The New York Times: House Passes Measure To Repeal And Replace The Affordable Care Act
The House on Thursday narrowly approved legislation to repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act, as Republicans recovered from their earlier failures and moved a step closer to delivering on their promise to reshape American health care without mandated insurance coverage. (Kaplan and Pear, 5/4)

Politico: Obamacare Repeal Bill Squeaks By In House
The plan, the American Health Care Act, was approved mostly along partisan lines, 217-213, with just one vote to spare. No Democrats backed the bill, and a slew of Republicans opposed it as well. (Cheney, Bresnahan and Bade, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: GOP Approves Bill To Replace Most Of Affordable Care Act
The 217-213 House vote came more than a month after Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) was forced to withdraw the bill to avoid its collapse on the House floor. Late lobbying and amendments in the past week allowed House Republicans to finally clear the measure to roll back and replace much of the Affordable Care Act. (Peterson, Bender and Armour, 5/5)

The Washington Post: House Republicans Claim A Major Victory With Passage Of Health-Care Overhaul
The measure proceeded without the benefit of an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office of its cost and impact on insurance coverage, and it did so after many Republicans openly acknowledged that they hadn’t read the bill. President Trump also promised “insurance for everybody,” which the measure will not achieve. (O'Keefe, Winfield Cunningham and Goldstein, 5/4)

Los Angeles Times: With A Push From Trump, House Republicans Pass Obamacare Overhaul
After House GOP leaders had shelved previous attempts to advance the bill because of a lack of support from their own party, Thursday’s vote provided a major legislative victory to Trump, which may give momentum to his other priorities and bolster his efforts to be seen as a leader who can govern with the Republican majority in Congress. (Mascaro and Levey, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: House Passes AHCA, Now Fate Of Obamacare Is In The Senate
The bill passed by a vote of 217-213 in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon, one vote over the 216-majority threshold. It is the GOP's first successful attempt to move legislation to repeal President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform bill, the Affordable Care Act, during the Trump administration after two false starts. If it passes the Senate, the AHCA will make stark changes to the rules and regulations governing the healthcare industry for the last seven years. (Lee, 5/4)

Bloomberg: House Passes Obamacare Repeal In Razor-Thin GOP Victory
House Republicans mustered just enough votes to pass their health-care bill Thursday, salvaging what at times appeared to be a doomed mission to repeal and partially replace Obamacare under intense pressure from President Donald Trump to produce legislative accomplishments. The 217-213 vote sends the American Health Care Act to the Senate, where it has little chance of being passed in its current form by fellow Republicans spooked by reports the plan would cause millions to lose health insurance. Twenty Republicans voted against the bill, and no Democrats backed it. (Edgerton, House and Edney, 5/4)

The Hill: Ryan Touts Passage Of ObamaCare Repeal At White House
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) touted the passage of a House measure to repeal and replace ObamaCare on Thursday, but warned that there is still work to be done. "Today was a big day, but it is just one step in this process. An important step," he said at a news conference in the White House Rose Garden. But, "we still have a lot of work to do to get this signed into law. (Greenwood, 5/4)

The Hill: House Passes ObamaCare Repeal
House Republicans on Thursday passed legislation aimed at repealing and replacing ObamaCare, taking a major step toward a long-held goal and setting in motion an overhaul of the nation’s health system. The narrow 217-213 vote is a victory for GOP leaders, who faced a tumultuous path to getting the bill to the floor. The measure had to be pulled in March because of a lack of votes, but a series of deals since then brought on board the conservative Freedom Caucus and then wavering moderates. (Sullivan, 5/4)

The Washington Post: Members Of Congress And Their Aides Won’t Be Exempted From The GOP Health-Care Plan. But They’re Unlikely To Feel The Impact Much Anyway.
Lawmakers and congressional staff are unlikely to face higher premiums or fewer health-care benefits as a direct result of the House Republicans’ health-care plan for one big reason: they work in the District of Columbia. That’s the conclusion of health-care experts who said Congress’s 535 lawmakers and the thousands of Capitol Hill staffers who work for them won’t be much affected by the American Health Care Act, which passed the House narrowly on Thursday. This is despite the House’s move to nullify a provision in the amended bill that originally exempting them from the plan’s changes, according to several health-care experts. (Viebeck, 5/5)

The New York Times: Fact Check: Is Congress Exempt From The G.O.P. Health Bill?
Accusations of hypocrisy greeted the House passage of the amended American Health Care Act on Thursday, as people were outraged — erroneously — by claims that the bill does not apply to Congress. It is true that an early version of the bill exempted lawmakers from its provisions. But a subsequent piece of legislation, which the House approved, eliminated the exemption, effectively nullifying that claim. (Qiu, 5/4)

The Washington Post: Republicans Didn’t Like Their Health-Care Bill But Voted For It Anyway
Republicans pushed a health-care bill through the House Thursday that few lawmakers truly liked. They instead viewed the measure as a necessary step to demonstrate some sense of momentum and some ability to govern in GOP-controlled Washington. (Kane, 5/4)

Politico: Republicans Don’t Really Like The Health Care Bill They Just Passed
Republicans have been saying this particular bill was set to pass because it’s a now-or-never situation — especially after the embarrassing collapse of the first effort in March — and they’re been finding solace in the idea that the legislation won't be the final product anyway. Rep. Luke Messer, an Indiana Republican, called it a "green flag" and a "start." (Dawsey, 5/4)

Kaiser Health News: Political Theater: How A Bill That Nearly All Opposed Managed To Pass The House
The vote was about health care, but it was a display of political theater, too. Representatives sent a message not to hospitals, doctors and patients but to President Donald Trump and his devoted followers who propelled the GOP to power. “The president needed a win and so does House Speaker Paul Ryan,” said Jason Fichtner, a health care expert at the conservative Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. “With this vote, they can go back to their constituents and say they did something about Obamacare.” (Galewitz, 5/4)

The Associated Press: A Look At The House Republican Health Care Bill
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Republican bill would result in 24 million fewer people having health insurance by 2026, compared to Obama's 2010 statute. Here are key elements of the bill. (5/5)

The New York Times: What’s In The AHCA: The Major Provisions Of The Republican Health Bill
Here is a summary of major provisions of the House bill, the American Health Care Act. (Pear, 5/4)

The Washington Post: What Is In The Republican Health-Care Bill? Questions And Answers On Preexisting Conditions, Medicaid And More.
In broad strokes, the legislation has a lot of financial aspects. For instance, it would substantially reduce the funding for subsidies that the ACA provides to most people seeking health coverage through insurance marketplaces the law created. It also would make other changes to those subsidies in ways that, overall, would help younger adults and increase premiums for older people. The bill also would eliminate several taxes the ACA created to help pay for its provisions, including on health insurers and affluent Americans. (Eilperin and Goldstein, 5/4)

Politico: What's Actually In The GOP Health Care Bill
The legislation expunges Obamacare’s unpopular individual mandate requiring most Americans to have health insurance. But in its place, the bill allows insurers to charge people who have been uninsured for about two months a 30 percent surcharge on their premiums, an incentive designed to encourage people to maintain insurance coverage. (Ehley, 5/4)

NPR: Here's What's In The House Republican's Health Care Bill
The House Republican plan would eliminate the income-based tax credits and subsidies available under the Affordable Care Act, replacing them with age-based tax credits ranging from $2,000 a year for people in their 20s to $4,000 a year for those older than 60. (Kodjak, 5/4)

The Washington Post: How The House Got A Health-Care Bill After Trump And Ryan Stepped Back
The rescue effort that pulled the Republicans back from the brink of failure on health care began quietly, with two House members who are not exactly household names trying to find common ground on a little-noticed issue. They were Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), a leader of the moderate House Republican bloc that calls itself the Tuesday Group, and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative and hard-line House Freedom Caucus. The question at hand was giving states more flexibility by allowing them to come up with their own ways of achieving cost savings and providing coverage. (Tumulty and Costa, 5/4)

Roll Call: How The House Finally Got To Yes On Health Care
The House on Thursday squeaked out a one-vote win with the support of all but 20 Republicans, 15 of whom are members of the moderate Tuesday Group. No Democrats supported the bill. The path to 217, the ultimate tally of Republicans who supported the legislation, was fraught. House Republicans missed every deadline they set out for themselves to deliver the repeal of the health care law, a campaign promise they repeated for more than seven years. Leaders had to pull their first version of the legislation from floor consideration in March, when it became clear it lacked the support to pass. Since then, various groups of Republicans have been huddling in meetings like the one convened Monday, to work out policy changes that have bought anywhere from one to 30 votes. (Mershon and McPherson, 5/4)

The Washington Post: Republicans Are Following The Playbook They Attacked In Obamacare Debate
As they raced toward Thursday’s vote on the American Health Care Act, House Republicans found themselves fending off ghosts. Seven years of attacks on the Affordable Care Act, seven years of insisting that the law had been jammed through without scrutiny, kept coming back to haunt them. First, they struggled to answer questions about the need to vote before the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had estimated the costs of an amended AHCA. ... Next, they brushed off questions about whether they’d read the bill. (Weigel, 5/4)

Politico: 5 Instances Of GOP Hypocrisy On Obamacare Repeal
For seven years, Republicans campaigned on a single message: Obamacare was rammed through Congress by power-hungry Democrats who rushed a hastily written bill riddled with backroom kickbacks. But now, after vowing for years that the repeal process would be different, with regular order and plenty of public scrutiny, Republicans are doing the exact same thing — or worse — that they blasted Democrats for repeatedly. Here’s how. (Caygle, 5/4)

