Republican who chairs the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee, laughed at the notion that Medicaid expansion is not costing the state anything. He said, "What we've been doing is pulling down federal debt dollars" to bring more money into the state. But, he said, the $9.9 billion being spent on Medicaid "has an immediate, direct impact on the state budget as well." (Olinger, 3/11)

Colorado Public Radio: Study Asserts 'Positive' Impact From Colorado Medicaid Expansion
Colorado was one of 32 states that expanded Medicaid when Obamacare launched in 2014. That expansion has had a “significant positive” impact on Colorado’s economy, according to a report commissioned by the Colorado Health Foundation. The report found that Colorado added more than 30,000 jobs and raised annual household earnings by $643. And the increased economic activity due to Medicaid added $3.8 billion to Colorado’s economy. (Daley, 3/10)

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Lawmakers OK Bill To Protect Healthy Indiana Plan
State lawmakers approved Thursday a bill preventing Indiana’s alternative Medicaid program from being changed without the legislature’s approval. The bill also says the state’s share of the costs must be restricted, a provision the bill’s author said could potentially limit enrollment, which is in direct opposition to federal Medicaid eligibility rules. Supporters say the bill, which Gov. Mike Pence is expected to sign into law, will strengthen Indiana’s hand in negotiating with the federal government once the state’s temporary permission for the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP 2.0) expires in 2018. (Groppe, 3/10)

Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser: Medicaid Funding Could Require Special Session
Gov. Robert Bentley and legislators Thursday began raising the possibility of a special session to address the state’s Medicaid program, amid signs the Legislature would approve a General Fund that gives the agency less than a fifth of the funding increase it says it needs. Senate leaders signaled they could approve a $1.8 billion General Fund budget, expected to go before the House of Representatives next week, that increases the state’s Medicaid program by $15 million over the previous year. The agency said it needs a $100 million increase to maintain services and continue the implementation of regional care organizations (RCOs), shifting Medicaid to a managed care model. (Lyman, 3/10)

Kaiser Health News: Back From The Brink, A Rural Texas Hospital Shines
Brad and Sheryl Kott didn’t think much of it seven years ago when their 13-year-old son, Quinn, complained his arm felt tingly. But later that day, Mr. Kott found Quinn — a friendly, energetic athlete — on the bathroom floor. His speech was garbled. ... After the family arrived at Hill Country Memorial, the local hospital in Fredericksburg, the Kotts say Quinn’s medical care went terribly wrong. ... It wasn’t until the next morning that a pediatrician finally examined Quinn. He was rushed to a hospital in San Antonio, about 70 miles south, and died soon after. He had suffered a massive stroke. For Dr. Michael Williams, then Hill Country Memorial’s chief executive officer, Quinn Kott’s death in 2009 was a crucible moment. (Varney, 3/11)

Kaiser Health News: Hospital Closures Rattle Small Towns
Across the country, more than 50 rural hospitals have closed over the last six years, and another 283 are in fragile financial condition, according to the National Rural Health Association. With rural populations long in decline in the United States, small-town hospitals have lost customers and struggled to keep pace with the striking advancements in medical technology. But the pace of closures has escalated in recent years, hastened by a series of budget control measures passed by Congress that reduced Medicare payments and by the Affordable Care Act, which is slowly restructuring the health care industry. The law rewards scale and connectivity -- difficult goals for rural hospitals that are, by their geographic nature, low-volume and remote. (Varney, 3/10)

NPR: Hospitals Adapt ERs To Meet Patient Demand For Routine Care
When it's time for medical care, where do you go? The doctor's office? An urgent care clinic? Or the nearest hospital? As many as 1 in 3 Americans sought care in an ER in the past two years, according to a recent poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. That relatively high frequency may be a matter of convenience, even though many in the poll also report frustration with the cost and quality of care they received in an ER. (Aboraya, 3/10)

