The New York Times: Investigation Finds Errors In Coverage And Payments Under Affordable Care Act
Federal investigators from the Government Accountability Office said Thursday that they had discovered many errors in eligibility decisions under the Affordable Care Act that had led the government to pay for duplicate coverage for some people and an excessive share of costs for others. The investigators said some people were receiving subsidies for private insurance at the same time they were enrolled in Medicaid. (Pear, 10/22)

NBC News: Obamacare Insurance Markets Still Vulnerable To Fraud, Experts Say
The Obamacare health insurance exchanges are still easily tricked by fraudulent applications, with fake Social Security numbers and bogus immigration details, more than a year after the weakness was first pointed out, officials say. A Government Accountability Office sting also found that many people were double-covered by private insurance and Medicaid after signing up on the exchanges, and that others were allowed to mistakenly go without coverage. (Fox, 10/22)

The Associated Press: Ninth Cooperative Formed Under Affordable Care Act Closing
A South Carolina health insurer has become the ninth insurance cooperative formed nationwide under the Affordable Care Act to fold. Consumers' Choice Health Insurance Co. said Thursday that it will not sell policies in 2016, a decision that will leave 67,000 individuals and business customers looking for new coverage. (Murphy and Smith, 10/22)

The Associated Press: Premiums Expected To Rise In Many Health Law Markets
Premiums are expected to rise in many parts of the country as a new sign-up season under President Barack Obama's health care law starts Nov. 1. But consumers have options if they're willing to shop, and an upgraded government website will help them compare. Online health insurance markets are entering their third year, offering people who don't have access to job-based coverage a taxpayer-subsidized private alternative. That's helped cut the share of Americans who are uninsured to about 9 percent, a historical low. Still, the many moving parts of the Affordable Care Act don't always click smoothly, and Americans remain divided about "Obamacare." (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/22)

The Associated Press: California Eyes People Eligible For Health Care Subsidies
Heading into a third enrollment season with less fanfare and a more modest budget, California health exchange officials said Thursday they will strategically target about 750,000 uninsured people who qualify for health insurance subsidies but haven't signed up for coverage. The agency will spend $29 million on an advertising campaign aimed at lower-income and middle-class residents who don't know there's help available to pay for health insurance, Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee said. That compares to a $43 million advertising budget last year and $55 million the first year. (Lin, 10/22)

The Sacramento Bee: Covered California Gears Up For 3rd Year Of Health Care Signups
Gearing up for a third year of health care sign-ups, Covered California officials announced Thursday they are doubling efforts to reach an estimated 2 million residents who are uninsured, primarily Latinos and African Americans. Those efforts include staffing 500 storefront locations, employing thousands of enrollment counselors, launching a $29 million advertising campaign and a statewide bus tour, starting Nov. 1 in East Los Angeles, all designed to encourage more Californians to come under the health care umbrella. (Buck, 10/22)

And on the subject of the health law's Medicaid expansion -

Utah Public Radio: Herbert: More Flexibility Would Solve Medicaid Crisis
Gov. Gary Herbert used his monthly press conference on Thursday to express his frustration concerning Medicaid expansion. UtahAccess+, the end product of a summer’s worth of negotiations between the state’s legislative and executive leaders, failed to clear a Republican caucus meeting last week. (Hall, 10/22)

The Hill: Texas Opens Up New ObamaCare Lawsuit
Three states are firing the latest volley in the court battles over ObamaCare with a new lawsuit filed Thursday over the law’s fee on health insurers. Texas, joined by Kansas and Louisiana, is suing the Obama administration over the alleged “unconstitutional Obamacare tax.” At issue is a fee that ObamaCare imposed on health insurers as a way to help pay for the law. (Sullivan, 10/22)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Files New Obamacare Suit Over Health Insurer Fee
In Texas' latest salvo against Obamacare, Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed suit over a fee states must help cover to pay for the sweeping federal health reform law. Texas joins Louisiana and Kansas in suing the Obama administration over the Health Insurance Providers Fee, which Paxton says cost Texas $86 million in 2013 and about $120 million per year since. Texas feels the effect of the fee, levied on health insurers, because it reimburses the companies that operate with public funds in the state’s privatized Medicaid program. (Walters, 10/22)