The Hill: GOP Lawmaker Admits Not Reading 'Every Word' Of Healthcare Bill 
Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), a top ally of President Trump, admitted Thursday he did not read the entire text of the GOP's healthcare bill that passed earlier in the day, but said his staff did. "I will fully admit, Wolf, I did not, but I can also assure you my staff did," Collins told host Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "The Situation Room."  (Beavers, 5/4)

Here's more on how the vote breaks down —

The Washington Post: AHCA Vote Count: How The House Republicans Split
To get this version passed, Republican leaders positioned the bill far to the right of the political spectrum to win the support of most of the conservative House Freedom Caucus members and keep some moderates on board. And, that strategy worked. (Soffen, Cameron and Uhrmacher, 5/4)

The New York Times: Which Republicans Flipped To Allow The G.O.P. Health Care Bill To Finally Pass
A total of 19 hard-line conservatives associated with the Freedom Caucus, who expressed opposition or reservations to the original bill, voted “yes” on Thursday. These representatives, from the districts shown [on map], gave the revised bill enough votes to pass — the bill needed 216 “yes” votes and received 217. (Bloch, Park and Pearce, 5/4)

The Hill: Here Are The 20 Republicans Who Rejected ObamaCare Repeal 
Twenty mostly centrist House Republicans who represent swing districts voted against the GOP’s legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Thursday. Two more defections would have doomed the bill, signaling how tough a vote it was for many lawmakers. Only one member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, freshman Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), voted against the measure because it didn’t go far enough to fully repeal the healthcare law. Two other libertarian-minded conservatives, Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Walter Jones (N.C.), also opposed it. (Marcos, 5/4)

Regional news outlets look at how their state delegations voted —

Pioneer Press: Obamacare Repeal Vote: Where Minnesota’s Delegation Stands 
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 217-213 Thursday afternoon to pass the latest Republican bill to repeal Obamacare. All three of Minnesota’s Republican representatives voted for the bill, while all five of Minnesota’s Democratic representatives voted against the bill. (5/4)

KCUR: Here's How Kansas And Missouri Reps Voted Today On GOP Health Care Bill 
The House of Representatives voted Thursday to approve the American Health Care Act, touted by the GOP and President Donald Trump as a better alternative to President Obama's signature health care effort, the Affordable Care Act. ... KCUR reached out to House members from both Kansas and Missouri to get an idea of how the vote might shake out. (Rodriguez, Palmer and Spencer, 5/4)

San Jose Mercury News: California GOP Congressional Delegation Helps Pass Obamacare Repeal
The House Republicans’ victory on Thursday in passing a bill to repeal and replace “Obamacare” couldn’t have happened without the unanimous support from the 14 members of California’s GOP congressional delegation. Those votes drew praise from some Californians convinced Obamacare has been a burden and must go.  But healthcare advocates around the state called the votes a stunning reversal — some said “betrayal” — by several representatives who previously had cited serious concerns about the GOP legislation, which was opposed by all 39 House Democrats. (Seipel, 5/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Republicans Key To GOP’s House Win On Obamacare 
The 14 Republicans in California’s House delegation helped give their party its biggest victory to date Thursday in its seven-year campaign against the Affordable Care Act, voting to gut the law in defiance of Democratic threats to have them “tattooed” with the decision come next year’s elections. The state’s GOP contingent voted unanimously for a Republican bill to replace the health-insurance law commonly known as Obamacare, including seven members who represent districts that President Trump lost in November. (Lochhead, 5/4)

Arizona Republic: Arizona House Republicans – Except One – On Board With Health Bill
Arizona conservatives were largely on board Thursday with the House's passage of the American Health Care Act, a move that revived Republican hopes of repealing central parts of President Barack Obama's signature health-care law. Freshman Rep. Andy Biggs, who represents a conservative congressional district east of Phoenix, was the only Arizona Republican to vote against the legislation, joining Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego, Raul Grijalva, Tom O'Halleran and Kyrsten Sinema in opposing the bill. (Nowicki, 5/4)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Reps. Young, Blum And King Vote 'Yes' On Obamacare Replacement
Three of Iowa’s four members of Congress on Thursday voted in favor of a bill repealing major elements of the health care law known as Obamacare. All three of Iowa’s Republican members – U.S. Reps. Rod Blum, Steve King and David Young – voted for the GOP-led legislation, the American Health Care Act. Iowa’s lone Democrat in the House, U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, voted against the bill. (Noble, 5/4)

Politico: Doubted And Mocked, Ryan Delivers Big For Trump
Thursday may have been Paul Ryan’s best day as speaker of the House. Or according to Democrats, his worst. After months of tense negotiations, false starts and unrelenting pressure from President Donald Trump, a weary-looking Ryan and his leadership team pushed through legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare. It passed with one vote to spare, 217 to 213, with 20 Republicans and all Democrats opposed. (Bresnahan and Haberkorn, 5/4)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Paul Ryan Wins A Near-Party-Line Showdown On Health Care
Getting his own party to agree on a conservative health care overhaul turned out to be a massive lift for House Speaker Paul Ryan, but he finally got it done Thursday, with hardly any votes to spare. “A lot of us have been waiting seven years to cast this vote. Many of us are here because we pledged to cast this very vote,” Ryan said from the House floor, referring to the GOP’s repeated vows to repeal Obamacare. (Gilbert, 5/4)

The Hill: GOP Looks To Heal From Healthcare Divisions
For Republicans, the successful House vote Thursday to repeal and replace ObamaCare was a moment of celebration. But it also was a time for inward reflection. The past two months exposed deep divisions within the broad 238-member GOP conference, saw President Trump unleash Twitter attacks on individual GOP members and factions, and raised questions about whether Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his team could deliver on the GOP’s top campaign promise. (Wong, 5/4)

And another Republican player can also let out a huge sigh of relief —

The New York Times: In House Health Vote, Reince Priebus Sees A Much-Needed Reprieve
The Republican health care overhaul might never become law, but it has already changed the life of one American: Reince Priebus, who knew it was his best and perhaps last hope of becoming an empowered White House chief of staff. President Trump placed much of the blame for his first, failed push to repeal the Affordable Care Act in March on Mr. Priebus, the harried and ambitious former Republican National Committee chairman. (Thrush and Haberman, 5/5)

USA Today: Trump Claims Victory On Repealing Obamacare, But He Still Has A Long Way To Go
President Trump took a televised victory lap Thursday after the House voted to pass a bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act – an unusual Rose Garden ceremony considering that final victory remains miles away. "What a great group of people," Trump said, surrounded by some four dozen House Republicans gathered at the White House. "It's going to be an unbelievable victory... when we get it through the Senate." (Jackson, 5/4)

ABC News: Trump Says Obamacare 'Dead' After GOP Health Bill Passes House
[Trump] congratulated and thanked House Speaker Paul Ryan and praised House Republicans for coming together. "What we have is something very, very incredibly well-crafted," Trump said of the bill. "This has really brought the Republican Party together," Trump added. "As much as we've come up with a really incredible health care plan, this has brought the Republican Party together. We're going to get this finished." (Siegel and Stracqualursi, 5/4)

The Associated Press: Trump Celebrates Hill Victory, Relishes Visit To Hometown
President Donald Trump had already planned a celebration as he returned to his hometown for the first time since his inauguration. House Republicans gave him another reason to enjoy the moment. Trump flew to New York to join Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aboard the USS Intrepid to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea. Before he left the White House on Thursday, however, he hosted a Rose Garden event to applaud passage of the GOP-sponsored House health care law. (5/5)

The Associated Press: Last-Minute Bargaining Keyed Passage Of GOP Health Care Bill
Trump pumped his fist as he arrived to cheers, declaring that his first step in repealing and replacing the "Obamacare" law that he had campaigned against had "brought the Republican Party together. We're going to get this finished. "Rose Garden ceremonies are normally reserved for major bill signings and big presidential moments, but Trump wanted to project an image of success — even on a bill that passed the Republican-led House with only a vote to spare. (5/5)

The Washington Post: Trump Crows About His Health-Care Victory — Even Though He Hasn’t Really Won Yet
President Trump clapped and pointed. He grinned and nodded. He mouthed praise and boomed exultations. He even, at one point, turned his back to the lectern to face the House Republican leadership, tossing his arms wide in open embrace before swooping his index fingers above the crowd — as if conducting a symphony of recalcitrant lawmakers who had finally, haltingly, learned how to harmonize. (Parker, 5/4)

Politico: Trump Savors Health Care Win: ‘Hey, I’m President’
“How am I doing? Am I doing OK? I'm president. Hey, I’m president,” Trump said in a Rose Garden victory lap that was unusually elaborate for a bill still so far from becoming law. “Can you believe it?” (Goldmacher, 5/4)

Politico: Trump: I’m ‘So Confident’ Health Care Bill Will Pass The Senate
“We’re gonna get this passed through the Senate,” Trump said. “I feel so confident.” (McCaskill, 5/4)

The Washington Post: Trump Praises Australia’s Universal Health-Care System: ‘You Have Better Health Care Than We Do’
Seconds after praising his party's efforts to pass a new health-care bill that estimates said would leave millions uninsured, President Trump praised Australia's government-funded universal heath-care system. “We have a failing health care — I shouldn't say this to our great gentleman and my friend from Australia, because you have better health care than we do,” a tuxedo-clad Trump said at a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Manhattan on Thursday. (Phillip, 5/4)

The Hill: Trump: GOP Healthcare Bill 'Could Change A Little Bit' 
President Trump admitted Thursday the House Republican healthcare bill could “change a little bit” as it goes to the Senate for a vote. "It could change a little bit,” Trump said, according to White House pool reports. “It could be maybe even better. It's a very good bill right now.” Trump argued that the GOP bill, dubbed the American Health Care Act, will be more affordable than ObamaCare. (Beavers, 5/4)

