Stateline: To Curb Rising Health Insurance Costs, Some States Try 'Reinsurance Pools'
A couple of years ago, the health insurance exchange in Minnesota – MNsure – was in deep trouble. Health insurance premiums for individual policies had shot up by as much as 67 percent, among the steepest increases in the country.  Insurers were abandoning the market, leaving 116,000 Minnesotans with scant choices. The Minnesota Legislature offered a solution: a $271 million, publicly funded reinsurance pool that would help health insurance companies pay the most expensive medical claims, thereby lowering overall insurance premiums. The hope was that backstopping the insurers would stabilize the market and halt the rocket-like rise in premiums. (Ollove, 4/9)

The Hill: Poll: Voters Say Health Care Top Issue In Midterms 
Voters rank health care as the top issue heading into this year’s midterm elections, according to a HuffPost/YouGov poll released Friday. More registered voters picked health care as the top issue than any other topic when asked to pick their top two issues, the poll found. (Sullivan, 4/6)

And in other news —

The Star Tribune: Positive Blue Cross Results Trigger Rebates To Consumers 
After three years of losses in the state’s market where individuals buy health insurance, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota made so much money last year that it has to give some back. The Eagan-based carrier, which is the state’s largest nonprofit health plan, disclosed last week that it expects to provide $30 million in consumer rebates as required by rules in the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Snowbeck, 4/7)

The New York Times: The Disappearing Doctor: How Mega-Mergers Are Changing The Business Of Medical Care
Is the doctor in? In this new medical age of urgent care centers and retail clinics, that’s not a simple question. Nor does it have a simple answer, as primary care doctors become increasingly scarce. “You call the doctor’s office to book an appointment,” said Matt Feit, a 45-year-old screenwriter in Los Angeles who visited an urgent care center eight times last year. “They’re only open Monday through Friday from these hours to those hours, and, generally, they’re not the hours I’m free or I have to take time off from my job. (Abelson and Creswell, 4/7)

Meanwhile, the health care industry experienced strong job growth in March —

The Associated Press: Where Americans Found Jobs: Manufacturing And Health Care
Manufacturers added jobs for an eighth straight month in March, driven mainly by companies that produce durable goods like cars, computers and metal products. Hiring in the sector rose by 22,000 in March and has risen 232,000 over the past year. Health care extended its strong run of gains, adding more than 22,000 jobs in March. The gain was driven by hiring by hospitals, dental clinics and physicians' offices. Professional and business services, which include accounting, advertising and administrative support, added 33,000. (4/6)

The New York Times: Why Trump’s Tariffs Could Raise The Cost Of A Hip Replacement
Pacemakers and artificial joints. Defibrillators. Dental fillings. Birth-control pills and vaccines. All are made in China, and all could be subject to new tariffs. Dozens of drugs and medical devices are among the Chinese products and ingredients that the Trump administration targeted for a potential 25 percent tariff in a proposal this week. The list includes some products that are in dangerously short supply, like epinephrine, used to treat allergic reactions, and others, like insulin, whose rising prices have driven public outrage in the United States. (Kaplan and Thomas, 4/6)

In other news from the administration —

The Hill: Trump Taps New Director For Office On Medicare Reforms
The Trump administration on Friday announced a new director for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), an office that could be at the center of efforts to shake up and reform the health system. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma told staff in an email that Adam Boehler, the former CEO of Landmark Health, a home-based medical care company, will start as the director of the office next week. (Sullivan, 4/6)

inewsource: Doctors Debunk Diabetes Treatment As Fraud Charges Hit Clinic Executive
Just imagine: A nonsurgical treatment that helps millions of people with complications from diabetes restore vision, repair damaged kidneys, and reverse heart disease and cognitive decline. A treatment that heals wounds in their legs and feet, repairs damage from stroke, and eliminates a common type of diabetic nerve pain called neuropathy. The nation has a limited supply of healthcare dollars to spend on drugs and services, which is why the government and health plans require scientific evidence of patient benefit. This is especially important for the 30.3 million people in the U.S. with diabetes, whose medical costs in 2012 totaled $245 billion.That’s what lawyer G. Ford Gilbert and his network of Trina Health clinics have been promising with his IV insulin infusions offered through his Sacramento-based company. The Trina CEO calls the procedure “miraculous,” and the first “real change” in treatment for people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes since the 1921 discovery of insulin. (Clark, 4/7)