The Washington Post's Wonkblog: What Happens When It’s Easier To Visit The Doctor: We Do
The "minute clinic" has efficiency built into its name, a quick, easy way for people who feel sick -- but not that sick -- to seek medical treatment without the hassle of making a doctor's appointment. Early evidence showed that visits to retail clinics embedded in grocery stores, big box stores and pharmacies cost much less than traditional health care, suggesting they could be a way to cut overall spending. But a new analysis shows that, paradoxically, the rise of the retail clinic has meant a small but significant rise in health care spending. Retail clinics accounted for an additional $14 per person per year, according to a Health Affairs study that examined how people insured by Aetna in 22 cities between 2010 and 2012 used health care. That's because more than half of the visits to retail clinics for sinus infections or other relatively minor illnesses were driven new utilization -- in other words, visits that wouldn't have happened if the clinics didn't exist. (Johnson, 3/10)

NPR: He Rescued A Dog. Then The Dog Rescued Him
Eric O'Grey knew he was in trouble. His weight had ballooned to 320 pounds, and he was spending more than $1,000 a month on medications for high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. In 2010, a physician told him to buy a funeral plot, because he would need it in five years. He was 51 years old. So he went to talk with a naturopathic doctor about losing weight. She said: Get a shelter dog. O'Grey was surprised, but he took that advice, heading to the Humane Society Silicon Valley near his home in San Jose, Calif. He told the shelter, "I want an obese middle-aged dog, like me." That's how he met Peety. (Shute, 3/10)

In other public health news, when what looks like ADHD isn't ADHD —

NPR: Youngest Kids In Class At Higher Risk Of ADHD Diagnosis
By the time they're in elementary school, some kids prove to be more troublesome than others. They can't sit still or they're not socializing or they can't focus enough to complete tasks that the other kids are handling well. Sounds like ADHD. But it might be that they're just a little young for their grade. Studies done in several countries including Iceland, Canada, Israel, Sweden and Taiwan show children who are at the young end of their grade cohort are more likely to get an ADHD diagnosis than their older classmates. (Chen, 3/10)

Reuters: For U.S. Seniors, Health Care Quality Is All Over The Map
Seniors living in Manhattan spend an average of nearly 25 days a year at doctor visits or at a hospital. But in Lebanon, New Hampshire, contact with the healthcare system is far lower - just 10 days on average. New Yorkers probably are not that much sicker than their New England neighbors. Instead, the statistic reflects the wide variation in the way healthcare is delivered to older adults around the United States. (Miller, 3/10)

Earlier KHN coverage: Report Details Senior Health Care That Misses The Mark (Andrews, 3/8)

Kaiser Health News: Prevention Experts, Eye Doctors Disagree On Vision Tests For Seniors
Some doctors and a key group of preventive care experts are not seeing eye to eye on seniors’ need for vision screening during primary care visits. There’s not enough evidence to know whether giving seniors a vision test when they visit their primary care doctor will lead to earlier detection and treatment of cataracts, age-related macular degeneration or refractive problems that could require corrective glasses and contacts, according to guidelines published by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Andrews, 3/11)

The Associated Press: Things To Know About GMO Mosquito Test Proposed In Florida
The spread of the Zika virus in Latin America is giving a boost to a British biotech firm's proposal to deploy a genetically modified mosquito to try to stop transmission of the disease. Oxitec has genetically modified the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also transmits dengue and chikungunya, so the males produce offspring that do not live. (Kay, 3/10)

NPR: How Best To Test For Zika Virus?
Let's say you're a pregnant woman who recently traveled to Latin America or the Caribbean. You got a little sick shortly after the trip, with some combination of mild fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis. The big question now is: Did you have Zika virus? And, if so, is your fetus still healthy? "Probably every day, patients come in questioning whether or not they would qualify for testing," says Dr. Christine Curry, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of Miami, and Jackson Memorial Hospital. (Bichell, 3/10)

The Columbus Dispatch: Local Health Experts Mount Defense Against Zika
You can't tell a mosquito how to behave. But you can try to tell people. That's what local health experts are doing as they prepare for the area's first Zika case and whatever might follow. (Kurtzman, 3/10)

The Associated Press: Internal VA Report Finds Misleading Wait Time Data In Texas
An internal Department of Veterans Affairs investigation found that schedulers in Texas routinely misreported when patients actually wanted to see a doctor or get some other type of care, making it impossible to track delays in the care they received. The report released Tuesday by the VA's Office of Inspector General tracks problems in clinics and medical facilities in central and South Texas. (Weissert, 3/10)