The Hill: Trump: Australia Has Better Healthcare System Than US
President Trump remarked Thursday that Australia has a better healthcare system than the U.S. Trump's comments in a meeting with the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull came shortly after the commander in chief praised the GOP healthcare bill passed in the House earlier in the day. (Vladimirov, 5/4)

Politico: 'The White House Just Couldn't Let This Go'
Donald Trump had had it.The Obamacare repeal bill that the president had just boasted was on the cusp of passage was suddenly in trouble again, and the president demanded to talk to the influential congressman who dropped a bombshell hours earlier with an announcement he’d be voting “no”: Michigan Rep. Fred Upton. (Bade and Dawsey, 5/5)

The Hill: Dems Tear Into 'Shameful' ObamaCare Repeal Vote 
Democrats on Thursday tore into the House GOP's vote to repeal ObamaCare, ripping their healthcare plan as a "tax cut for millionaires" and "immoral." The House narrowly passed the American Health Care Act by a 217-213 vote earlier Thursday afternoon. No Democrats backed the bill, and 20 Republicans broke ranks to oppose it. (Beavers, 5/4)

Boston Globe: Elizabeth Warren On GOP Health Bill: ‘People Will Die’ 
Senator Elizabeth Warren was blunt in her condemnation of the GOP health care bill passed by the House Thursday, saying that “people will die” as a result of the measure. “This isn’t football. It’s not about scoring points,” Warren wrote in a statement released Thursday afternoon. (Reiss, 5/4)

The Hill: Clinton Urges 'Fight' Against The GOP Following ObamaCare Vote 
Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton encouraged her Twitter followers to "fight back" against the GOP on Thursday. Clinton slammed the GOP for a "failure of policy [and] morality” in a tweet following Thursday’s House vote to pass the GOP's ObamaCare repeal bill. The former Democratic nominee also shared a tweet encouraging voters to donate to the Democratic candidates who are competing for 35 swing districts where lawmakers voted in favor of the healthcare bill. (Vladimirov, 5/4)

The CT Mirror: CT Dems Decry House GOP Victory On Health Bill That May Stumble In Senate
House Republicans on Thursday finally won approval for a health care bill aimed at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, but the legislation faces an uncertain future in the Senate, which may not be able to take it up for weeks. Every Democrat, including all five Connecticut members of the U.S. House, voted against the bill, which squeaked through, on a 217-213 vote, after it was amended to win the votes of a number of squeamish Republicans. (Radelat, 5/4)

The New York Times: Republicans Get Their Health Bill. But It May Cost Them.
In voting to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, House Republicans finally made progress on a key Trump administration goal and on a campaign promise that they have made for the better part of a decade — but at a potentially steep price. (Steinhauer, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: House Bill Makes Health Care A Swing Factor For Midterms
By passing the American Health Care Act to replace Obamacare on Thursday, Republicans ensured that health care could determine the fate of their House majority in the 2018 midterm elections. As Democrats learned when they lost 63 House seats in the 2010 elections, keeping a political promise that upends the American health-care system can be a recipe for electoral disaster—one they now hope befalls Republicans in 2018. (Epstein, 5/4)

NPR: Vote To Repeal Obamacare Could Impact Republican Majority In Midterm Election
"They have this vote tattooed on them. This is a scar they carry," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi declared just after the American Health Care Act passed the House. (Taylor, 5/5)

The New York Times: Is G.O.P. ‘Staring Death In The Face’ After Repeal? Democrats Hope So
“I think they are staring death in the face,” Representative Gerald E. Connolly, Democrat of Virginia, said about the political prospects of dozens of House Republicans who were persuaded to back the bill by Republican leaders anxious to deliver a legislative win. “They asked their vulnerable members to take an enormous gamble and risk on an act of faith that I guarantee will not pay off.” (Hulse, 5/5)

Politico: The House Republicans Who Could Lose Their Jobs Over Obamacare Repeal
Strategists in both parties already believed the House could be up for grabs in 2018, as it often is two years into a new presidency. But the Obamacare repeal vote was as emotionally charged as they come on Capitol Hill, and a handful of Republicans in districts won by Hillary Clinton may have very well written their political obituary by voting yes. (Robillard, 5/4)

USA Today: Health Care Vote Makes Dozens Of Republicans More Vulnerable, Analysts Say.
Days after President Trump’s inauguration, Rep. Mimi Walters of California vowed to protect patients with pre-existing conditions in any plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. On Wednesday she cast a vote for a plan allows insurance companies in some cases to charge higher premiums to people with cancer, diabetes and other common preexisting conditions — even pregnancy. (Przybyla, 5/4)

Los Angeles Times: California's Republicans All Voted Yes On The Healthcare Bill. Now Democrats Have A Campaign Issue
All 14 Republicans in California’s congressional delegation voted Thursday to dismantle Obamacare, a move that could have ripple effects for the midterm elections 18 months from now as Democrats sense an opportunity to win back House control. Half of the 14 represent districts that backed Hillary Clinton for president last fall, and Democrats already are plotting to oust vulnerable Republicans on the same topic that swept them out of the majority following the 2010 Affordable Care Act vote. (Wire, 5/4)

Politico: Red-State Dems Pounce On Obamacare Repeal Bill
Red-state Democratic senators who once hoped for a bipartisan fix to Obamacare now have nothing to work with but the House GOP’s repeal plan. So they’re lining up to trash it. All 10 Senate Democrats up for reelection next year in states won by President Donald Trump joined their leaders in vilifying the Obamacare repeal passed by the House passed Thursday. (Schor, 5/4)

The Associated Press: GOP Revs Up To 'Eye Of The Tiger' For Vote, Dems Sing Bye
Like boxers before a big fight, Republicans pumped themselves up with the pounding music of Survivor's 1980s anthem "Eye of the Tiger" and Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Takin' Care of Business" before passing a bill to dismantle Democrat Barack Obama's health care law. Hours later, when lawmakers filled the House chamber Thursday afternoon to cast the final vote, Democrats answered with another song. (Jalonick, 5/5)

The New York Times: Democrats Taunt Republicans With ‘Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye’ During Health Vote
When it became clear on Thursday that Democrats in the United States House of Representatives could not defeat a bill to repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act, they turned to a time-honored American tradition: taunting the other side. “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye,” dozens of Democrats sang in unison as the health care bill crossed the 216 votes needed to pass. (Haag, 5/4)

Boston Globe: House Democrats Sing ‘Na Na Na Na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye’ After GOP Health Plan Passes 
Republicans might be relieved after pushing their health care plan through the House Thursday, but Democrats issued them a warning: That won’t last. After the vote, some House Democrats waved farewell to their GOP colleagues and then started singing, “Na na na na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye..." Democrats believe the health care bill — which Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said will strip coverage from millions — will backfire on House Republicans with voters when they come up for re-election next year. (Reiss, 5/4)

The New York Times: The Next Step For The Republican Health Care Bill: A Skeptical Senate
As House Republicans on Thursday shoved their health care bill across the finish line, stuffing it with amendments and extra dollars to secure a hard-won majority, the lawmakers who will inherit the legislation delivered their own message from across the Capitol: That’s cute. On the Senate side, where several Republicans have long been deeply skeptical of the House effort, the bill is expected to undergo sweeping changes that might leave it unrecognizable — perhaps stripping away some of the provisions that helped earn the support of hard-right House members and ultimately secure its passage. (Flegenheimer, 5/4)

The Associated Press: House Repeal Of 'Obamacare' Hands Hot Potato To Wary Senate
Senators are already talking about preventing some of the House bill's Medicaid cuts. Some don't like its easing of Obama coverage requirements on insurers, and others think its tax credits must be redirected toward lower-income people. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah says senators must focus "on the art of the doable." (Fram and Lardiner, 5/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Senators Set To Write Their Own Version Of The GOP Health Bill
GOP senators are clashing over central provisions of the House version, and Republicans’ slim majority in the chamber arguably gives them even less room for error than House lawmakers had. Republicans from states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are resisting the House bill’s steep Medicaid cuts, for example. GOP centrists are uncomfortable with letting states waive the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. Other Republicans say the bill should do more to help older Americans with their health bills. (Hackman and Armour, 5/4)

Politico: Senate GOP Rejects House Obamacare Bill
They need to end up with a bill that can win over 50 of the 52 GOP senators in the narrowly divided chamber. And even if they accomplish that, their bill could be unpalatable to House conservatives. The House bill squeaked through on a 217-213 vote. The two chambers have not coordinated much in recent weeks as the House — with an assist from the White House — frantically worked to kick the health care bill to the other side of the Capitol. Senate Republicans say they’ll take the time they need to understand the House bill’s ramifications. And they will insist on a score from the Congressional Budget Office before voting, unlike the House. (Everett and Haberkorn, 5/4)

USA Today: On Health Care, The Senate Is Likely To Start Over
The Senate will review the House bill but will write its own version over the next few weeks, said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. "We want to get it right," Alexander said Thursday on the Senate floor. "There will be no artificial deadlines." If the Senate passes its own bill, the House will either have to approve the Senate version or negotiate a compromise with senators, Alexander said. (Kelly, 5/4)

The Hill: No. 2 Senate Republican: 'No Timeline' On ObamaCare Replacement Bill 
Senate Republicans are signaling they are in no hurry to move legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare after it passed the House Thursday. “There is no timeline,” Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, said when he was asked about a schedule for when the Senate could move a bill. (Carney, 5/4)

USA Today: 5 Things To Watch While Awaiting A Senate Health Care Bill
The House has passed its version of an Obamacare repeal bill, and the Senate now gets to work. But as the legislative gears continue to grind, there are still some key developments to watch out for that could have a dramatic effect on the debate over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. (5/5)