The Dallas Morning News: Paxton Sues Feds Over Obamacare Fee On Health Insurers
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued the Obama administration over an Affordable Care Act fee on health insurers that applies to private insurers under Medicaid — and thus has become a hit to state budgets. Joining his counterparts in Louisiana and Kansas, Paxton on Wednesday sued Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen to challenge the federal law’s “Health Insurance Providers Fee.” (Garrett, 10/22)

The Washington Post: Paul Ryan Officially Jumps Into The Race For Speaker
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) officially announced his bid for House speaker Thursday, yielding to pleas from across the Republican party that he step in and lead in a time of crisis. ... House Republicans continued to coalesce behind Thursday as two influential GOP blocs threw him their support. (Costa and Debonis, 10/22)

Los Angeles Times: As Paul Ryan Makes His Bid For Speaker Official, He Faces A Risky Road Ahead
Risks loom large for the boyish Wisconsin congressman, who until recently had enjoyed a lengthy run as a popular GOP figure, but who nevertheless failed to secure all the conditions he demanded as trade-offs for taking the leadership job. Instead, Ryan now appears willing to settle for less than full-throated support from the conservative base as he tries to steer the GOP away from dysfunction and redefine the speaker's office -- a potential career-killer for someone with presidential aspirations -- on his terms. ...Ryan has always done well as the party's deep thinker, the architect of the steep austerity cuts to Medicare and other safety net programs in the GOP budget. (Mascaro, 10/22)

The Washington Post: The Race To Replace Ryan At Ways And Means Has Begun
The race to replace Paul Ryan as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee is on and it is shaping up to be a two-man battle between Republican Reps. Kevin Brady and Pat Tiberi. ... Brady, who chairs the panel’s health subcommittee, is a conservative who is viewed as an effective member of the committee and takes policy issues seriously. ... Tiberi, who chairs the trade subcommittee, is an Ohio moderate with close ties to outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the business community, which has helped him with fundraising. ... The next chairman will have to work closely with Ryan, who has made overhauling the tax code and entitlement programs the cornerstone of his career. (Snell, 10/22)

Politico: House Republicans Scramble For Debt Ceiling Plan
Congress has a debt-ceiling problem again. A big one. House GOP leaders initially planned to vote on a red-meat proposal Friday pitched by the Republican Study Committee to increase the debt ceiling while imposing new limits on executive-branch power. That measure stood no chance of passing the Senate, but would at least show effort. ... Boehner is still trying to hammer out a broader budget deal with the White House that would boost defense and infrastructure spending while making offsetting cuts in entitlement programs. But Obama is playing a strong hand and has refused to make any major concessions. (Bresnahan and Sherman, 10/22)

In other news from Capitol Hill -

The Washington Post: Puerto Rico Rescue Plan Raises Eyebrows At Senate Hearing
[Antonio Weiss, the Treasury Department’s point person on Puerto Rico] outlined a series of actions that the administration wanted Congress to consider to help Puerto Rico, which has been suffering through a decade-long recession and is buried under $73 billion in debt. He said lawmakers should create a new class of bankruptcy only available to U.S. territories that would allow Puerto Rico to restructure all of its debt. The plan would also broaden the availability of federal tax breaks for island residents, including the earned-income tax credit, widen access to Medicaid and create a mechanism for congressional oversight of the island’s troubled finances. (Fletcher, 10/23)

The Fiscal Times: As Congress Fails To Act, 1 In 3 Seniors Facing Big Hike In Medicare Premiums
Hopes are dimming that Congress will intervene to block a huge Medicare premium increase of over 50 percent for nearly a third of the 50 million elderly Americans who receive their physician care and other health services through Medicare Part D. (Pianin, 10/22)

California Healthline: Decision On Social Security Could Affect Health Care Costs For State's Seniors
Some seniors on Medicare could end up paying about $120 more a month in premiums and deductibles if the Social Security Administration follows through on this week's announcement that there will be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) this year, according to a California congressman. In addition, the state could find itself picking up a tab of about half a billion dollars for many Californians who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medi-Cal, said Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), the Democratic Caucus chairman in the House of Representatives and the ranking member of the House Ways & Means subcommittee on Social Security. (Gorn, 10/22)

In related news, Politico examines GOP presidential hopeful Ben Carson's take on Medicare -