In other news on the industry and health care costs —

Modern Healthcare: Why Does The U.S. Spend So Much More On Healthcare? It's The Prices 
The sharp difference between the two doctors' experience partly explains why the U.S. healthcare system has much higher administrative costs than Canada and other countries. Those costs, plus much higher prices for medical services and pharmaceuticals and much higher pay for physicians and nurses, were the major reasons the U.S. spent a larger share of GDP on healthcare in 2016 than 10 other wealthy nations, according to a recent study in JAMA. The authors said the huge spending gap—17.8% of GDP in the U.S. versus an average of 10.8% in the other 10 countries—was not primarily driven by the factors that often get the blame. (Meyer, 4/7)

Modern Healthcare: How Third Parties Harvest Health Data From Providers, Payers And Pharmacies
As the healthcare industry continues to struggle with interoperability, there's one realm in which patient data move remarkably freely: the secondary market. Indeed, hackers aren't the only ones making money off of patient health data. Legitimate companies are cashing in too, including health systems, pharmacies and occasionally electronic health record vendors—and the third parties purchasing the data. These third parties get de-identified health information from a vast array of sources and then sell the information on a secondary market to buyers interested in gleaning strategy insights. (Arndt, 4/7)

Kaiser Health News: A Tale Of Two CT Scanners — One Richer, One Poorer
Benjamin Hynden, a financial adviser in Fort Myers, Fla., hadn’t been feeling well for a few weeks last fall. He’d had pain and discomfort in his abdomen. In October, he finally made an appointment to see his doctor about it. “It wasn’t severe,” he said. “It was just kind of bothersome. It just kind of annoyed me during the day.”The internist, Dr. John Ardesia, checked him out and referred him for a CT scan at a nearby imaging center. The radiologist didn’t see anything wrong on the images, and Ardesia didn’t recommend any treatment. (Kodjak, 4/9)

The New York Times: Naloxone Stops Opioid Overdoses. How Do You Use It?
The United States surgeon general issued a rare national advisory on Thursday urging more Americans to carry naloxone, a drug used to revive people overdosing on opioids. The last time a surgeon general issued such an urgent warning to the country was in 2005, when Richard H. Carmona advised women not to drink alcohol when pregnant. (Dias and Correal, 4/6)

Modern Healthcare: Week Ahead: Congress Nears Finish Line On Opioid Legislation 
Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress this week will start wrapping up work on legislation aimed at curtailing the opioid epidemic. They hope to pass a major package, likely the last effort ahead of November's midterm elections, by the end of May. In its final hearing in a series of meetings on the topic, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider bills that would harness Medicaid and Medicare to help manage the epidemic. (Luthi, 4/7)

CQ: NIH Advisers Warn Of Industry Funds In Opioid Partnership
The National Institutes of Health should avoid accepting money from drug manufacturers as it pursues an industry partnership to address opioid abuse, a panel of advisers to the agency's director said Friday. The NIH advisers tasked with considering the ethics of the partnership think it is potentially fraught with conflict. For nearly a year, the NIH has been working out the details of the industry partnership, which is intended to result in the development of non-addictive pain medication and more effective treatments for opioid use disorder. (Siddons, 4/6)

The Associated Press: Drug Overdose Deaths Decline After Years Of Steady Increases
State health officials say the number of accidental drug overdose deaths in Rhode Island declined in 2017 after years of steady increases. There were 323 deaths last year, down from 336 in 2016. That's about a 4 percent decrease.Health Department Director Nicole Alexander-Scott says it's a "small bit of momentum" that's energizing. (4/9)

NPR: Exercise And Yoga Can Ease Chronic Pain Better Than Drugs
It took several months and a team of half a dozen doctors, nurses and therapists to help Kim Brown taper off the opioid painkillers she'd been on for two years. Brown, 57, had been taking the pills since a back injury in 2010. It wasn't until she met Dr. Dennis McManus, a neurologist who specializes in managing pain without drugs, that she learned she had some control over her pain."That's when life changed," she said. (Herman, 4/6)