Kaiser Health News: A Squeaker In The House Becomes Headache For The Senate: 5 Things To Watch
Now the bill — and the multitude of questions surrounding it — moves across the Capitol to the Senate. And the job doesn’t get any easier. With only a two-vote Republican majority and no likely Democratic support, it would take only three GOP “no” votes to sink the bill. ... Here are five of the biggest flashpoints that could make trouble for the bill in the upper chamber. (Rovner, 5/4)

Roll Call:  Senate Poses Challenges For Health Care Bill
Don’t expect quick Senate action on the Republican bill to repeal large portions of the 2010 health law. Aides caution that, regardless of House passage on Thursday, it could be weeks before the Senate can begin any significant work on the legislation. The lack of analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office will be a major contributor to the slowdown. The estimate is necessary for the Senate parliamentarian to determine if the bill qualifies under the rules governing the fast-track budget procedure known as reconciliation. (Williams and Lesniewski, 5/4)

News outlets looked at key players in the upcoming debate and recorded concerns from several Republican senators --

The Wall Street Journal: 14 Players To Watch In Senate’s Health-Care Overhaul
The Senate becomes the arena for debating changes to the nation’s health-insurance system, now that the House has passed its overhaul of the Affordable Care Act. Here are some of the senators who will affect the course of the overhaul legislation, with the roles they play in the chamber. (Peterson, Hackman and Radnofsky, 5/5)

Bloomberg: Senate GOP To Snub House Obamacare Repeal Bill And Write Its Own
Several moderate Republicans have been demanding a more sweeping rewrite of the House bill to ensure more people get covered and premiums come down. A number of moderates were unhappy with a Congressional Budget Office estimate showing an earlier version of the House measure would have resulted in 24 million more people without insurance within a decade. That wing is led by Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor who worked for decades in a charity hospital, and Collins, who together crafted a more moderate plan that kept the Affordable Care Act’s taxes in place instead of repealing them. (Dennis and Litvan, 5/4)

The Hill: Senate GOP Vows Big Changes For ObamaCare Bill
GOP senators are also troubled by analyses that the legislation would significantly cut federal subsidies for people between the ages of 50 and 65, especially in rural areas such as Maine, Montana, Nebraska and North Carolina. ... “I think it needs a lot of improvement,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who is concerned about the Medicaid provisions, said about the House bill. West Virginia has been one of the biggest beneficiaries under ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion, with 175,000 new people signing up under the law’s more generous guidelines as of 2015. Capito said she is also worried about the reductions in subsidies for older, less affluent people under the House plan. (Bolton, 5/5)

The Hill: Graham: House ObamaCare Replace Bill 'Should Be Viewed With Caution'
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is firing a warning shot over a GOP ObamaCare replacement bill scheduled to get a vote in the House later Thursday. "A bill — finalized yesterday, has not been scored, amendments not allowed, and 3 hours final debate — should be viewed with caution," Graham said on Twitter. He added that while he was glad the House was making "apparent progress" on repealing and replacing ObamaCare, he is "concerned" about how it's going. (Carney, 5/4)

The Hill: GOP Senators: We're Doing Our Own Healthcare Bill
Several Republican senators sent a warning shot to the House after its passage of an ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill Thursday, indicating it won’t be easy to get the measure through the upper chamber. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), one of the most vulnerable GOP senators up for reelection in 2018, said he wouldn’t support the House’s bill in its current form.  (Roubein, 5/4)

Opponents of the bill have begun targeting the Senate --

CQ Roll Call: Critics Look To Senate To Alter Health Bill
Influential groups opposed to the House Republican health bill, including the American Medical Association, pivoted Thursday to push senators to derail or reshape the legislation. The House-passed measure would make major revisions to the 2010 health care law, as well as overhaul the funding of Medicaid. Hospital and medical associations are working to quickly devise strategies to kill or revise the bill in the Senate. The House GOP win on the health bill (HR 1628) Thursday came as something of a surprise to some groups. House Republicans stumbled in a March attempt to pass this measure and their odds for success with it appeared far from certain as recently as last week. (Young, 5/4)

The Hill: Sanders To Trump: 'We'll Quote You' On Support For Universal Healthcare 
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) seized on President Trump's compliment of Australia's universal healthcare system on Thursday, saying Democrats will remind the president of the comments from the Senate floor. Sanders weighed in on the comments during an interview on MSNBC after Trump remarked that Australia has "better healthcare than we do" during a meeting with the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. (Vladimirov, 5/4)

The New York Times: Who Wins And Who Loses In The Latest G.O.P. Health Care Bill
Any sizable change in our complex health care system leaves some people and businesses better or worse off. For some, insurance will become more affordable — or their taxes will be lower. Others will lose out on financial support or health care coverage. You can see how you might be affected in our summary of winners and losers. (Sanger-Katz, 5/4)

Stat: As Health Care Bill Heads To Senate, 7 Winners And Losers
It’s the first step toward fulfilling a promise Republican legislators have campaigned on for seven years. But even though the House voted Thursday to repeal major elements of the Affordable Care Act, the effort still faces a number of major political hurdles, not the least of which is that little is known about this legislation’s impacts. That’s because the GOP leadership muscled Thursday’s vote through before the Congressional Budget Office, the legislative branch’s nonpartisan analytics arm, had a chance to fully assess the latest bill as it had with a previous version. (Facher, 5/4)

The New York Times: In Rare Unity, Hospitals, Doctors And Insurers Criticize Health Bill
It is a rare unifying moment. Hospitals, doctors, health insurers and some consumer groups, with few exceptions, are speaking with one voice and urging significant changes to the Republican health care legislation that passed the House on Thursday. (Abelson and Thomas, 5/4)

NPR: Winners And Losers Under The House GOP Health Bill
The AHCA would shrink Medicaid coverage, undercut some protections for people with preexisting conditions and eliminate billions of dollars in taxes that currently help pay for the ACA. We've broken down how its provisions would change health coverage for nine key groups of people. (Neel, Kodjak and Hurt, 5/4)

NPR: Republican Health Care Bill Delivers Big Tax Cut For The Rich
The health care bill passed by the House on Thursday is a win for the wealthy, in terms of taxes. While the Affordable Care Act raised taxes on the rich to subsidize health insurance for the poor, the repeal-and-replace bill passed by House Republicans would redistribute hundreds of billions of dollars in the opposite direction. It would deliver a sizable tax cut to the rich, while reducing government subsidies for Medicaid recipients and those buying coverage on the individual market. (Horsley, 5/4)

Stat: CDC Faces Budget Loss Of Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars After AHCA Passes House
Representative Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, loves the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When he’s asked about public health funding, he often recites a favorite factoid: “You’re much more likely to die in a pandemic than in a terrorist attack.” But before the House passed the American Health Care Act on Thursday, Cole — who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that oversees health spending — would not say how Congress would replace the nearly $1 billion in grants the bill would strip from the CDC and other federal agencies if it becomes law. (Facher, 5/4)

The Associated Press: Pre-Existing Conditions And The Health Plan: Who's Covered?
States will be able to get federal waivers allowing insurers to charge higher premiums to people with pre-existing illnesses who have let their coverage lapse. States can then use federal money to fund government-operated insurance programs for expensive patients called "high-risk pools." (5/4)

USA Today: Experts: Pre-Existing Coverage In House GOP Bill Would Fall Far Short
The $23 billion included in the House Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to pay for people with pre-existing chronic health conditions will only cover about 5% of the estimated 2.2 million people who need insurance, a new analysis concluded. (O'Donnell, 5/4)

The Associated Press: Anxiety Over GOP Health Plan For Those With Severe Illnesses
"Today, it really kind of sunk in that not only are we not going to potentially have health care coverage but that it was done as a political win rather than a well-thought-out plan," said Martinez, a 32-year-old former chef who's studying social work. "That's what stings about it." (5/5)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Exploring The Deeper Ends Of The Preexisting Health Risk Pools
Whatever happens to the attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare, one issue will continue to dominate the discussion: How do you insure people with preexisting conditions? The Affordable Care Act required that those individuals be covered and not charged higher premiums. That aspect of the law is immensely popular, and making changes to that guarantee is fraught with financial and political danger. (Naroff, 5/4)

Stat: LA Children's CEO: Jimmy Kimmel Triggered 'Flood Of Calls' From Families Needing Treatment
Since Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue about his son’s lifesaving heart surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, phone calls have overwhelmed Paul Viviano’s switchboard. “We’ve had a flood of calls,” Viviano, the hospital’s CEO, told STAT in an interview Thursday. “Patients and families are calling about, ‘Will you treat this? Can we see you for that?’ We’ve had other calls about advocacy — this notion of preexisting conditions that Jimmy brought to the forefront. People want to know how they can advocate on behalf of children.” (Ross, 5/4)

Tampa Bay Times: Without Obamacare, What Happened To Kids Like Jimmy Kimmel's Son? 
The Affordable Care Act struck a core deal with insurance companies. It required pretty much everyone to have insurance, but in exchange, it forbade insurance companies from denying policies to people with health problems. Republican leaders have said their new bill, which passed the House on Thursday, protects people with pre-existing conditions, but some GOP lawmakers challenge that. Kimmel's story raises several policy questions, and we'll unpack them. (Greenberg, 5/4)

Houston Chronicle: Celebration But Also Fear Greet House Passage Of Health-Care Bill 
Amy Esdorn has slept little this week, careening between hope and dismay as she checked and rechecked her Twitter feed and Facebook for the unfolding drama as Congress pondered the future of her health care from 1,400 miles away..."I've been living on this roller-coaster for months, really for the past year," said the 41-year-old Houston woman with severe Crohn's disease, who had feared a repeal of the law made insurance companies stop charging people who have chronic or pre-existing conditions more or shutting them out altogether. (Deam, 5/4)