Politico: Dr. Ben Carson's Prescription: Abolish Medicare
Carson, who now leads the GOP field in Iowa according to the latest Quinnipiac Poll, would eliminate the program that provides health care to 49 million senior citizens, as well as Medicaid, and replace it with a system of cradle-to-grave savings accounts which would be funded with $2,000 a year in government contributions. While rivals have been pummeled for proposing less radical changes, Carson hasn't faced the same scrutiny -- and his continued traction in polls has left GOP strategists and conservative health care wonks scratching their heads. (Cheney and Millman, 10/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Valeant To Hold Conference Call On Monday To Address Critical Report
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. said it plans to hold a conference call at 8 a.m. EDT on Monday to address recent criticism of its business practices that has sent its stock price tumbling this week. Valeant said it would “lay out the facts” regarding allegations brought by short-seller Citron Research in a note on Wednesday. The report fanned concerns about Valeant’s accounting, raising questions about its use of certain pharmacies to supply its drugs and its accounting for the dispensing. (Dulaney, 10/22)

Reuters: Valeant's Falling Secondary Loan Price Pulls Pharma Companies Down
US secondary loan prices for pharmaceutical companies are falling with slumping equity levels as growing political and regulatory pressure on drug pricing threatens the growth model that underpins lending to the sector. Valeant Pharmaceutical Inc's secondary loan price on its D, E and F term loans fell in volatile trading on Wednesday and continued to fall to 92.25-92.75% of face value on Thursday, according to traders. (Lee, 10/22)

Bloomberg: Health Care Stocks In U.S. Seen As Costly Before Valeant Dispute
Health-care stocks were poised for a fall even before they were shaken yesterday by a short seller’s fraud accusation against Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., according to Lori Calvasina, chief U.S. equity strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG. Calvasina recommended last week that investors reduce holdings of drug and biotechnology companies, as well as providers of health-care equipment and services. The groups suffer from “extremely expensive valuations,” the New York-based strategist wrote in an Oct. 15 report. (Wilson, 10/22)

Also, more news on prescription drug pricing and the generics market -

CBS News: Why Spend $750 A Dose For A Drug You Can Get For $1?
Turing Pharmaceutical's controversial move to boost the price it charges for Daraprim from $13.50 a pill to $750 has at least one competitor pledging to offer an equivalent compound that treats a rare parasitic disease -- for just $1 a dose. (Hennelly, 10/23)

NPR: How Generic Drugs Can Cost Small Pharmacies Big Bucks
Pharmacist Narender Dhallan winces as he looks at a computer screen in his drugstore on a recent morning. For the second time in two hours, he has to decide whether to fill a prescription and lose money or send his customer away. This time it's for a generic antifungal cream that cost him $180 wholesale. The customer's insurance, however, will pay Dhallan only $60 to fill it. (Kodjak, 10/22)

Bloomberg: Hospital Chains Skid After Community Health Warns On Quarter
Community Health Systems Inc. fell 35 percent after the hospital chain’s preliminary earnings report disappointed, leading analysts to cut their ratings on the stock because of diminishing benefits from Obamacare. The shares tumbled to $26.30, the lowest closing price since August 2012. HCA Holdings Inc., the biggest U.S. hospital chain, and Tenet Healthcare Corp. also fell. (Lauerman, 10/22)

The Associated Press: Hospital Shares Sink As Community Predicts 3Q Earnings Miss
Hospital stocks tanked Thursday after another big chain warned Wall Street that it won't meet third-quarter earnings expectations. Community Health Systems said Wednesday after markets closed that patient admissions fell about 2 percent at its established locations in the quarter, and it saw a decrease in the percentage of people covered by commercial insurance, which offers the best reimbursement. The Franklin, Tennessee, chain expects adjusted earnings for the quarter that ends Sept. 30 to be 56 cents per share. (10/22)

And Quest Diagnostics reports flat revenue -

The Wall Street Journal: Quest Diagnostics Forecasts Soft Revenue For Year
Quest Diagnostics Inc. on Thursday said it expects revenue for the year to come in at the low end of its guidance, as the laboratory-testing company reported flat revenue in its diagnostic-information business in the third quarter. Quest narrowed its earnings guidance to a range of $4.75 to $4.80 a share, from its prior guidance of $4.70 to $4.85 a share. The company said it expects revenue to come in at the low end of its forecast of $7.49 billion and $7.57 billion. (Dulaney, 10/22)