The Virginian-Pilot and ProPublica: Researchers Call For More Study Of Agent Orange's Affects On Vietnam Veterans Or Their Kids
More than two decades of studying Agent Orange exposure hasn’t produced a solid understanding of how the toxic herbicide has harmed Vietnam War veterans and possibly their children, according to a report released Thursday. Additional research is long overdue, the report said, but the federal government hasn’t done it. (Hixenbaugh and Ornstein, 3/10)

The Associated Press: Ill Californians May Take Life-Ending Drugs Starting In June
Terminally ill California residents will be able to legally end their lives with medication prescribed by a doctor beginning June 9. State lawmakers adjourned a special session on health care Thursday, starting the 90-day countdown to physician-assisted suicide. The law approved last year made California the fifth state to adopt the practice, but patients were left in limbo until the session ended. The bill passed following the heavily publicized case of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old California woman with brain cancer who moved to Oregon to legally end her life in 2014. (3/10)

Los Angeles Times: Aid-In-Dying Law To Take Effect June 9 In California
Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said on the Senate floor just before the adjournment vote Thursday that the law “ensures Californians have access to humane and compassionate options to limit suffering at the end of life.” The bill had failed to win needed support during the regular session, so supporters introduced it in special session, allowing it to bypass committees where opposition was strong. The approval of the law through “controversial legislative tactics” was denounced again Thursday by Tim Rosales of Californians Against Assisted Suicide. (McGreevy, 3/10)

NPR/KQED: California To Permit Medically Assisted Suicide As Of June 9
As written, the law requires two doctors to agree, before prescribing the drugs, that a patient has six months or less to live. Patients must be able to swallow the medication themselves and must affirm in writing, 48 hours before taking the medication, that they will do so. California is the fifth state to permit this option at the end of life. It joins Vermont, Oregon, Washington and Montana. (Aliferis, 3/10)

The Sacramento Bee: Assisted Death Will Become Legal In California In June
After passing sweeping anti-tobacco legislation on Thursday, the state Senate voted to finally close the special legislative session on health care, thereby starting the countdown for California’s assisted death law to take effect. Approved through the special session last fall and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October, the controversial legislation does not kick in for 90 days after the session concludes. That means terminally ill patients can seek life-ending drugs from their physicians beginning June 9. (Koseff, 3/10)

The Associated Press: California Lawmakers Vote To Raise Smoking, Vaping Age To 21
California lawmakers voted Thursday to raise the legal age for purchasing and using tobacco and e-cigarettes from 18 to 21, putting the nation's most populous state on the brink of becoming only the second after Hawaii to bar teenagers from lighting up, dipping or vaping. Before it can become law, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown must sign the legislation, which has already passed the state Assembly. His spokesman said the governor generally does not comment on pending legislation. (3/10)

The Sacramento Bee: California Smoking Age Increase, Vaping Bills Move To Jerry Brown
California is one step away from enacting some of its most significant tobacco legislation in decades. The state Senate on Thursday approved a far-reaching package of bills that will raise the legal purchase age to 21 from 18 and regulate e-cigarettes like a traditional tobacco product. Six measures now head to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, where their fate is uncertain. (Koseff, 3/10)

The Associated Press: South Dakota Governor Signs 20-Week Abortion Ban Into Law
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard on Thursday signed a law prohibiting most abortions beyond 19 weeks of pregnancy, the latest state to enact such a ban. The Republican governor "is sure that" the state's attorney general "will be prepared to defend the constitutionality of the bill," Daugaard spokeswoman Kelsey Pritchard said in an email. The measure offers some exemptions for women in medical emergencies, but not in cases of rape or incest. It is set to go into effect July 1. (Nord, 3/10)

The Associated Press: A Look At Indiana Bill Banning Abortions For Fetal Defects
A measure that would make Indiana only the second state to ban abortions sought because a fetus has a genetic abnormality, such as Down syndrome, is heading to Gov. Mike Pence for possible approval. The conservative Republican is a strong opponent of abortion and a spokeswoman said he would give it "thoughtful consideration." Here's a look at the measure how it was approved by state lawmakers. (3/10)