The Baltimore Sun: Prescriptions Of Methadone For Pain Have Declined, Study Finds 
Doctors have made progress in recent years to reduce the prescription of methadone to fight pain amid efforts to reduce use of the drug after a spate of overdose deaths, a study by The Pew Charitable Trusts found. Nationwide, the number of prescriptions written by doctors for methadone declined 26 percent between 2013 and 2016, according to the Pew study. (McDaniels, 4/6)

WBUR: Federal Prosecutor Takes On New Case As DOJ Point Person For Opioid Crisis
As a federal prosecutor in New York and Virginia, Mary Daly worked narcotics cases involving gangs and international drug traffickers. Now, she's the Justice Department's point person on the biggest drug case of all—the opioid crisis that is killing an average of 115 Americans every day. (Lucas, 4/9)

WBUR: Funding Complexities Remain For Mass. Drug Recovery High Schools
The schools, which help students working to overcome drug and alcohol addictions, are small, averaging only a few dozen students, and are therefore more expensive on a per-pupil basis. ... As budget season kicks into high gear on Beacon Hill, the negotiations have turned a spotlight on the complexities of budgeting — and operating — drug recovery schools. (Pohle, 4/9)

The New York Times: Many People Taking Antidepressants Discover They Cannot Quit
Victoria Toline would hunch over the kitchen table, steady her hands and draw a bead of liquid from a vial with a small dropper. It was a delicate operation that had become a daily routine — extracting ever tinier doses of the antidepressant she had taken for three years, on and off, and was desperately trying to quit. “Basically that’s all I have been doing — dealing with the dizziness, the confusion, the fatigue, all the symptoms of withdrawal,” said Ms. Toline, 27, of Tacoma, Wash. It took nine months to wean herself from the drug, Zoloft, by taking increasingly smaller doses. (Carey and Gebeloff, 4/7)

The New York Times: TB Treatment May Leave Some Patients Contagious
The World Health Organization’s dosage guidelines for two leading tuberculosis medications may be far too low for patients with H.I.V., allowing them to remain contagious for longer than necessary, a new study has found. TB, now the leading infectious killer worldwide, takes over 1.5 million lives per year. Treatment lasts at least six months and can cause serious side effects, making it difficult for patients to stick to it. (Baumgaertner, 4/6)

Stat: CRISPR Might One Day Reverse Devastating Brain Diseases
It may seem unlikely, then, that such a devastating condition is near the front of the line of brain disorders that scientists believe might one day be treated with genome editing technologies such as CRISPR. By “treated,” they don’t mean just keeping a disease from getting worse. They mean reversing the damage and giving the brain a second chance: CRISPR would penetrate the brain of a patient who has lived with a disorder for years and repair the mutation that caused it, unleashing the brain’s capacity of neuroplasticity to weave new circuitry, grow new neurons, or otherwise do right what it did wrong when the mutant gene called the shots. (Begley, 4/9)

The Washington Post: How Kindness Can Help Improve Cancer Treatment
Cancer may not be life-ending, but it usually is life-changing. A cancer diagnosis instantaneously turns life upside down for patients and families. Cancer care is a “high-emotion” service, and the care team must not only effectively treat the disease but also address patients’ intense emotions. While accurate diagnosis and effective treatment are paramount, simple acts of kindness can be a potent antidote to negative emotions and may improve outcomes for those experiencing the frightening journey called cancer. A growing body of evidence reviewed at Stanford University shows that kind medical care can lead to faster wound healing, reduced pain, anxiety and blood pressure, and shorter hospital stays. (Berry, 4/8)

Los Angeles Times: Could This Drug Help The Brain Recover After A Stroke?
Despite years of effort, researchers have so far failed to find a pill you could take or a food you could eat to harden your brain against the injury that could be caused by a stroke. But new research offers the prospect of limiting a stroke's long-term damage in a different way: with a drug that enhances the brain's ability to rewire itself and promote recovery in the weeks and months after injury. In experiments, both mice and macaque monkeys that suffered strokes regained more movement and dexterity when their rehabilitative regimen included an experimental medication called edonerpic maleate. (Healy, 4/6)