Kaiser Health News: Sounds Like A Good Idea? High-Risk Pools
High-risk pools are a key concept that helped House Republicans pass their replacement for the Affordable Care Act. That bill, the American Health Care Act, which still must pass the Senate to become law, allows states to opt out of the requirement for insurers to cover people with preexisting conditions and set up high-risk pools for these people instead. (Rovner and Ying, 5/4)

Stat: Think You're Not Affected By The GOP Health Bill? Think Again
The GOP’s proposal to let states define on their own which benefits all insurance plans must cover — prescription drugs? hospitalizations? childhood vaccinations? mental health? — would fundamentally reshape insurance for millions of Americans. It would likely drive down premiums, as plans with skimpier coverage would spring up in states which granted more flexibility. But it could drive up costs for individuals, by leaving them responsible for far more out-of-pocket expenses. And this shift wouldn’t just affect people buying insurance on the individual market. It could also affect the more than 156 million people who rely on insurance plans sponsored by their employers. (Ross, 5/4)

The Washington Post: House Republican Plan Could Raise Health Costs For Pregnant Women And Mothers, Critics Warn
The health-care plan House Republicans passed Thursday opens the door for states to upcharge people with preexisting conditions — including pregnancy, health policy analysts warned. The risk of higher premiums for women of childbearing age arises from the so-called MacArthur amendment — crafted by Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) — which allows states to propose their own “essential benefits” package. (Paquette, 5/5)

The Wall Street Journal: GOP Health Bill Jeopardizes Out-Of-Pocket Caps In Employer Plans
Many people who obtain health insurance through their employers—about half of the country—could be at risk of losing protections that limit out-of-pocket costs for catastrophic illnesses, due to a little-noticed provision of the House Republican health-care bill, health-policy experts say. (Armour and Hackman, 5/4)

The Associated Press: GOP Health Care Bill Would Allow Employers To Cap Benefits
The Republican health care plan that passed the House on Thursday targeted a key protection for Americans who get their health insurance through work. It would allow health insurance companies to impose lifetime and annual caps on benefits for those who get coverage through a large-employer plan. Former President Barack Obama's health care overhaul banned insurers from imposing such caps, and public opinion surveys have shown that prohibition was popular. (Mulvihill, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Assessing The Impact Of The House GOP Health Bill
The House Republican health bill is driven by one big idea: Insurers and markets, rather than government, should be empowered to find ways to provide health insurance to a broad set of people at affordable prices. The bill that narrowly passed the House on Thursday creates a mechanism to free insurers to sell a wider variety of products—including less-comprehensive plans now barred by law—and to price them in new ways, potentially raising premiums for older and sicker Americans. (Armour, 5/4)

Reuters: Republican Health Bill Stirs Fear In Opioid-Wracked West Virginia
Debra Bright said she battled for years with mental illness and addiction to pain pills and other drugs that were all too easy to find where she lives in West Virginia, one of the states hardest hit by the country's opiate epidemic. Now Bright, 42, fears the bill passed on Thursday by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to repeal Obamacare will roll back the Medicaid insurance coverage that has enabled her to get drug and mental health treatments she would not have been able to afford otherwise. (Kenning, 5/4)

Meanwhile, a provision in the bill takes aim at Planned Parenthood, and The Washington Post fact checks House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's claim that no one will lose their Medicaid —

The Washington Post: Congressional Health-Care Bill ‘Defunds’ Planned Parenthood
The health-care bill passed by the House brought Republicans closer to their goal of erasing Obamacare from the books. But it also revived another long- cherished aspiration: cutting off the flow of federal funds to Planned Parenthood. A provision in the bill temporarily blocks the 100-year-old nonprofit women’s health organization and abortion provider from participating in the Medicaid program. If enacted, it would deal a devastating blow to an organization that provides reproductive services and other health care to 2.5 million people annually. (Somashekhar and Cunningham, 5/4)

The Washington Post: Kevin McCarthy’s Claim That ‘Nobody On Medicaid Is Going To Be Taken Away’
Before the House narrowly approved the Republican bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, McCarthy defended it in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash after she noted that Democrats paid a price at the polls for passing Obamacare. She wondered whether Republicans are “going to face that very same buzz saw for taking a benefit away.” McCarthy responded, “We’re not taking a benefit away. Nobody on Medicaid is going to be taken away.” Considering that the American Health Care Act would reduce anticipated Medicaid outlays by $880 billion, or 25 percent, over the next 10 years, what is he talking about? (Kessler, 5/5)

Boston Globe: GOP Plan Could Erode Mass. Universal Care Law
The health care bill that squeaked through the US House of Representatives Thursday threatens to blow a hole in the Massachusetts budget and undermine the state’s near-universal access to insurance. That was the assessment of elected officials, health care advocates, policy experts, and industry leaders after the House approved legislation to repeal and replace huge portions of former president Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. (Dayal McCluskey, 5/5)

Boston Globe: Governor Baker ‘Disappointed’ In Health Care Vote
Republican Governor Charlie Baker said Thursday that he’s “disappointed” in the US House vote to replace the Affordable Care Act. In a statement posted to Twitter, Baker said the bill in its current form would harm Massachusetts and urged the Senate to reject it. (Prignano, 5/4)

Chicago Tribune: What Does The GOP Health Care Bill Mean For Illinois Consumers? 
House Republicans clinched a political victory Thursday with a nail-biting vote to pass the much-discussed American Health Care Act — a bill that aims to replace large swaths of Obamacare. What could this mean for you? Much is still unknown about exactly how the bill's provisions would unfold, and whether the Senate will agree to it. But if the bill becomes law, it could affect many Illinois residents, including those who get insurance through their employers, those who buy their own plans and those who are Medicaid recipients. (Schencker, 5/4)

Detroit Free Press: What The House Health Care Bill Means For Michigan
The final tally — 217 to 213 — reflected the deep partisan divide over the future of the nation's health care system. Nevertheless, the initial success of the GOP’s proposal marked an important milestone for House Republican leaders and the Trump administration, who ran for office on a pledge to throw out Obamacare. In the Michigan congressional delegation, the vote split cleanly along party lines: nine Republicans for the bill and five Democrats casting no votes. (Dolan, 5/4)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Why GOP Health Plan Could Be Especially Tough On N.J., Pa.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania could be among the biggest losers in the Affordable Care Act replacement plan that squeaked through the House on Thursday, policy experts said, and for reasons that have gotten little public attention. One example: Both states devote more of their Medicaid spending to seniors and disabled people combined than almost anyplace else in the country. Care for these groups is especially costly, and the GOP plan would not keep pace with their needs. So the states could be forced to cut benefits or raise taxes to maintain services that many people do not consider optional. (Sapatkin, 5/4)

Denver Post: Governor Hickenlooper Blasts American Health Care Act Approval
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper blasted the U.S. House of Representative’s passage of the American Health Care Act on Thursday, saying that the bill, “threatens to end health insurance coverage for hundreds of thousands of hard working Coloradans.” Hickenlooper’s lieutenant governor, former health care executive Donna Lynne, said the AHCA scrambles the state’s health safety net. “We are going to have to reconstruct a whole new health system because of this,” she said. (Ingold and Frank, 5/4)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Gov. John Kasich: GOP-Passed Health Bill Falls 'Woefully' Short
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said the health care bill passed by House Republicans Thursday "remains woefully short" when it comes to helping vulnerable Ohioans. A Republican who ran for president in 2016, Kasich has been outspoken in his opposition to previous versions of the bill, which would have curtailed the expansion of Medicaid he embraced as governor. (Weiser, 5/4)

The Hill: Virginia Gov: ObamaCare Repeal Bill 'Puts People's Lives In Jeopardy'
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) says the GOP's ObamaCare repeal bill will directly cause people to die if it becoems law. “Well, people are going to lose their lives. People are going to lose their health coverage,” McAuliffe said Friday on CNN’s “New Day.” (Hensch, 5/5)

Sacramento Bee: Health Coverage For Millions Of Californians Threatened By Repeal Of Affordable Care Act 
Many of the 5 million Californians who receive health coverage through the Affordable Care Act risk losing insurance under GOP legislation passed Thursday by the House of Representatives. State and health industry officials said they hoped the U.S. Senate would block the bill or revise it to better protect low-income communities and people with pre-existing conditions. (Caiola, 5/4)

Columbus Dispatch: Medicaid Cuts Bad News For Special Education
A health-care bill approved by the U.S. House on Thursday to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act would cost Ohio schools millions in Medicaid funding. Medicaid, the tax-funded health-care program for the poor and disabled, helps schools pay for speech therapy, nursing aides, wheelchairs and other services for students with disabilities. It also reimburses schools for health and wellness care to children in poverty. (Candisky, 5/5)

Georgia Health News: State Control Would Increase If GOP Health Plan Becomes Law
Georgia and other states would have more control over health care  — its rules, spending and benefits — under the bill that passed the U.S. House on Thursday. The revised version of the Republican-backed health bill, approved narrowly in the House, would allow states to get waivers to create insurance regulations much different from the current Affordable Care Act requirements. (Miller, 5/4)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Obamacare Replacement Could Cost Georgia Schools Medicaid Money
If Congress ultimately replaces Obamacare with the legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday, it could cost Georgia schools. The proposal, yet to be vetted by the Senate, cuts Medicaid by 25 percent over a decade, and schools get a chunk of that money to educate students with disabilities, according to the New York Times. (Tagami, 5/4)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A 6th District Rift Over The House Healthcare Plan In Tom Price’s Old Turf 
The last Republican attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act sent a jolt through the race to replace Tom Price in Congress. And the latest attempt is again exposing a stark divide between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff on healthcare policy. (Bluestein, 5/4)