Reuters: FDA Warns Of Serious Liver Injury Risk With AbbVie Hep C Drugs
U.S. health regulators on Thursday issued a warning of potential risk of serious liver injury for certain patients using AbbVie's hepatitis C treatments, Viekira Pak and Technivie, sending the drugmaker's shares down more than 10 percent. The Food and Drug Administration said AbbVie had identified cases of hepatic decompensation and liver failure in patients with liver cirrhosis who were taking the medicines. (Berkrot, 10/22)

The Washington Post: After Patient Deaths, FDA Warns About Liver Damage Risk Of Hepatitis C Medications
Federal regulators on Thursday warned that two hepatitis C medications from drug maker AbbVie can cause "serious liver injury" in patients with advanced forms of the disease. The Food and Drug Administration said it had received numerous reports of patients who either died or had to undergo liver transplantation after receiving the treatments, known as Viekira Pak and Technivie. (Dennis, 10/22)

The Texas Tribune: State Investigators Visit Planned Parenthood Facilities
Days after Texas health officials announced they want to kick Planned Parenthood out of the state Medicaid program, state investigators on Thursday visited Planned Parenthood facilities in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and Brownsville. (Ura, 10/22)

The Washington Post's Wonkblog: Texas Health Officials Demand Hundreds Of Documents From Planned Parenthood
Texas health investigators on Thursday served orders for hundreds of documents at Planned Parenthood offices across the state, including patient records and employee addresses. The move came three days after the state announced plans to pull public funding from the organization, energizing the national debate over the nonprofit’s fetal tissue donation program. (Paquette and Somashekhar, 10/22)

The Associated Press: Texas Serves Subpoenas At Planned Parenthood Clinics
Health investigators served subpoenas seeking hundreds of pages of patient and staff records at Planned Parenthood clinics across Texas on Thursday, as officials move to halt Medicaid funding to the organization that has been repeatedly targeted by the state's top conservatives. Planned Parenthood said investigators visited clinics in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, and a health center that does not provide abortions in Brownsville, on the Mexico border. They asked for patient health records and billing documents dating back to 2010, as well as personnel files that included the home addresses of staff members, Planned Parenthood said. (Weissert, 10/22)

Reuters: Texas Raids Several Planned Parenthood Facilities, Group Says
Texas officials raided several Planned Parenthood facilities on Thursday, the group said, in a move that comes days after the state's Republicans leaders barred the women's health group from receiving state Medicaid money. The raids were carried out at Planned Parenthood health centers in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio by representatives from the Texas Office of the Inspector General. (Herskovitz, 10/22)

NBC News: Texas Officials Demand Records From Planned Parenthood Health Centers
Texas officials showed up at Planned Parenthood offices in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio on Thursday with subpoenas to demand records and other materials. The visits followed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's decision this week to drop Planned Parenthood from the state's Medicaid program and cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood affiliated clinics. (Gamboa, 10/22)

Fox News: Texas Investigators Subpoena Planned Parenthood Clinics
Texas health investigators visited Planned Parenthood facilities in four cities Thursday, serving subpoenas seeking hundreds of pages of patient and staff records, as well as records related to fetal tissue donations. The visits came three days after state officials announced Planned Parenthood clinics would no longer receive Medicaid funding following the release of undercover videos that featured discussions about fetal tissue. At the time, officials sent a letter to Planned Parenthood affiliates saying the clinics were potentially "liable, directly or by affiliation, for a series of serious Medicaid program violations" highlighted in the videos. (10/23)

And, expect more Planned Parenthood videos as the unedited footage handed over to Congress is leaked and a blogger and hacker team up to release sealed videos -

Politico: 'Confidential' Planned Parenthood Video Leaked
Complete raw footage from the Planned Parenthood videos surfaced Thursday on the conservative website Got News?, whose editor said he had gotten it from a House staffer despite lawmakers’ pledge to keep it confidential. (Cook, 10/22)

The Washington Post: Controversial Blogger, Infamous Hacker Team Up To Release Remaining Planned Parenthood Videos
A controversial blogger and an infamous Internet hacker have teamed up to release hours of covertly filmed videos targeting Planned Parenthood officials and affiliates. The videos, which were filmed by anti-abortion activist David Daleiden and partially released this summer, had been sealed under a temporary restraining order issued by a federal judge. (Miller, 10/23)