The New York Times: High Blood Pressure Tied To Pregnancy Loss
Women whose blood pressure is high before they are pregnant may be at increased risk for miscarriage, a new study has found. Researchers used data from a study of 1,228 women attempting pregnancy after having previously lost a baby. Of the 797 who achieved pregnancy, 188, or almost a quarter, lost the baby again. (Bakalar, 4/6)

Boston Globe: Bedtime Becoming Big Business As More Worry About Their Sleep
Corporations are installing nap pods. The health insurance giant Aetna pays employees to sleep — up to $300 per year if they log a lot of shut-eye. (Teitell, 4/6)

Reuters: More U.S. Teens Seeing E-Cigarette Ads
A large and growing proportion of U.S. teens are seeing e-cigarette ads in stores, online, on television and in newspapers and magazines, a recent study suggests. Researchers examined survey data of exposure to tobacco products collected from a nationally representative sample of thousands of middle school and high school students from 2014 to 2016. During that period, the proportion of youth who reported exposure to at least one source of e-cigarette advertising climbed from 69 percent to 78 percent, accounting for more than 20 million teens nationwide. (Rapaport, 4/6)

The Washington Post: Capgras Syndrome Causes People To Think Their Loved Ones Have Been Replaced By Imposters
On a beautiful autumn afternoon in New York’s Central Park, Carol Berman had the horrifying realization that her husband of 40 years no longer recognized her as his wife. In his eyes, she wasn’t the real Carol but rather some strange woman pretending to be Carol — effectively, an impostor. They were out for a stroll when he started yelling at a woman with a similar hairdo farther up the street: “Carol! Carol, come here!” Shocked, his wife faced him head-on, looked deep into his eyes and reassured him that she was right here. But he refused to acknowledge her as the real Carol. (Kim, 4/7)

The New York Times: Marijuana Use Tied To Fatal Car Crashes
April 20 has become known as a day to celebrate the pleasures of marijuana consumption with parties that traditionally begin at 4:20 p.m. But a study in JAMA Internal Medicine has found that the high spirits may have a price: a significant increase in fatal car wrecks after the “4/20” party ends. (Bakalar, 4/4)

KCUR: Missouri State Auditor Faces Lawsuit As Battle For Control Of Tiny Rural Hospital Escalates 
A battle royale has erupted in tiny Unionville, Missouri, over the town’s endangered community hospital. Trustees of Putnam County Memorial Hospital in the north central community are trying to get rid of the company that took over the ailing institution in 2016 and then ran more than $90 million in questionable lab billings through the hospital. The move has triggered a lawsuit by the company, Hospital Partners Inc., which claims it was illegally booted out and is seeking $2 million in damages from the hospital’s board of trustees and Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway. (Margolies and Sable-Smith, 4/6)

KCUR: Woes Pile Up For The Man Once Greeted As Savior Of Rural Hospitals 
As he fights to retain control of Putnam County Memorial Hospital in Unionville, Missouri, Jorge Perez’s woes continue to pile up at other rural hospitals where he was once hailed as a hero. Last month, in the second of a three-part series, CBS News aired a piece about Empower, a Perez-run company whose affiliates have been involved in many of the rural hospital takeovers orchestrated by Perez and his associates. (Margolies and Sable-Smith, 4/6)

And in Georgia —

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Hospital’s Ex-CEO, 2 Doctors Indicted On Federal Drug Charges
The former CEO of a North Georgia hospital and two doctors have been indicted on federal charges of illegally prescribing thousands of doses of pain medications, officials said Friday. (Burns, 4/6)

Los Angeles Times: An Ambitious California Bill Would Put The State In Charge Of Controlling Prices In The Commercial Healthcare Market
In one of the most aggressive efforts in the nation to curb soaring healthcare spending, a new California measure would put the state in charge of setting prices for hospital stays, doctor's visits and most other medical services covered by commercial insurers. The bill, backed by labor unions and consumer groups, is certain to rouse fierce opposition from physicians and hospitals, setting the stage for a brawl between some of the Capitol's top lobbying heavyweights. Proponents also face friction on the left from advocates of single-payer healthcare, who espouse an alternate vision of how to overhaul the state's healthcare. (Mason, 4/9)

