The Associated Press: Appeals Court Reinstates Wage Rules for Home Care Workers
A federal appeals court on Friday revived Obama administration regulations that guarantee overtime and minimum wage protection to nearly 2 million home health care workers. The ruling was a victory for worker advocacy groups and labor unions that have long sought higher wages for domestic workers who help the elderly and disabled with everyday tasks such as bathing or taking medicine. (8/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Appeals Court Revives Rule Adding Pay Protections For Home-Health Aides
A federal appeals court on Friday revived a Labor Department regulation extending minimum-wage and overtime pay to most home-health workers, reversing trial court decisions that had struck down the rule. (Trottman, 8/21)

Bloomberg: Home-Care Workers Win Right To Get Overtime Pay, Minimum Wage
Home-care workers won the right to overtime pay and the minimum wage after a U.S. court Friday upheld a Labor Department rule that was challenged by business groups. The Obama administration said the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia covers almost 2 million workers “whose demanding work merits these fundamental wage guarantees.” (Snyder, 8/21)

Reuters: Appeals Court Upholds Minimum Wage For Home-Care Workers
A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld a Department of Labor rule requiring employment agencies to pay the minimum wage and overtime to domestic workers providing in-home care for the elderly, sick or disabled. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a challenge filed by the Home Care Association of America and two other trade associations that represent the agencies. The decision overturns a lower court ruling that had invalidated the 2013 regulation. (Hurley, 8/21)

Reuters: How Long Will Opponents Fight Obamacare? How Long Have You Got?
If there’s one thing that exasperates Tim Phillips, the president of the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, it’s when outsiders don’t understand he’s in it for the long run. The group, founded by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, has been around for 10 years already, and its presence is growing. Each time the number of people signed up to volunteer for AFP reaches a certain threshold in a state, AFP opens a field office there. It now has offices in 33 states, and at its national Defending the American Dream Summit on Friday and Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, Phillips joked that he was ready to accompany the handful of volunteers from Hawaii back home to do the difficult task of opening an office there. (Flitter, 8/23)

Politico Pro: Using Experience To Tackle The Challenges Of ‘Dual Eligibles’
CMS has learned the hard way that coordinating care for vulnerable Americans who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid is tough, with rocky starts for many of the dozen state projects targeting these “dual eligibles.” But it’s hoping a Rhode Island program will be lucky 13. ... The state could even serve as a guide for future initiatives elsewhere. Federal officials still hope to expand the projects if they can show cost savings as well as improved quality of care — the critical goal of this Affordable Care Act effort to help the millions of seniors and disabled individuals who are dual eligibles. Many have significant mental or physical challenges. All are low income. Tracking their services between Medicare and Medicaid has been rare in the past, resulting in less efficient and more costly care. (Mershon, 8/24)

Reuters: U.S. Appeals Court Stays Ruling On Nuns Challenge To Contraception Mandate
A federal appeals court on Friday put on hold its ruling that an order of Roman Catholic nuns must comply with a contraception mandate to President Barack Obama's healthcare law, giving the group time to petition the U.S. Supreme Court. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver granted a request by the Little Sisters of the Poor for a stay of the court's earlier decision that the requirement did not substantially curb the nun's religious liberty. (Coffman, 8/21)

Los Angeles Times: California's Obamacare Exchange Criticized For Not Fixing Enrollment, Tax Errors
In a response to blistering criticism from a consumer group, California's Obamacare exchange vowed to fix longstanding enrollment and tax-related errors that have blocked consumers from getting coverage for months and left some with unforeseen bills. Peter Lee, executive director of the Covered California exchange, addressed the complaints at a Thursday board meeting and said more staff and resources have been assigned to resolve these lingering glitches. (Terhune, 8/21)

Politico: Boehner Hires Health Care Adviser
Speaker John Boehner has hired one of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s top aides to advise him on health care policy. Paul Edattel, who has worked on Rep. Fred Upton’s (R-Mich.) panel since 2011, will begin as assistant to the speaker for policy, in charge of the Ohio Republican’s health care policy. (Sherman, 8/21)

Meanwhile, Boehner is girding for some tough negotiations on other issues when Congress returns.