The Associated Press: West Virginia: Veto On Abortion Curb Overridden
Overriding the governor’s veto for the fourth time this year, West Virginia lawmakers put a ban on a common second-trimester abortion method into law on Thursday. Lawmakers voted to override a veto by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, of a bill outlawing the dilation and evacuation procedure, considered the safest second-trimester abortion method. (3/10)

The Associated Press: Health Care Transparency Bill Passes Florida Senate
The Florida Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would give residents more transparency on the costs of health care. The bill (HB 1175), which passed 27-1, requires Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration to contract with a vendor for a website that will show cost and quality of care. (3/10)

The Arizona Republic: Senate President Stalls Effort To Restore KidsCare Health Insurance Program
A bill that would restore health insurance coverage to children in low-income families appears dead in the Arizona Senate just a week after passing out of the House. House Bill 2309 would allow Arizona to access federal funding to restore the KidsCare program, Arizona’s version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program cut in 2010. (Alltucker, 3/10)

The Associated Press: California Regains Control Of Second Prison's Health Care
California regained responsibility for providing medical care at a second state prison on Thursday as it slowly makes progress toward ending a decade of federal control. J. Clark Kelso, the federal court-appointed receiver, turned operations at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad back over to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (Thompson, 3/11)

The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento’s Sutter Health Saw Steep Decline In Net Income In 2015
Sacramento-based Sutter Health reported net income of $81 million in 2015, a nearly 80 percent plunge from $402 million in 2014. The nonprofit health system cited multiple factors that prompted the decline. (Glover, 3/10)

USA Today: Rape-Kit Reforms Flood State Legislatures
At least 20 states are pursuing reforms to the inconsistent ways rape kits are handled by law enforcement agencies after a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation last year revealed tens of thousands of rape evidence kits went untested nationwide. Legislatures have been flooded with a total of about 50 different bills in recent months — most introduced since the beginning of this year as lawmakers returned to statehouses for 2016 sessions — dealing with various aspects of how rape kits are handled by the criminal justice system. (Reilly, 3/10)

The Associated Press: Rallies To Seek Wage Help For New York Direct Care Providers
Agencies serving people with developmental disabilities are urging New York state to help them cover the costs of a rising minimum wage. Rallies planned for Friday in Rochester, Long Island, Buffalo and New York City are meant to convince state lawmakers to include funding in the 2016-17 state budget to allow the agencies to increase pay without having to cut people or services. (3/11)

The Detroit Free Press: Feds: 3 Detroit Doctors Allegedly Ran $5.7M Drug Ring
Three metro Detroit doctors allegedly ran a $5.7 million drug ring that peddled prescription pain pills on the street, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. In yet another drug case targeting health care professionals, federal prosecutors announced criminal charges against doctors from Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield and Harrison Township. (Baldas, 3/10)

The Detroit Free Press: State Lawmaker Wants Free Tampons In Schools
Saying feminine hygiene products are an essential health care need for women and children, state Rep. Sarah Roberts has introduced legislation that would require tampons and sanitary napkins be available for free in restrooms in Michigan's public schools and state buildings. (Dixon, 3/10)

The Associated Press: Pallone Attacks Christie On Use Of Federal Money For Lead
A Democratic congressman from New Jersey is alleging that Gov. Christie's office mismanaged federal dollars that were earmarked to reduce lead poisoning after Superstorm Sandy. The governor's office called the claim a "shameless" partisan attack. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone on Thursday wrote letters to the state inquiring about $11 million it got to screen people at risk for lead exposure after thousands of homes were destroyed. He noted that the state has tested 14,000 people, a fraction of the 220,000 projected under the grant, before spending the money elsewhere. (3/10)

The Associated Press: State Warns About Legionnaires', Warmer Weather
State health officials are warning Flint-area residents that warmer weather can bring a greater risk for Legionnaires' disease, a pneumonia that can be fatal. The Department of Health and Human Services is speaking out about Legionnaires' this week — after failing to inform the public about it in 2014-15 when an outbreak killed nine people in Genesee County. (3/10)