The New York Times: Michigan Will No Longer Provide Free Bottled Water To Flint
Michigan will stop providing free bottled water to the city of Flint, Gov. Rick Snyder said on Friday. City officials criticized the decision, in part because Flint is still recovering from a crisis that left residents with dangerous levels of lead in their tap water beginning in 2014. But Michigan officials said lead levels in the water there have not exceeded federal limits for about two years, so the state was closing the four remaining distribution centers where residents have been picking up cases of free water since January 2016. (Fortin, 4/8)

CQ: Restrictive Abortion Laws Leave Some States With Few Providers
West Virginia, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota all have only one clinic left. Arkansas is awaiting a court decision placing restrictions on medication abortions, which if upheld would leave the state with only one abortion provider. ...The prospect of an abortion-free state in the near future could have an effect not only on the women in that area but also on the momentum behind the movement to limit abortion choices. Anti-abortion advocates are hopeful for a sea change, especially after the success they’ve seen at the local level in pushing for restrictions on things like waiting periods and gestational limits. (Raman, 4/9)

The New York Times: Tainted Synthetic Marijuana Sickens More Than 90 In Midwest, Killing 2
The patients have arrived at emergency rooms across Illinois with mysterious, unnerving symptoms. Some were vomiting blood or bleeding from their gums and noses. Others had arms and legs that were mottled purple, splotched with unexplained bruises. Many were young and previously healthy, panicked and confused about what was happening to them. Health officials say the patients are believed to have inhaled synthetic marijuana, otherwise known as Spice or K2, laced with a pesticide called brodifacoum that is used as rat poison and causes severe bleeding. The outbreak has sickened 95 people in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana; two of them have died. (Bosman, 4/6)

Reuters: New Jersey Health Officials Investigating Potential E.Coli Outbreak
Health officials in New Jersey said they are investigating an E. coli outbreak in four counties that left at least eight people hospitalized. The New Jersey department of health said it was in preliminary stages of an investigation that was possibly associated with a restaurant chain without naming it.However a Business Insider report citing county officials said the chain under investigation was Panera Bread. (Balu, 4/6)

The CT Mirror: After Abuse Scandal, CT Lawmakers Push To Reform Whiting
About a year after cruel, ongoing abuse of a Whiting Forensic patient was revealed, the legislature’s Public Health Committee has reported out three bills aimed at reforming the state’s only maximum-security psychiatric facility by increasing transparency and oversight. (Rigg, 4/9)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Nursing Home Assistants Among Ohio's Most Dangerous Occupations: A Critical Choice
For the more than 75,000 residents of Ohio's 960 nursing homes, nursing assistants provide nearly all of the hands-on care. It is a job that requires dedication, passion and empathy. It is also a job that comes with a serious cost: It has one of the highest reported rates of injury in Ohio and across the nation, according to researchers and government reports. (Caniglia and Corrigan, 4/8)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Solutions To Nursing Home Worker Injuries Seen As An Investment: A Critical Choice
Researchers and government reports make clear that working as a nurse's assistant is among the jobs with the highest reported rates of injury in Ohio and the country. Nursing assistants are hurt three times more often than the average worker, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Caniglia and Corrigan, 4/8)

The CT Mirror: Healthcare Union Suspends Group-Homes Strike - For Now
The state’s largest healthcare workers’ union suspended plans Friday to strike on April 18 at 250 group homes for the disabled to give state officials time to consider boosting funding for these services. But SEIU Healthcare 1199 New England also warned that its members would meet on April 25 to assess any state response, and that another strike notice could be forthcoming. (Phaneuf, 4/6)

The Associated Press: Florida Eye Doctor Behind Bars Ordered To Pay Millions More
A federal judge is ordering a prominent Florida eye doctor behind bars to pay millions more in restitution. The Palm Beach Post reported that this week U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra upped the restitution owed by Dr. Salomon Melgen by more than $10 million to a total of $52.9 million. Melgen was sentenced in February to 17 years for stealing $73 million from Medicare by persuading elderly patients to undergo excruciating tests and treatments they didn't need for diseases they didn't have. (4/8)