USA Today: 5 Perilous Issues For Boehner When Congress Returns
Many Republicans, for example, would like a must-pass spending bill to include provisions blocking Obama's immigration actions and environmental regulations. Others want any omnibus spending bill to include an amendment that strips federal funding from Planned Parenthood. The reproductive health care provider has come under scrutiny after the release of undercover videos in which Planned Parenthood officials discussed providing tissue from aborted fetuses for research. (Shesgreen, 8/24)

The Washington Post: Cruz’s Evangelical Outreach Shifts Into High Gear
Sen. Ted Cruz, who has assiduously courted evangelicals throughout his presidential run, will take a lead role in the launch this week of an ambitious 50-state campaign to end taxpayer support for Planned Parenthood — a move that is likely to give the GOP candidate a major primary-season boost in the fierce battle for social-conservative and evangelical voters. (Zezima and Hamburger, 8/23)

The Associated Press: Walker's Health Plan Hinges On A Tricky Subsidy Rollback
Republican Scott Walker's plan for repealing and replacing President Barack Obama's health care law hinges on what many see as a nearly insurmountable obstacle — getting 60 votes in the Senate. Walker's solution for winning over enough lawmakers? In a nutshell, he would first strip away the federal health insurance subsidies that they and their staff get as government employees. That, he says, would expose them to the same premium increases that many Americans have to pay and prompt Congress to act on his plan. (Bauer, 8/24)

Cleveland.com: Rick Perry Criticizes John Kasich's Decision To Expand Medicaid
Three Republican presidential candidates made the case to conservative voters gathered here Saturday that each was the best choice to lead the country, but only one took aim specifically at a fellow GOP contender. Texas Gov. Rick Perry criticized Republican governors who expanded Medicaid. ... In explaining his decision to expand Medicaid, Gov. John Kasich has said the more than $13 billion federal dollars Ohio receives for the program belong to Ohioans and would be spent in other states if Ohio did not accept them. Perry, without mentioning Kasich's name, said that argument was "just nonsense." (Borchardt, 8/24)

Columbus Dispatch: Kasich Team Returns Fire On Rick Perry Comments At Koch Brothers Summit
Harsh criticism over Gov. John Kasich's acceptance of federal money to expand Medicaid by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry drew a rapid response from the Ohio governor's campaign. Perry's comments Saturday at the Americans for Prosperity summit in Columbus stand in stark contrast to his actions as governor, when Texas accepted federal money from President Barack Obama's stimulus, said Rob Nichols. (Rowland, 8/23)

The Associated Press: In Alabama, Trump Says He'd Like To Have Election Tomorrow
Republican front-runner Donald Trump rallied thousands of supporters in south Alabama by telling them: "I would like to have the election tomorrow. I don't want to wait." ... And he again promised to "repeal and replace Obamacare" — the health care law that's President Barack Obama's defining domestic achievement. (8/22)

CNN: Jindal Brags About Showing Planned Parenthood Videos To Protesters
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal bragged Friday that when abortion rights demonstrators showed up at the governor's mansion to protest his recent cuts to Planned Parenthood, he had a surprise for them: large screens to display the secretly-recorded videos that have roiled the controversial organization. (Killough, 8/21)

On the Democratic side of the campaign trail -

Politico: Bernie Sanders Dings Nikki Haley On Medicaid
As he campaigns through South Carolina, Sen. Bernie Sanders is taking more than a few shots at Gov. Nikki Haley and the state’s conservative legislators on health care. In multiple speeches here, the liberal Democratic presidential candidate and Independent senator from Vermont has a one-two punch ready: South Carolina should have expanded Medicaid and the decision not to was fueled, at least in part, because President Barack Obama wants that to happen. (Strauss, 8/22)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Independence Blue Cross Grows By Partnering, Not Merging
The tsunami of mergers announced last month - Aetna's purchase of Humana and Anthem's purchase of Cigna - is expected to transform the health insurance industry, if the deals survive antitrust scrutiny by regulators. The consolidation will create three national giants, including UnitedHealth Group Inc., each with more than $100 billion in annual revenue, and add to the pressure on smaller Blue Cross-Blue Shield operators to merge. But don't count Independence Blue Cross, the region's largest health insurer and a major Center City employer, among those on the ropes. (Brubaker, 8/23)