Kansas City Star: Health Care Vote Splits Kansas City, The Nation 
They are both small-business owners living miles apart. But like much of the nation this week, Doug Furnell and Trisha Tataryn are split over the vote Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives to scrap and replace the Affordable Care Act. (Adler and Lowry, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: New Health Bill Or Old, Insurers Signal They’re Ready To Make Big Changes
Insurers are sending mounting signals of trouble next year for the marketplaces where consumers buy insurance, a looming issue not eased by House passage of the Republican health bill. Regulatory filings in two states with early deadlines, Virginia and Maryland, showed several insurers seeking major premium increases for their 2018 Affordable Care Act exchange plans. (Wilde Mathews and Radnofsky, 5/4)

Reuters: Health Insurers Focused On 2018 Unknowns For Obamacare Market
While attention is focused on Republicans' fight to pass a bill to repeal Obamacare starting in 2019, health insurers are busy struggling with decisions they need to make now about how to price premiums and what markets they can afford to be in next year. Hospitals are on the other side of that coin, concerned that a spike in the cost of Obamacare premiums next year will cause many people to simply drop insurance coverage, reducing their revenues in the near future. (Humer, 5/4)

Des Moines Register: 72,000 Iowans Could Be First To Lose Coverage As Insurance Market Collapses
Iowa is the first state where consumers face the likelihood of losing all access to individual health insurance policies, but experts say other states could soon follow. The two largest health insurers offering individual coverage in Iowa, Aetna and Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield, announced last month that they would stop selling such policies for next year because of heavy financial losses and uncertainty in the market. In most of the state, that left just one relatively small carrier, Medica. The situation became critical on Wednesday, when Medica leaders said they probably also will pull out of Iowa. (Leys, 5/4)

The Washington Post: One Of Maryland’s Biggest Obamacare Insurers Wants To Hike Rates 50 Percent Next Year
The head of the largest insurer in the Mid-Atlantic region warned Thursday that the Affordable Care Act marketplaces were in the early stages of a death spiral, a statement that came as the company announced its request for massive, double-digit premium increases for next year. (Johnson, 5/4)

The Baltimore Sun: CareFirst Requests Rate Hikes Of More Than 50 Percent
Maryland's largest health insurer asked state regulators Thursday for permission to raise rates by an average of 52 percent on health plans brought by individuals on the state insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act. The other three insurance companies that sell plans on the exchange joined CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield in asking to increase rates significantly, though not as much as CareFirst. (McDaniels, 5/4)

The Hill: Trump To 'Re-Examine' ObamaCare Contraception Mandate 
The Trump administration said Thursday it would "re-examine" ObamaCare's contraception mandate, which requires insurers to cover birth control with no co-pay...Religious nonprofits and organizations have long pushed to be exempt from the requirement, arguing that they shouldn't have to pay for something that violates their beliefs. Planned Parenthood and other groups immediately slammed the executive order as bad for women. (Hellmann, 5/4)

CQ HealthBeat: Trump Takes Aim At Controversial Birth Control Mandate
President Donald Trump sought Thursday to end years of legal challenges to the contraceptive mandate in the 2010 health care law, signing an executive order he said makes it easier for religious nonprofits to win an exemption because of their beliefs. The change, part of an executive order on religious issues announced in a Rose Garden ceremony on the National Day of Prayer, strikes at one of the most contentious provisions of the health care law (PL 111-148, PL 111-152) that prompted several Supreme Court rulings.  (Ruger, 5/4)

The Associated Press: 'Gray Death' Is The Latest Opioid Street Mix Causing Worry
It’s being called “gray death” — a new and dangerous opioid combo that underscores the ever-changing nature of the U.S. addiction crisis. Investigators who nicknamed the street mixture have detected it or recorded overdoses blamed on it in Alabama, Georgia and Ohio. The drug looks like concrete mix and varies in consistency from a hard, chunky material to a fine powder. The substance is a combination of several opioids blamed for thousands of fatal overdoses nationally, including heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil — sometimes used to tranquilize large animals like elephants — and a synthetic opioid called U-47700. (Welsh-Huggins, 5/4)

Stat: Sales Executive For Opioid Maker Was Addicted To The Drug He Promoted
As a district sales manager for Insys Therapeutics, Jeffrey Pearlman led a team that aggressively pushed doctors to widely prescribe the company’s highly addictive opioid painkiller Subsys. He even threatened to stop paying a nurse speaking fees if she didn’t help boost sales of the drug, emails show. All the while, Pearlman held a secret: He himself was addicted to opioids like the very ones he was promoting. (Armstrong, 5/5)

NPR: Measuring Drug Impairment In Drivers Easier Said Than Done
Drug-impaired driving is a growing concern for highway safety officials. But, as a recent report makes clear, its actual impact is still difficult to measure. The report from the Governors Highway Safety Association, a group of state highway safety offices, found that in 2015, among fatally injured drivers with a known test result, drugs were detected more frequently than alcohol. (Hobson, 5/5)

And from Georgia and Minnesota —

The Associated Press: Georgia Governor Signs Limits On Drug Treatment Centers
Georgia is increasing regulation of addiction treatment centers, prompted by complaints from northwest Georgia lawmakers and residents that a cluster of programs there largely treat people traveling from other states. Gov. Nathan Deal signed the legislation on Thursday. (5/4)

The Star Tribune: Minneapolis VA Study Finds Opioids No Better For Chronic Pain Than Other Meds 
First-of-its-kind research at the Minneapolis VA has found no long-term benefits for patients taking opioid medications for chronic pain — a finding that is likely to strengthen the case for reducing use of the addictive medications that have been responsible for a sharp rise in drug overdoses and deaths. Focusing on patients who suffer from chronic back pain or arthritic knees and hips, the study compared 120 who didn’t receive opioids with 120 who did as part of their pain management. (Olson, 5/4)

Denver Post: Colorado Lawmakers Reach Sweeping Deal To Stave Off $528 Million Cut To Hospitals 
Top Colorado lawmakers on Thursday announced a major agreement to avert potentially catastrophic cuts to the state’s hospitals, capping off weeks of tense negotiation on the far-reaching package. The measure would reverse a planned $528 million cut to hospitals, while boosting funding to roads and schools. It also would provide a tax break to small businesses, hike recreational marijuana taxes, increase Medicaid co-pays and lower the state’s spending cap by $200 million. (Eason and Frank, 5/4)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Is One Of The Worst States For Nurses
Looking for the best place to begin your career in the health care industry? A new study suggests that you should think twice before heading to Georgia, because it has been named one of the worst states for nurses by WalletHub. (Parker, 5/4)

Health News Florida: University Demand For Counselors Continues 
Florida's universities call it a troubling trend. The need for mental health counseling services among students has gone up nearly 50 percent over the past five years. Almost 25,000 students sought mental health services last year, but on some campuses, they may have to wait weeks for help.  There just aren't enough counselors to go around. (Miller, 5/4)

Texas Tribune: Texas Works To Market Health Program Without Planned Parenthood
Look up right now and you might see one of the 36 pink billboards dotting Texas cities urging women to go to the state for their reproductive health needs. But marketing the Healthy Texas Women Program isn’t the average public health outreach campaign — it’s a test for Texas legislators. The program marks the state’s second attempt at reimagining how to provide reproductive health and family planning services for low-income women without the involvement of Planned Parenthood or other abortion providers. Some critics say not enough women are aware of the program. (Evans, 5/5)

The Star Tribune: Senate Bill Would Raise Statewide Tobacco Sales Age To 21 
Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, introduced a bill that would raise the minimum age to buy tobacco products statewide from 18 to 21... The bill comes just days after the Edina City Council made that city the first in Minnesota to raise its tobacco sales age to 21. (Otárola, 5/4)

KCUR: Why A Social Worker Just Might Be A Kansas Medical Clinic’s MVP
Doctors and nurses are obviously essential to any primary care medical team. But when it comes to managing a chronic health condition, a social worker could be the most valuable player from the patient’s perspective. That’s what some Medicare patients in and around the small northwest Kansas town of Plainville have been discovering since January of last year. That’s when the town’s primary care clinic, Post Rock Family Medicine, hired Christy Kaufman to provide care management. She works with patients who need the most help with multiple chronic health conditions. They often struggle — for various reasons — to comply with doctor’s orders. (Thompson, 5/4)

The Baltimore Sun: New High-Risk Breast Cancer Clinic Aims To Educate About The Disease 
MedStar Health, which treated [Jackie] Dressel, is launching a program aimed at patients like her who have a family history of a specific cancer, mutant genes linked to one or more types of cancer, or other factors that could make them more likely to develop tumors. A team that includes specialists and genetic counselors will assess patients' need to be screened for cancer-related genes, develop treatment plans that consider current and future risk, and encourage regular diagnostic testing. (Cohn, 5/5)

Chicago Sun Times: Advocate Health Care To Cut Spending By $200 Million: Report 
Advocate Health Care, which operates 12 hospitals in Illinois, intends to reduce spending by $200 million, in part, because of delays in payments from the state of Illinois. CEO Jim Skogsbergh insisted the spending cuts were unrelated to its failed bid to merge with NorthShore University HealthSystem, Crain’s Chicago Business reported Thursday. (5/4)

Chicago Tribune: Advocate Health Care To Make $200 Million In Cuts
Advocate Health Care, the state's largest hospital system, is making $200 million in cuts in response to financial pressures.The cuts will amount to about a 4 percent decrease in costs. The system is still evaluating exactly where those cuts will be made, Advocate spokeswoman Katie McDonough said, though a memo sent to employees Thursday said "some of our decisions will be difficult as they will undoubtedly impact programs, services and jobs." (Schencker, 5/4)