NPR: New Jersey Governor Facing Lawsuit From Nurse Quarantined During Ebola Scare
Nearly one year after Kaci Hickox was quarantined in New Jersey upon her return from treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, she is suing Gov. Chris Christie and state health department officials. She says they unlawfully detained her. Represented by the ACLU of New Jersey and two New York law firms, Hickox claims that she was held against her will for three days, even after she tested negative for Ebola. (Wagner, 10/22)

The Washington Post: Kaci Hickox, Rebel Ebola Nurse Loathed By Conservatives, Sues Chris Christie Over Quarantine
Hickox was convinced that MSF’s detailed infection control policies — which included hand-washing with chlorinated water, wearing protective gear and adhering to a “no-touch” policy — had protected her. Yet, after she arrived at Newark Airport, she was quarantined against her will as a governor with presidential aspirations — current Republican contender Chris Christie — said those returning from Ebola-stricken nations couldn’t be trusted to monitor themselves for symptoms, and developed screening procedures with the possibility of mandatory isolation. (Moyer, 10/23)

Meanwhile, news outlets also report on the Louisiana gubernatorial race -

The New York Times: David Vitter Is Everyone’s Target In Louisiana Governor’s Race
In broad strokes, it is hard to differentiate the three Republicans and one Democrat running in Saturday’s multiparty primary for governor in Louisiana. All of them are anti-abortion, pro-gun and against same-sex marriage; all express support for some version of Medicaid expansion in the state; and all are critical, if not outright disdainful, of the fiscal record of the current governor, Bobby Jindal. (Robertson, 10/22)

The Washington Post: David Vitter, Once The Favorite, Has A Fight On His Hands In La. Governor’s Race
Meanwhile, Edwards, the small-town son of a rural sheriff, touts his background as a West Point cadet and an Army Ranger who likes to hunt and opposes abortion — all part of a strategy to win back conservative whites lost to Republicans in recent years. He has also appealed to left-of-center Democrats by calling for an increase in the minimum wage, promising to approve an expansion of Medicaid in the state and highlighting his vociferous opposition to Jindal as the leader of the Democratic minority in the state House. (Bridges, 10/22)

Los Angeles Times: Blue Shield May Be Heading To Showdown With Regulators Over Executive Pay
In response to mounting criticism, Blue Shield of California's chief executive is vowing to improve the nonprofit insurer's poor ratings from patients and to disclose more about executive compensation. But CEO Paul Markovich warned that certain details on executive pay will remain secret, portending a potential showdown with regulators. (Terhune, 10/22)

The Washington Post: Care Of Disabled Citizens In Virginia Will Be Scrutinized In Court On Friday
The Justice Department is trying to increase the pressure on Virginia to comply with a 2012 court settlement mandating major changes to how the state cares for the severely disabled. At a court hearing scheduled for Friday in Richmond, federal lawyers will seek hard deadlines for Virginia to fund more Medicaid vouchers that pay for care outside of institutional settings; boost construction of privately run group homes; and revamp what critics call an ineffective system of care for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. (Olivo, 10/22)

The San Jose Mercury News: Palliative Care In California: Improving, But Not Everywhere
California's system for handling serious and end-of-life care is improving, but more services are needed to meet patient demand, according to two major reports released on Thursday. A growing number of the state's hospitals -- especially in the Bay Area -- are offering palliative care to comfort patients living with serious illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and dementia, protecting them from futile, often painful medical treatments, the reports say. (Krieger, 10/22)

Raleigh News & Observer: NC Starts Medicaid Transition
Dee Jones, director of operations in the existing Medicaid office, has moved to the new Division of Health Benefits, where she retains her title. The legislature voted this year to privatize Medicaid, the government health insurance program the poor, elderly and disabled. That process is expected to take years — the state has to write up a plan, the federal government must approve it, and the state must enter into contracts with companies that will provide and oversee health care. (Bonner, 10/22)

WRAL (Raleigh, N.C.): Jones Named As Operations Director For New Medicaid Division
Secretary of Health and Human Services Rick Brajer has named Dee Jones, the operations director for North Carolina's current Medicaid program, to be operations director of a new division tasked with designing and running a revamped health insurance system for the poor and disabled. Lawmakers created a new Division of Health Benefits as part of House Bill 372, which requires the state shift Medicaid from a fee-for-service system to one that cares for patients through managed care. The new division, which will operate on different personnel rules from the bulk of state government, will have to come up with the outlines of that new system by next summer. (Binker, 10/22)