The Associated Press: Contact-Lens Discounter Complains About Arizona Optometrists
One of the nation’s largest contact-lens retail companies filed complaints this week against hundreds of Arizona optometrists for allegedly failing to turn over patients’ prescriptions so they can sell them lenses. Draper, Utah-based 1-800 Contacts filed 3,200 complaints with the state Board of Optometry, asking the board to censure or fine the optometrists or suspend or revoke their licenses. (Christie, 3/10)

Health Affairs: Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Enrollees Report Less Positive Experiences Than Their Medicare Advantage Counterparts
[W]e compared beneficiaries’ assessments of Medicare prescription drug coverage when provided by standalone plans or integrated into [a Medicare Advantage] plan. Beneficiaries in standalone plans consistently reported less positive experiences with prescription drug plans (ease of getting medications, getting coverage information, and getting cost information) than their MA counterparts. Because MA plans are responsible for overall health care costs, they might have more integrated systems and greater incentives than standalone prescription drug plans to provide enrollees medications and information effectively. (Elliott et al., 3/7)

Health Affairs: Patient Population Loss At A Large Pioneer Accountable Care Organization And Implications For Refining The Program
There is an ongoing move toward payment models that hold providers increasingly accountable for the care of their patients. The success of these new models depends in part on the stability of patient populations. We investigated the amount of population turnover in a large Medicare Pioneer accountable care organization (ACO) in the period 2012–14. We found that substantial numbers of beneficiaries became part of or left the ACO .... For example, nearly one-third of beneficiaries who entered in 2012 left before 2014. ... We recommend policy changes to increase the stability of ACO beneficiary populations, such as permitting lower cost sharing for care received within an ACO and requiring all beneficiaries to identify their primary care physician before being linked to an ACO. (Hsu et al., 3/7)

JAMA Internal Medicine: Preventability And Causes Of Readmissions In A National Cohort Of General Medicine Patients
[F]ew programs have incorporated viewpoints of patients and health care professionals to determine readmission preventability .... An observational study was conducted of 1000 general medicine patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge to 12 US academic medical centers between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013. ... Approximately one-quarter of readmissions are potentially preventable when assessed using multiple perspectives. High-priority areas for improvement efforts include improved communication among health care teams and between health care professionals and patients, greater attention to patients’ readiness for discharge, enhanced disease monitoring, and better support for patient self-management. (Auerbach et al., 3/7)

Health Affairs: Meaningful Use Of EHRs Among Hospitals Ineligible For Incentives Lags Behind That Of Other Hospitals, 2009–13
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ meaningful-use incentive program aims to promote the adoption and use of electronic health records (EHRs) throughout health care settings in the United States. However, psychiatric, long-term care, and rehabilitation hospitals are ineligible for these incentive payments. Using national data from the period 2009–13, we compared eligible and ineligible hospitals’ rates of EHR adoption. All three types of ineligible hospitals had significantly lower rates of adoption than eligible hospitals did, yet both groups experienced similar growth rates. This growth has widened the gap in adoption of health information technology between eligible and ineligible hospitals, which could stymie efforts to lower costs and improve quality across the health care continuum. (Walker et al., 3/7)

The Kaiser Family Foundation: Assessing ACA Marketplace Enrollment
Marketplace enrollment under the ACA is lower than projected, though signups continue to grow and the program appears sustainable overall. ... Judging by the experience of the top performing states, there is considerable room for enrollment growth over the next several years. However, even if all states signed people up at the rate of the top 10 states, enrollment would still fall well short of projections by CBO, suggesting that those forecasts may have been unrealistic. ... There are signs that marketplace coverage could continue to grow modestly in the years ahead. But, absent a substantial boost in outreach or changes to the subsidies to make insurance more affordable, substantial increases in marketplace enrollment are unlikely. (Leavitt et al., 3/4)

The Kaiser Family Foundation: Outreach And Enrollment Strategies For Reaching The Medicaid Eligible But Uninsured Population
Three years into implementation of the ACA, ... 8.8 million individuals are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but remain uninsured. Reaching and enrolling these individuals will be important for achieving continued coverage gains .... State experiences to date point to an array of effective outreach and enrollment strategies .... These strategies include implementing broad marketing and outreach campaigns, promoting the expansion through strong leadership and collaboration, establishing a coordinated and diverse network of assisters, developing effective eligibility and enrollment systems that coordinate with Marketplace coverage, and planning ahead to translate coverage gains into improved access to care. (Artiga, Rudowitz and Tolbert, 3/2)