Pioneer Press: Liberians Hold Key Roles In Twin Cities Health Care Fields, Some Say Deportation May Weaken Workforce 
With an estimated 11,000 to 25,000 Liberians, Minnesota is thought to be home to one of the nation’s largest Liberian communities. President Donald Trump has declined to renew a long-standing immigration policy that has allowed thousands of Liberians to remain in the U.S. almost since the onset of the the nation’s civil war more than 28 years ago. With their temporary protected status expiring within a year, entire families may be uprooted. ...Liberians make up a large percentage of allied health workers such as nursing home employees and home health aides. Census surveys show that 36 percent of Liberian workers are employed in health-related fields. (Melo, 4/7)

WBUR: How Maine Handles Child Abuse Is Being Called Into Question
The recent deaths of two Maine children from abuse have called into question whether the state — which had knowledge of the cases — handled them properly. (Wright, 4/6)

KQED: Trauma Surgeon Who Treated YouTube Victims: 'Every Day There Are People Who Are Getting Shot And Hurt'
Campbell surfaced from the emergency room to talk to the press on Tuesday afternoon, emphasizing that gun violence happens daily in the Bay Area and across the United States, whether a scrum of reporters is there to cover it or not. (Klivans, 4/6)

The CT Mirror: Frustrated Auditors Appeal To AG On Prison Officials' Refusal To Turn Over Report
State auditors have asked the attorney general to weigh in on whether the Department of Correction must turn over a report they’ve been asking for since July. The report by Criminal Justice Institute, Inc. is one of two outside assessments commissioned under Correction Commissioner Scott Semple, and it could shed light on the quality of health care inmates are receiving at a time when prison health care has come under close scrutiny. (Kara, 4/6)

Health News Florida: New Psychiatry Residency Program Will Help With Shortage In Central Florida
A new psychiatry residency program will help offset rising demand for mental health providers throughout Florida. The University of Central Florida says it will eventually train more than 600 providers a year. UCF says there were more than 17-hundred applicants for six spots in the program that will train residents at Osceola Regional Medical Center and Orlando VA Medical Center. (Prieur, 4/6)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Local Clinics Are Working To Lower High Blood Pressure Rates Among New Orleans' Residents
When the American Heart Association (AHA) released new guidelines for diagnosing and treating high blood pressure last year suddenly half the U.S. population met the criteria for having hypertension (or high blood pressure). For the past 14 years, high blood pressure has been defined as 140/90, affecting about one in every three Americans. The American Heart Association adjusted their guidelines to 130/80 last fall after research showed complications from hypertension affected people with lower readings. (Clark, 4/7)

Chicago Sun Times: U. Of C. Protesters Demand Police Disarmament, Mental Health Resources
University of Chicago students and faculty members on Friday demanded disarmament of campus police and greater funding for mental health resources after the police shooting of a student who ran toward officers during an apparent mental health crisis. At a campus rally, organizers expressed anger over the shooting of fourth-year political science student Charles Thomas, who is currently hospitalized at Northwestern and faces felony and misdemeanor charges. About 200 protesters marched across the quad to deliver a list of demands to university officials at the administration building. (Arriaga, 4/6)

The Washington Post: An FDA Tobacco Announcement Could Save Millions Of Lives
While Washington focused on the continuing upheaval in the White House, the Food and Drug Administration last month made a little-heralded announcement that will likely prove to be much more far-reaching. The public-health agency revealed plans to impose a new standard on tobacco products that would “limit the level of nicotine in cigarettes, rendering them minimally addictive or nonaddictive.” If the FDA follows through, millions of Americans would be spared from debilitating disease and premature death. (4/7)

Chicago Tribune: Teens Who Vape: Will A New Craze Invite A Health Crisis?
Who knew that in today’s classroom, students in middle school or high school could sneak a hit of nicotine from something that looks like a flash drive, or a pen, or lipstick. They can, and they do. Nearly a quarter of high school seniors say they vape daily, and more than 1 in 10 eighth-graders say they they’ve vaped in the past year, according to the 2017 Monitoring the Future survey conducted by the University of Michigan. “Vaping” is done with electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, that heat nicotine-infused liquid into a vapor, which is then inhaled by the user. There’s no smoke, just flavored vapor that can smell like strawberry, cotton candy or creme brulee. Why so much adult hand-wringing about this adolescent craze? Vaping’s sort of like smoking cigarettes, but without the lung-clogging, cancer-causing tar, right? Not exactly. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the long-term health effects of vaping, one reason why parents and school officials should be more hands-on about reversing vaping’s popularity among teens. (4/9)