KCUR: KU Hospital And For-Profit Chain To Acquire Troubled Topeka Hospital 
The University of Kansas Health System and a Tennessee-based for-profit hospital chain have agreed to rescue a troubled Topeka hospital despite possible changes in federal health policy that could hurt Kansas providers. Officials from the KU Health System and Ardent Health Services, the nation’s second-largest privately owned for-profit hospital chain, announced Thursday that they had signed a letter of intent to acquire St. Francis Health. (Mclean, 5/4)

Arizona Republic: Banner Health CEO Explains Overhaul, Cuts To 1 Percent Of Positions
Banner Health, Arizona's largest private employer, has completed an overhaul with changes to upper-management and cuts to nearly 1 percent of the health provider's positions, a top official said. The Phoenix-based health system's chief executive said the restructuring aims to reduce costs and respond to the health industry's changing financial picture, which includes tighter insurance reimbursement rates and pressure on consumers to pay a larger share of their own health bills. (Alltucker, 5/4)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Proposed Psychiatric Hospital For Milwaukee Area To Get Review
A task force set up to recommend a replacement for the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division's aging psychiatric hospital agreed Thursday to consider a last-minute proposal from three Milwaukee health systems... The task force’s options previously had been limited to two for-profit, out-of-state companies, and it was scheduled to make its recommendation on Thursday. The Journal Sentinel first reported the local systems' plan to offer an alternative last week. (Boulton, 5/4)

The Star Tribune: 41 Infected: Minnesota Measles Outbreak Now Includes First Case Outside Somali Community 
Minnesota health officials reported seven new measles cases Thursday, bringing the case count to 41 in an outbreak that has now infected its first adult and has begun to spread beyond the state’s Somali ­community. It has also moved to a new part of the state. (Howatt, 5/4)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Case Western Reserve University Research Reveals Important Cancer Clues
Supercomputer simulations that predicted the movements of a protein the size of 30 atoms allowed two biophysicists from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine to uncover important clues to understanding cancer. This research project, led by Matthias Buck, professor of physiology and biophysics at the school of medicine, showed how cell membranes control the shape and function of an important cancer-causing protein. (Washington, 5/4)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Pregnant Women With Money Woes May Deliver Babies That Are Too Small: Ohio State Study 
The more stress a pregnant woman feels about being able to afford to care for herself and her children, the more likely she is to give birth to a low birth weight baby, one of the leading causes of infant mortality. That's the finding of a study of more than 130 Columbus-area women by researchers at the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. (Zeltner, 5/5)

Miami Herald: As Time Runs Out, Florida Lawmakers Work On Medical Pot Deal 
With one day left for the Florida Legislature to act, lawmakers say they are close to a deal on medical marijuana. On Thursday evening, the Senate passed sweeping legislation to implement a system that would allow patients with a wide array of conditions, including cancer, HIV/AIDS and post-traumatic stress disorder, to buy and use marijuana. (Auslen, 5/4)

Sacramento Bee: California Department Of Public Health Proposes Potency Limits On Medical Marijuana Edibles 
Korova’s “20 dose” medical cannabis Black Bar chocolates are supercharged with 1,000 milligrams of THC, marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient, and the company’s new THC Blondie – a treat “packed with caramel chunks” and “covered in crushed pretzels” – has 10 50-milligram doses with a total punch of 500 milligrams. Now state Department of Public Health potency limit recommendations for medical marijuana edibles threaten to upset Korova’s marketing strategy and could force the company to dramatically cut THC levels in its chocolates, cookies, brownies and pot-infused popcorn sold through more than 750 marijuana dispensaries and delivery services in California. (Hecht, 5/4)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Outside Cleveland, Health Officials Placard Most Lead Hazard Properties, Some Offer Help Relocating 
The Plain Dealer reached seven city and county health departments to ask whether they'd posted placards on properties included on a list the Ohio Department of Health recently released that the department says should all have received orders to vacate because owners haven't cleaned up identified hazards. Health departments also shared what, if anything, they and other area officials do to help renters forced to move from properties with unaddressed lead hazards. Each property should be vacant, but not all are. (Dissell, 5/5)

USA Today: Trumpcare — A Dog’s Breakfast Of A Bill
The Republican health care bill that passed by a 217-213 vote Thursday in the House is likely to be studied for generations as an example of how not to legislate. This measure was neither subjected to hearings nor debated in committee. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimated that a previous version would have resulted in 24 million fewer people having insurance, has not "scored" its impact. Although the plan would have life-and-death consequences and reshape a big chunk of the economy, it was slammed through after a mere three hours of debate. No effort at bipartisan compromise was attempted. (5/4)

Bloomberg: The Shame Of The House Health-Care Vote
The dereliction of duty is breathtaking. In pushing the American Health Care Act through the House of Representatives, Speaker Paul Ryan and his Republican conference have voted to remake almost one-fifth of the U.S. economy. They did so without public hearings, without input from outside experts, without analysis by the Congressional Budget Office and without, finally, much compunction or consideration of the tens of millions of Americans it will harm. (5/4)

Los Angeles Times: The GOP's Healthcare 'victory' Was Anything But
Republicans created a myth about the Affordable Care Act, claiming that Democrats rammed it through under cover of darkness. For years they mocked then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s statement that “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” But this phrase was taken out of context: She was talking about how the news media had distorted the bill. At any rate, this story about the ACA was completely false. Democrats let the Congressional Budget Office carefully score the bill and if it was rushed it was with the slowest haste in legislative history — the process took more than a year. (Scott Lemieux, 5/4)

Detroit Free Press: Republican Health Bill Is Cruel And Sloppy
The debate over our six-year-old national health reform law is quickly being defined not as right vs. left, or Republican vs. Democrat, but as decent vs. indecent. That’s a harsh assessment, no doubt, and one that we don’t make lightly. (Stephen Henderson, 5/4)

The Washington Post: What Do Bigfoot And Moderate Republicans Have In Common?
But at the point that they vote to remake 18 percent of the economy without hearings, without expert testimony, without a public text of a bill even a day before their vote, without waiting for an estimate of either the budgetary or human cost of their handiwork — well, at that point, they lose any claim to “seriousness” or “moderation.” If there’s one thing to take away from Thursday’s health-care vote, it’s this: Next time you think these Moderate Republicans are going to save the United States from doing something catastrophically stupid, constructed from the whims of ideologue colleagues, disabuse yourself of the notion. (Catherine Rampell, 5/4)

Arizona Republic: Republicans Prove To Be Even Dumber Than Democrats
Not a single Democrat voted with Republicans in the House to pass the current version of Trumpcare.Only it’s even worse than that. Prior to the Affordable Care Act vote Democrats held hundreds of meeting and public hearings...None of that happened with Trumpcare (American Health Care Act). (EJ Montini, 5/4)

Bloomberg: The Senate Holds All The Cards On Health Care
If it's true that the entire health care reform effort since January has been one large exercise in blame-shifting, then Paul Ryan and House Republicans have successfully -- for now -- shifted blame for the failure to repeal and replace Obamacare over to the Senate. With 20 Republican defections, but with many Republicans in tough districts still having to cast tough "yes" votes, the House passed the American Health Care Act by the razor thin margin of 217 to 213. (Jonathan Bernstein, 5/4)

The Washington Post: What Senate Republicans Need To Do Right Now
With the House’s passage of the American Health Care Act, House Republican leaders have handed their Senate counterparts the biggest legislative weapon they have held in their entire careers. At this point, Senate Republicans should learn from a bit of wisdom often attributed to one of the wittiest and most clear-eyed Founders, Ben Franklin: “We must, indeed, all hang together,” he supposedly told the Continental Congress in 1776, “or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” If the 52 GOP senators agree to stay together and maneuver through the next month together, they could bring about a huge breakthrough for the country and a rejection of the gridlock that has consumed the Senate for years. (Hugh Hewitt, 5/4)

The New York Times: Don’t Take The Senate For Granted On Health Care
After the House passed a cruel and unpopular health care bill on Thursday, many people (including me, I’ll confess) immediately began talking about the likely effects on the 2018 midterms. Smart political observers believe that Republicans just increased their odds of losing House control, which would be very big deal. But there is plenty of time later to worry about the 2018 midterms. The focus now should be on the Senate. (David Leonhardt, 5/4)

Kansas City Star: The House Votes To Break Health Care. The Senate Must Fix It. 
The vote was 217 to 213. Every Republican member from Kansas and Missouri voted yes, including Reps. Kevin Yoder, Sam Graves, Vicky Hartzler and Lynn Jenkins. But we shouldn’t get angry. We should use the House bill as a guidepost, because the GOP’s views about your health care are now crystal clear. (5/4)

San Jose Mercury News: Why Senate Should Reject House Health Care Bill
The health care bill narrowly approved by Republicans Thursday in the House is a disaster, not only for California but also for all 50 states. It has more fatal flaws than Donald Trump has hotels. The Senate should reject it out of hand and insist the House start over on a plan that could actually improve on our health care system. (5/4)

USA Today: House Bill Delivers On Our Promises
There is a fundamental — and urgent — choice at the heart of this debate. We can continue with the status quo under Obamacare. We know what that looks like. It means even higher premiums, even fewer choices, even more insurance companies pulling out, even more uncertainty, even more chaos. Look at what has happened in Iowa this week. As is the case in so many areas in this country, Iowa is down to one insurer. That is not a choice. (Paul Ryan, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Ending ObamaCare, Part One
The media template for covering the 115th Congress apparently goes like this: When Republicans fail to pass a bill, they’re doomed. But when they succeed, they’re also doomed. Thus the same media sages who said the House could never repeal ObamaCare are now saying that the replacement the House passed Thursday can’t pass the Senate. (5/4)