Health News Florida: DOH Is Getting Out Of The Prenatal Care Business
Florida is one of only three states where county public health departments employ obstetricians for pregnant women. It’s a legacy of the 1990s, when Florida’s infant mortality rate was one of the worst in the nation. But this safety net is eroding. Health News Florida investigated what these changes mean to pregnant and poor women across Florida, and found that only 28 of Florida’s 67 counties offer prenatal care by health department employees. The state’s also been decreasing its roll in patient care overall. (Aboraya, 10/22)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Survey: Most Pennsylvanians Can Get To A Doctor When They Need To
Nearly half of Pennsylvanians said in a new survey that their out-of-pocket costs and copays for health care have remained the same over the past year while about the same percentage said they increased, the Pennsylvania Medical Society said on Thursday. Six percent reported declines in expenses. Most of the questions in the September survey of 700 registered voters involved access to physicians, with 85 percent of respondents saying they travel 15 miles or less to see their primary care physician. (Sapatkin, 10/22)

Marketplace: New Oral Health Provider Sets Dentists' Teeth On Edge
When you live in a state like Vermont — population 625,000 — you tend to know lots of people, and lots of people know you. “It’s your name on the sign, you are the one that’s held liable for all that occurs in the office,” said Dr. Judith Fisch, who now co-runs the family practice in Rutland, Vermont, that her father-in-law started back in 1962. (Gorenstein, 10/22)

The Seattle Times: King County Seeks $392M For Kids; Critics Ask, Exactly For What?
As King County Executive Dow Constantine tells it, his aha moment, the one that led a year later to asking voters for a new levy that would collect $392 million over six years, came when he was confronted by science. Specifically, he was at the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences for a presentation on how children’s brains develop in the early years. The institute has the first machine in the world that allows researchers to take images of brain activity in infants. (Shapiro, 10/22)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: ACLU Sues State Over Prisoners' Mental Health Care
The ACLU of Pennsylvania is suing the secretary of the state Department of Human Services and two other officials for what it calls a "consistent and continuing failure" to provide adequate mental-health care for people ruled incompetent to stand trial in criminal cases. In the suit, filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, the ACLU rails against the state for having "the longest delays in the country" for competency restoration treatment, which would allow the cases to proceed. It claims the lack of resources violates the patients' rights to due process, as well as the American Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act. (Vella, 10/23)

Health News Florida: Health Department Estimates Cost Of Possible Medical Marijuana Program
The Florida Department of Health laid out how much a new medical marijuana program could cost Monday. The agency would oversee the program if voters approve it under a possible 2016 ballot measure. The DOH’s Marco Paredes said the total cost for the program’s first year would be almost $3 million. That would drop down to roughly $2.7 million the following year. (Forhecz, 10/22)

News Service Of Florida: Senators Back Shielding EMT Records
With the bill pointing to interactions between emergency workers and violent, angry and mentally unstable people, a Senate committee Tuesday supported granting a public-records exemption to paramedics and emergency-medical technicians. The Senate Health Policy Committee approved the bill (SB 320), filed by Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, with little discussion. (10/22)

News Service Of Florida: Panel Backs Aid To Dentists In Undeserved Areas
A Senate committee Tuesday approved a proposal that supporters hope will help address longstanding shortages of dental care in some areas of Florida. The bill (SB 234), filed by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, would create a program to provide financial incentives for dentists to practice in underserved areas and in public-health programs. The dentists would be able to receive money that could be used for purposes such as paying off student loans or helping establish and operate dental practices. (10/22)

St. Louis Public Radio: University Of Missouri Gets Swept Into Renewed Battle Over Embryonic Stem-Cell Research
Nine years after Missouri voters approved protections for embryonic stem cell research, the issue has re-emerged as a hot topic in Jefferson City and among next year’s candidates. A key factor: Missouri Right to Life – a longstanding opponent of embryonic stem-cell research – is linking the issue to its opposition to Planned Parenthood, which operates Missouri’s only abortion clinics. (Mannies, 10/22)