USA Today: Warning: Vaping Teens Become Nicotine Addicts
The jury is still out on whether e-cigarettes will be a savior to smokers who want to quit, the gateway to addiction for a new generation, or both. But teenagers are not waiting for the answer. E-cigarettes — especially sleek new products that look nothing like traditional smokes, are easily concealed, and produce less noticeable plumes — have taken off in high schools from Maine to California. (4/8)

USA Today: Vaping Products Help Smokers Quit
With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrating that vaping products are among the most used quit-smoking tool in the U.S., many in public health recognize the need to have an adult conversation about nicotine and harm reduction. Last year, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb attempted to do so when he announced a comprehensive nicotine and tobacco regulatory strategy. Much of his framework, particularly plans for the FDA to be much more aggressive in regulating combustible cigarettes, was met with cheers from health activist groups. Now, eight months later, these activists have petitioned a federal judge to play regulator and overturn a portion of the strategy that they disagree with — a four-year delay on requiring all vaping products to undergo a retroactive premarket review process. (Gregory Conley, 4/8)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Shame On NIH. Government Researchers Took Beverage Industry Money For Alcohol Study
When leading alcoholic beverage makers pay the bulk of $100 million for a study to determine whether a daily drink leads to better health, can the research results believably be free of bias? The National Institutes of Health has seriously damaged its credibility as one of the world’s leading medical research centers by obtaining industry funding for such a study. (4/7)

Los Angeles Times: Nursing Shortage Is A Sign That Humanity's Vital Signs Are Weak
America has 3 million nurses. That is not enough. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there will be more than 1 million vacancies for registered nurses by 2024. This is twice as bad as the worst previous nursing shortage. If there is no national and international strategy to build a workforce of nurses, we will witness — very soon — crippled healthcare systems across the world. (Christie and Watson, 4/9)

Boston Globe: It Isn’t ‘Privatizing’ The VA To Give Veterans More Options
There is no plot to deny veterans access to government-funded health care as part of a grateful nation’s compensation for their service. There has been no recommendation that VA hospitals be auctioned off to for-profit medical conglomerates. There is no push to transfer the functions of the Veterans Health Administration — the government agency that operates veterans hospitals and outpatient clinics — to the private sector. What there have been are various proposals to give veterans more choices. (Jeff Jacoby, 4/7)

USA Today: Killing Drug Dealers Won't Protect Child Victims Of The Opioid Crisis
President Trump’s proposal to solve the opioid crisis by executing drug dealers is reminiscent of the failed War on Drugs, and it’s an absurd solution to a public health crisis that ravages families, children and entire communities across the nation. Children are entering foster care because their parents are addicted to opioids, and the epidemic is only getting worse. This crisis demands a response focused on treatment and prevention, so we can keep these families together and protect our most valuable resource: our children. (Sandy Santana, 4/7)

Columbus Dispatch: Drugmakers Behind Epidemic Should Be Punished
More than 4,000 Ohioans died of drug overdoses in 2016 — that’s 10 people per day — part of the 64,000 Americans who died overdosing on drugs that year. This is a crisis that shows no sign of slowing, as deaths from opioid overdoses increased nearly 28 percent in 2017. Especially concerning are the rates of opioid abuse in minority communities and specifically among African-Americans. As one study showed, a major obstacle is lack of access to necessary treatments. (Deborah King, 4/9)