Here is a selection of news coverage of other recent research:

The Columbus Dispatch: Results Of Clinical Trials Often Kept Secret, Despite Taxpayer Funding
Scientific advances often take root in clinical trials. Too often, though, researchers at U.S. academic medical centers aren’t sharing their taxpayer-funded work publicly, potentially placing blinders and biases on what we know about health and illness. That’s the conclusion of a new study published in the medical journal formerly known as the British Medical Journal, now simply called BMJ. (Sutherly, 3/7)

Reuters: Telling Docs They Overprescribe Addicting Drugs Doesn't Make Them Stop
Government letters informing doctors they're prescribing vastly more addictive drugs than their peers fall on deaf ears, according to a new study. The doctors in the study were all writing far more prescriptions for drugs like opioid painkillers than doctors in similar specialties practicing nearby -- but the letters didn't lead to changes in prescribing. Still, the study's lead author said the results will help researchers who are studying ways to get doctors to pay attention. (Seaman, 3/7)

Reuters: No Paid Sick Leave Means Workers Skip Medical Care
U.S. workers without paid sick leave are more likely to keep going to work when they’re sick and to forgo medical care for themselves and their families, compared to workers who do get paid for sick days, according to a new study. Not only are workers with paid sick leave more likely to stay home to care for themselves or family when needed, but “more importantly, (paid sick leave) enables workers to ‘self-quarantine’ when necessary, without the worries of losing their job or income while also not spreading illness to others,” which is especially important in the food service, healthcare and child care industries, said lead author LeaAnne DeRigne of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton in email to Reuters Health. (Doyle, 3/8)

Los Angeles Times: Diet Drug Contrave Kicks Up A Tempest Amid Uncertainty About Heart Attack And Stroke Effects
Researchers have a gentle warning for patients on the receiving end of 765,000 prescriptions for the weight-loss drug Contrave: The cardiovascular safety of this treatment "remains uncertain," they write in a newly published study. As for claims by the drug's maker that it dramatically drives down heart attacks, strokes and deaths? Those, says the lead author of the new study, are premature at best. (Healy, 3/8)

The Hill: Working Together To Strengthen Medicaid For The Most Vulnerable
Last year, the Medicaid program celebrated its golden anniversary. A lot has changed over the last 50 years. Originally created in 1965 as a joint federal-state program to provide health care coverage for low-income, vulnerable Americans, it is now the world’s largest health insurance program. Today Medicaid is an important lifeline for so many in Michigan and across the country. It is estimated the program will expand to cover 83 million people this year – that’s one in four Americans. Given its rapidly growing size, it is imperative the program is working as it is intended – providing care for folks who need it most. (Rep. Fred Upton, 3/11)

Health Affairs Blog: Out Of Many, One: ERISA Preemption, State All-Payer Claims Database Laws, And The Goals Of Transparency
On March 1, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. that a Vermont law requiring comprehensive claims information to be conveyed to the state’s all-payer claims database was preempted by the federal ERISA statute and could not be applied to self-insured employers or their third-party administrators. Almost immediately, commentators on both sides of the political aisle objected to the ruling, which makes it seem as if nobody won the case. To my way of looking at it, a better conclusion is that nobody lost. (William Sage, 3/10)

JAMA: Jump-Starting Chronic Care Management Services
A little over a year ago, on January 1, 2015, Medicare implemented a chronic care management (CCM) billing code. This code, which pays an average of $42, can be billed once a month when a practitioner provides at least 20 minutes of CCM services to a patient with 2 or more chronic conditions. The CCM services include the monitoring of a beneficiary’s care plan, the provision of access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to clinical staff who can retrieve information from the beneficiary’s electronic health record even when the office is closed; management of a beneficiary’s care transitions; and coordination with other clinicians, hospitals, and others who provide clinical services. (Andrew B. Bindman and Donald F. Cox, 3/10)