The Washington Post: My Son Has A Preexisting Condition. He’s One Of The Reasons I Voted For The AHCA.
Hearing late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s emotional monologue this week about his son’s condition and his family’s experience in the moments after his birth, I had a flashback to the day my son was born and we learned he had Down syndrome. (Cathy McMorris Rodgers, 5/4)

Lexington Herald Leader: Kentucky Health Insurance Market In Death Spiral
Although on the chopping block during President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, very little of the Affordable Care Act will change. Despite ACA remaining intact, Kentucky’s insurance market is getting weaker and will likely see dramatic premium hikes and fewer insurance options for Kentuckians in the future. Welcome to the Kentucky death spiral. It is not a new rollercoaster but a reaction to individual incentives set up by ACA. (Aaron Yelowitz, 5/3)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Should Bar New Enrollees In Expanded Medicaid
Today, Columbus has an opportunity and an obligation to do what's right -- after all, unlike Washington, when Ohio runs out of money, we can't just print or borrow more. And in a state with stagnant population increases and private sector growth lagging behind half the nation, ignoring the glaring warning signs about our current fiscal trajectory doesn't constitute a plan, it's a blueprint for disaster. (Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio), 5/4)

The Washington Post: Betrayal, Carelessness, Hypocrisy: The GOP Health-Care Bill Has It All
What a betrayal: Republicans promise to maintain access to health insurance for people with preexisting medical conditions, and then on Thursday press a bill through the House that would eliminate those guarantees. What a joke: Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) objects to the loss of protection, and then pretends that a paltry $8 billion over five years will fix the problem. (5/4)

The New York Times: The Trumpcare Disaster
The House speaker, Paul Ryan, and other Republicans falsely accused Democrats of rushing the Affordable Care Act through Congress. On Thursday, in a display of breathtaking hypocrisy, House Republicans — without holding any hearings or giving the Congressional Budget Office time to do an analysis — passed a bill that would strip at least 24 million Americans of health insurance. (5/4)

The New York Times: The Real Problem With The Health Care Bill
With the American Health Care Act headed to the Senate — and possibly President Trump’s desk — it’s important to step back from the debate over the bill’s details and recognize two essential truths about American health care. (Theresa Brown, 5/4)

Boston Globe: The GOP’s Punitive, Cruel New Health Care Bill 
House Republicans narrowly approved legislation that a) takes health care coverage away from as many as 24 million people b) is deeply unpopular and c) has little chance of ever becoming law... Amazingly, the Republican bill passed on Thursday is actually more awful than an earlier version of the legislation, which failed to get a vote in the House in March. (Michael Cohen, 5/4)

Boston Globe: The Catastrophe Of Trumpcare 
Ryan couldn’t win passage of an earlier effort to replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill that failed to pass in March would have stripped coverage from 24 million people. This time around, Ryan rammed through a vote before the CBO could analyze the consequences. But even the conservative Wall Street Journal warned that this latest version puts millions at risk of losing health care benefits. (5/4)

The Washington Post: This Is Not The Health-Care Bill That Trump Promised
It was one thing for Donald Trump to pledge on the campaign trail that his plan for health care would assure that every American had coverage. He did so repeatedly, including during a town hall event in February 2016 at which he said his promise to “take care” of everyone might sound as if he was talking about a single-payer system, but he wasn’t. “That’s not single-payer,” he said. “That’s not anything. That’s just human decency.” (Philip Bump, 5/4)

Los Angeles Times: All The Horrific Details Of The GOP's New Obamacare Repeal Bill: A Handy Guide
Republicans in the House say they have the votes to pass the American Health Care Act, a measure that will repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The vote is scheduled for Thursday. We analyzed the AHCA in March, when the original version was scheduled for a vote that eventually was canceled. The new version is appreciably worse. Like the original, it threatens the health coverage of more than 24 million Americans but includes provisions that are even crueler. Here’s a handy guide to the worst elements of a nasty bill that will harm you and your neighbors. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/4)

Boston Globe: What Will The GOP’s Health Care Bill Actually Do?
Last month it was pronounced dead, but on Thursday House Republicans found the “yea” votes they needed to give new life to their health care reform bill — passing it despite unified dissent from Democrats, strong opposition from doctors and hospitals, and no desire among GOP supporters to wait for an analysis of the legislation’s costs from the Congressional Budget Office.T he core features of the bill haven’t changed; it still includes the same long-term cuts to Medicaid, higher premiums for older Americans, and smaller subsidies to help people afford individual insurance... What revived this bill, however, was an amendment that could cause even further disruption. (Evan Horowitz, 5/4)

The New York Times: The Reality Of A Pre-Existing Condition
I read the news about the passage of the House health care bill a continent away, on assignment in Europe. The distance did nothing to lift the weight on my heart, as the parent of a child with a pre-existing condition. More than 20 years ago, when I sat keening in a hospital anteroom, after the scans and the somber looks and the clueless young intern who told me she would go home and cry for us, my family and I joined the ranks of the unlucky. A rare disease, a grim prognosis, a suffering child. May those who passed this bill never know what it is like to sleep and wake every day with an anvil pressed against your chest, tasting the terror, pushing it away so that you can comfort and care for both the sick and the well in your family. (Susan Chira, 5/4)

Arizona Republic: Lawmakers Vote To Endanger Pregnant Women
Even the most strident anti-abortion laws – including those in Arizona -- have exceptions that would allow the procedure to save the life of the mother. So, why would Arizona lawmakers pass a not-so-thinly disguised anti-abortion law that puts pregnant women at risk, perhaps even endangering lives? Slipped into the annual budget bill was a provision that could take $5 million in federal family-planning funds that have been distributed by the non-profit Arizona Family Health Partnership and put in in the hands of the state, which would cut off funding to Planned Parenthood clinics. (EJ Montini, 5/4)

USA Today: Trump's War On Drug Users
During the campaign, President Trump committed to addressing America’s drug crisis. He called it “a crippling problem” and “a total epidemic,” which it is. An average of 144 people a day die of drug overdoses. Trump promised increased funding and comprehensive Medicaid coverage for treatment. In March, he said, "This is an epidemic that knows no boundaries and shows no mercy, and we will show great compassion and resolve as we work together on this important issue." (David Sheff, 5/5)

Miami Herald: Scott Right To Step Up Opioid Fight
It’s unusual to hear Gov. Rick Scott declare a state of emergency in Florida for something other than an act of nature — a hurricane, Zika, runaway wildfires. But on Wednesday, in light of thousands of overdose deaths in the state — many in Miami-Dade — Scott issued an executive order declaring that the man-made opioid epidemic has indeed created a state of emergency in Florida. (5/4)

The New England Journal Of Medicine: Separating Families At The Border — Consequences For Children’s Health And Well-Being
Decades of research on child development confirms that children develop best in the context of safe, supportive, nurturing relationships. Positive relationships with primary caregivers are essential for children’s healthy physical and emotional development. For children who experience serious traumas, parents provide an essential protective shield and help children regulate their emotions and reestablish a sense of safety, which affects their stress-response system (the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis) and their growth, health, and well-being. Conversely, if children are unnecessarily and traumatically removed from their parents, their physical and mental health and well-being will suffer. The effects of traumatic experiences — especially in children who have already faced serious adversity — are unlikely to be short lived: cumulative adversity can last a lifetime, even increasing the risk of early death. (Michael J. MacKenzie, Emily Bosk and Charles H. Zeanah, 5/3)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Don't Make Lead-Poisoned Children In Cleveland And Toledo Pay The Price For State Inaction
While our neighbors in Flint, Michigan, are fighting a well-publicized battle against lead poisoning from water, in Ohio we have our own battle against lead-based paint. Last week, advocates learned that our fight to protect vulnerable children may become much harder, as state legislators take steps to block local ordinances concerning lead. (Marvin C. Brown IV, 5/5)

The Kansas City Star: Relax, Your Thin Mints Purchases Are Not Spreading The Gospel Of Abortion
Saladin’s most recent coup is a decision by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas to discontinue its parishes’ Girl Scout programs. Last year, Saladin, a former high school teacher, helped convince her own Archdiocese of St. Louis to urge parishes to cease hosting Girl Scouting troops and activities. Other dioceses have been targeted by parents riled up by Saladin’s website, mygirlscoutcouncil.com. The nature of the connection Saladin and other conservative Catholic activists see between Girl Scouts and abortion will be familiar to those who have played the parlor game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon or who have read accounts of show trials. The connection, you see, doesn’t exist. But there’s plenty of guilt by association. (Mary Sanchez, 5/4)

The New England Journal Of Medicine: Resident Duty Hours And Medical Education Policy — Raising The Evidence Bar
On March 10, 2017, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) issued revised common program requirements for residents that go into effect this July. The revisions emphasize the importance of teamwork, flexibility, and physician welfare during training, but all the attention has been (and will no doubt remain) focused on the changes in duty hours. The new rules maintain an 80-hour-per-week cap on residents’ work, averaged over 4 weeks, but extend the permissible work shifts for first-year residents from 16 hours to 24 — limits already in place for residents in year 2 and beyond — and permit more within-shift flexibility as long as weekly duty-hour limits are met. What makes this policy change so important is that it seems to reverse direction on the basis of a new approach to developing and using evidence to inform education policy. (David A. Asch, Karl Y. Bilimoria and Sanjay V. Desai, 5/4)

RealClear Health: Don't Let The United Nations Impede Disease-Fighters
Officials from the world's leading development and public health organizations, in addition to representatives from the world's top pharmaceutical companies, descended upon Geneva from April 19-22 to participate in the Neglected Tropical Diseases 2017 Summit. The purpose of the gathering in Switzerland was to discuss ways in which these officials and leaders in their fields could work together to control and eradicate ten neglected tropical diseases. (Neerag Mistry, 5/5)