The Washington Post: Democrats Shouldn’t Impose Litmus Tests On Health Care
Conor Lamb’s stunning victory in last month’s special election for Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District makes clear that health care is a winner for Democrats in 2018. More than half of all voters ranked it as a top issue, according to exit polls, and Lamb won the votes of 64 percent of those who named it their No. 1 priority. Republicans’ attempt last year to repeal the Affordable Care Act and send 32 million Americans into the ranks of the uninsured remains an albatross. Voters in the 18th District, where Donald Trump won by 20 percent, disapproved of the ACA repeal by 53 percent to 39 percent. (Henry Waxman, 4/8)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: The Conservative Case For Expanding Health Coverage In Virginia
I hope what has been proposed in Virginia is a stepping stone to better, more comprehensive health-care system reforms that deliver on the twin goals of lowering costs and improving patient outcomes. Just as Virginia led the way on welfare reform, we can also lead the way on health-care reform by setting an example that all people who use health-care services should have skin in the game so they help pay for their own care if they get sick or hurt. (Jeff McWaters, 4/7)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: The Fiscal Case For Medicaid Expansion
For more than five years, the Virginia General Assembly has engaged in heated discussions about whether to accept federal funding through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to expand access to health coverage for hundreds of thousands of Virginians who need it. However, as we examine this issue through the lens of the potential impact on our health care system and the families it serves, we should also consider the responsibility public officials have to look at the numbers and make the right decisions for taxpayers, regardless of the politics. (Aubrey Layne, 4/8)

The New York Times: The Pentagon Is Wrong. Gender Transition Is Effective.
What does it mean to be transgender? A Pentagon report released last month, recommending that most transgender Americans be disqualified from military service or forced to serve in their birth gender without full health care, has renewed debate over this question. Is a person less fit to serve if he or she has a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria — significant distress over an incongruity between one’s birth sex and gender identity? Does welcoming such people threaten the cohesion of an organization like the military? (Nathaniel Frank, 4/9)

Georgia Health News: As A Pediatrician, I See Guns As A Threat To Our Children
Pediatricians play a leading role in lowering the risk of gun injury and death for children. An appeals court ruling in 2017 solidified our right to ask patients if there are guns in the home and encourage parents to remove guns from the home or at least store firearms safely by locking them in a safe with the ammunition locked separately. (Robert Wiskind, 4/7)

Stat: Doctors Are At A Loss When Parents Can’t Agree On Their Child’s Treatment
Medical school didn’t offer any training on mediation, though I did learn early on about the concept of informed consent — how important it is for patients to understand the tests and procedures being performed, and to have a chance to have their questions answered. But in the pediatric arena, the process of informing is muddy. The law requires that only one parent consent to a test or procedure on a minor. When doctors obtain consent, they almost always obtain a single parent’s consent, and assume that his or her partner agrees. (Christopher Hartnick, 4/6)

The New York Times: What We Really Need To Make Roads Safer For Everyone
Accidents are the No. 1 killer of American children, and car accidents are the most common kind of lethal accidents. It makes sense that health officials focus on making car accidents less common and less dangerous. Unfortunately, as with many other areas, regulations often don’t fully line up with research. In 2011, the American Academy of Pediatrics (A.A.P.) released a policy statement on car safety that recommended that children ride in rear-facing car seats until at least age 2. Before that, the recommendation was until 1. This change caused something of an internet firestorm. (Aaron E. Carroll, 4/9)

Sacramento Bee: California Needs More Answers On Life-Or-Death Questions
Senate Bill 1336 – which is set for a hearing Wednesday before the state Senate health and judiciary committees – would shed some light by allowing the California Department of Public Health to disclose basic information while completely respecting patient privacy and confidentiality. This reasonable, non-intrusive approach should receive bipartisan support, regardless of one’s views on assisted suicide. (Nicole Shirilla and David Major, 4/6)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: The Typical Food Stamps Recipient Could Be Your Neighbor, Friend Or Relative
In Cleveland, where I live, more than one in three households rely on SNAP. But food insecurity isn't just a big city problem: In Lakewood, for example, more than 3,300 households rely on SNAP, and even in mostly affluent Shaker Heights, nearly 1,000 households receive SNAP benefits.Here is why preserving SNAP for these families and individuals is essential. Without SNAP, our neighbors who are food insecure may be forced to choose between groceries and medicine, or groceries and utilities. Furthermore, research shows that kids who are hungry perform worse in school and are more likely to repeat a grade. People of all ages who are hungry are more likely to have adverse health outcomes as a result. For people who are food insecure and unemployed, being hungry is one in a long list of barriers to finding employment. (Kate Warren, 4/8)