The Wall Street Journal: A New Attack On Health-Care Reality
The cataract of insurance co-op failures—nine down, 14 to go—has liberals defensive over ObamaCare. Most amusing is their attempt to blame this debacle conceived by liberals and perpetrated by liberals on, yes, Republicans. The federally sponsored co-ops were designed as an alternative to for-profit insurers, and they’re now going insolvent one by one. The emerging sentimental narrative is that a “Republican filibuster” in the Senate in 2009-10 prevented Democrats from adopting the White House’s preferred public option, and therefore naturally the inferior co-ops were bound to have problems. (10/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Reclaiming The Spending Power
Federal Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled last month that the House of Representatives has legal standing to sue Mr. Obama for continuing to hand out cost-sharing payments under the Affordable Care Act even though Congress had never appropriated the money. On Monday she ruled against the Administration’s request to appeal her ruling before she has a chance to rule on the merits of the House case. And well she should since the appeal was an attempt either to delay the lawsuit past Mr. Obama’s Presidency, or else pre-empt her by going to the Obama appointees who now dominate the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. (10/22)

The New York Times: Paul Ryan, A Speaker For The Freedom Caucus
In slashing federal spending and revenues, [Rep. Paul Ryan] would crimp Medicare into a voucher system, undermine Social Security with privatization, and abolish the corporate income, estate, and alternative minimum taxes. He proposed cutting $5 trillion in spending over a decade, severely harming Medicaid and food stamps while fattening the Pentagon budget. Oh yes, he would kill the Affordable Care Act that is now helping 16 million Americans. On that record, Mr. Ryan could very well be the speaker that the Freedom Caucus, but not the nation, deserves. He showed real cunning in stating his conditions for agreeing to accept the office, but he will have to be even more crafty to survive their demands and ultimatums. It will be interesting to see if he can look beyond appeasing that caucus and focusing on the poisonous politics of House Republicans to finding solutions for the nation’s neglected problems. (10/22)

The Washington Post: Paul Ryan Is Doomed, Too
A week ago, Paul Ryan looked doomed. Now, he looks really, truly doomed. ... Boehner spent his tenure trying — and failing — to corral ultra-conservative Republicans into a working majority. ... They threatened government shutdowns (and achieved one). They tried to block routine increases in the federal debt ceiling. They kept the House from passing spending bills in key areas, such as transportation, where there once was bipartisan agreement. They insisted on more than 50 useless attempts to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act, knowing these measures would fail in the Senate or be vetoed by President Obama. As presumptive speaker, Ryan can look forward to more of the same. (Eugene Robinson, 10/22)

The Washington Post: The Ryan Test: Do Republicans Want To Be Martyrs Or Winners?
Now a clear majority of the Freedom Caucus has come out for Ryan, the peppy poster child for the governing option. This accommodation will quickly be tested on the debt ceiling and next year’s budget. Will the whole conference unite behind an approach to governing that doesn’t rely on showdown and shutdown politics? (Michael Gerson, 10/22)

The Washington Post's Monkey Cage: A Surprising Factor That May Increase Voter Turnout: A Cancer Diagnosis
Preliminary forecasts predict a close presidential election in 2016, making voter turnout a key factor, especially in battleground states. Voter turnout has been studied for years, but only recently have researchers begun to study how people’s health affects their involvement in politics. Unsurprisingly, healthy people are more likely to go to the polls, even after taking account of factors known to be associated with turnout, such as people’s level of formal education or the strength of their partisan loyalties. (Sarah Gollust and Wendy Rahn, 10/22)

Bloomberg: Family Leave
In 183 countries around the world, a working mom can can take time off to be with a newborn — and have an income while she does so. Fathers can count on that too, in almost as many nations. On average, their combined leave amounts to 37 weeks at roughly three-quarters pay. There’s one big exception — the United States, where there’s no national requirement for paid family leave. Instead there’s a hodgepodge of state and company policies that mean a family’s circumstances depend on where they live and work. Overall, just 12 percent of workers have access to paid leave. (Jennifer Oldham, 10/23)

Los Angeles Times: State Law Trumps Antiabortion Centers' Attempts At Obfuscation
This year state lawmakers moved to counteract the troubling and deceptive practices employed by some "crisis pregnancy" centers to deter women from considering an abortion. Their response — the Reproductive FACT Act, which Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed into law — requires licensed facilities primarily offering family planning or pregnancy-related services to notify customers that the state offers free or low-cost access to a variety of family planning services, including abortion, and to provide a phone number for the local county social services office. ... Now, two religiously affiliated nonprofits that operate free pregnancy counseling services have filed suit, seeking an injunction to halt the law from going into effect in January. The plaintiffs ... argue that requiring such disclosure violates their 1st Amendment rights. (10/22)