Forbes: John Kasich Gets All The Credit For Ohio's Failed Obamacare Medicaid Expansion
Ohio Governor John Kasich has spent no small amount of time on the presidential campaign trail discussing his decision to expand Medicaid to 650,000 able-bodied adults under Obamacare. But policymakers in non-expansion states should take a closer look at what’s actually unfolded in Ohio before considering going down the same path. (Akash Chougule, 3/8)

The Tennessean: Disco-Era Health Care Law Is Hurting Tennesseans
Even if we feel occasionally nostalgic for the 1970s, most people are content to leave their leisure suits and bell-bottoms in the attic until Halloween. Society learns from its fashion faux pas, but government rarely corrects its regulatory blunders. (Bauman and Manley, 3/10)

The Portland Press Herald: Telemedicine Abortion Will Help Lift Barrier To Basic Care
Maine Family Planning recently announced a decision that will put Maine ahead of the curve in terms of women’s health care. The nonprofit is allowing women to access medication to end early pregnancies without requiring an in-office consultation with a doctor, making Maine just the third state in the U.S. where telemedicine is being used to expand abortion access. Maine women stand to gain from the greater availablity of a safer, more affordable form of abortion, and Maine Family Planning should be praised for taking this step forward on its patients’ behalf. (Leggett-Brown, 3/10)

The New England Journal of Medicine: N-Of-1 Policymaking — Tragedy, Trade-Offs, And The Demise Of Morcellation
In the case of morcellation, availability exaggerated the risk of LMS [leiomyosarcoma, a rare, aggressive cancer]. Media coverage featured the faces of women dying of LMS, ravaged by chemotherapy, flanked in photos by their husbands and young children. Meanwhile, the benefits of morcellation are largely invisible and thus “unavailable.” Who sees the women who undergo a minimally invasive procedure, recover quickly, and avoid losing income? ... our capacity to speak science to emotion seems to be collapsing. As our patient-safety focus intensifies and physicians’ behavior is publicly dissected, a story that goes viral has outsized power. Questioning narratives that portray the victimization of the innocent seems monstrous. ... To recognize that some women may benefit from morcellation is not to dismiss the pain of those it has harmed. But society suffers when there’s no rational debate. (Lisa Rosenbaum, 3/10)

The Des Moines Register: Senator's Offensive Bid To Make Abortion A Hate Crime
In case you missed it, an Iowa state senator argued on the Senate floor this week for a measure to make abortion a “hate crime” under the Iowa statute. A hate crime against a group that doesn't even exist in society: The unborn. Adel’s Republican Sen. Jake Chapman raised the proposal as an amendment to Senate File 2284. That bill being considered would add gender identity and gender expression to the list of protected classes covered by the state’s hate crimes law. The law brings enhanced penalties for crimes committed out of hatred on the basis of a victim's immutable characteristics, such as race, religion and sexual orientation. It applies to groups recognized for protection under Iowa’s civil rights law. (Rekha Basu, 3/10)

Los Angeles Times: Two Months After A Heart Transplant, Airline Wants Him Back At Work -- Or Else
If you had to undergo a heart transplant, chances are you'd be in no hurry to get back to work — if a return was even possible. Now consider the situation of Oscar Munoz, chief executive of United Airlines. The carrier proudly announced this week that he'll be back on the job Monday, just two months after having a new heart sewn into his chest. (David Lazarus, 3/11)

USA Today: GMO Labels Feed Fears: Our View
Forcing companies to label genetically modified foods sounds simple enough. Don’t consumers have a right to know what they're eating? Like a lot of seemingly straightforward ideas these days, though, this one is anything but. Mandatory labeling — set to go into effect in Vermont on July 1 unless Congress overrides state laws — has risks and consequences its backers rarely acknowledge. On balance it’s a bad idea. A key reason is that it validates the notion that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are dangerous, which is simply not true. (3/10)

USA Today: Vermont Governor: Tell Us What’s In Our Food
People have the right to know what is in their food. It’s not a radical idea. We already require food companies to label nutritional values such as calories or sugar content and to include an ingredient list. When it comes to labeling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food, more than 64 countries already require it. (Peter Shumlin, 3/10