The Wall Street Journal: China Worries Could Hurt Pharma’s Health
The big worries on growth hanging over the pharmaceuticals industry are poles apart. Pressure on U.S. drug pricing is casting a shadow over the sector’s most lucrative market. But slowing emerging-market growth, notably in China, shouldn’t be ignored. (Thomas, 8/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Glaxo Sells Rights To Auto-Immune Disease Drug To Novartis
GlaxoSmithKline PLC is selling its remaining rights to a drug for use in treating autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis, to Novartis AG for up to $1 billion, plus royalties. (Walker and Roland, 8/21)

Los Angeles Times: States May Not Have Legal Right To Cut Medicaid Funds To Planned Parenthood Clinics
The secretly recorded videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing how fetal tissue may be used for medical research spurred Republican governors in several states to announce a cutoff of Medicaid funds to the group's clinics. But it is not clear they are permitted to do so under federal law. (Savage, 8/24)

Politico Pro: Abortion Clinics In 2 States Ended Tissue Donation Pre-Sting
Two Planned Parenthood branches prominently featured in an anti-abortion group’s videos about alleged sales of fetal tissue stopped donating material several years ago, well before the undercover operation began. The Center for Medical Progress videos have provoked a national backlash, spurring Republicans in Congress to urge defunding of the women’s health organization and about a dozen states to launch their own investigations. (Pradhan, 8/21)

Reuters: Anti-Abortion Protesters Rally At Planned Parenthood Sites
Thousands of anti-abortion protesters on Saturday demonstrated at Planned Parenthood sites around the United States where they called for the federal government to end funding for the health organization. The protests staged at dozens of Planned Parenthood sites came after an anti-abortion group released an eighth video on Friday purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating prices for aborted fetal tissue. (8/22)

The Arizona Republic: Supporters, Opponents Rally At Planned Parenthood Sites In Arizona, U.S.
At Planned Parenthood locations across the Valley and the nation Saturday, people supported the women’s health-care provider while others stood outside in protest of abortions. Those standing with Planned Parenthood at its Phoenix location congregated inside a parking garage at 15th Street and Camelback Road as music blasted. The crowd was a sea of pink and supporters toted signs defending the organization. (D'Angelo, 8/22)

The Spokesman-Review: Hundreds Rally Against Planned Parenthood In Spokane
At a weekend rally outside Planned Parenthood in north Spokane, state Rep. Matt Shea called the group “an evil organization” committing acts on par with Nazi Germany. The speech from conservative lawmaker Shea, and posters pairing graphic images with dollar signs along Division Street, are part of the latest volley in a perennial political debate that predates the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973 that legalized abortion. The Spokane protest Saturday, part of a series of events planned nationwide, drew about 200 participants. (Hill, 8/23)

In other abortion-related news, an Ohio bill would ban the procedure for cases of fetal Down syndrome diagnoses -

The New York Times: Ohio Bill Would Ban Abortion If Down Syndrome Is Reason
Opening a new front in the abortion wars, abortion opponents are pushing Ohio to make it illegal for a doctor to perform an abortion if a woman is terminating her pregnancy to avoid having a baby with Down syndrome. The legislature is expected to approve the measure this fall because lawmakers endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee, which supports the bill, make up more than two-thirds of both houses. (Lewin, 8/22)

And NPR looks at how the legal system will view frozen embryos -

NPR: After A Divorce, What Happens To A Couple's Frozen Embryos?
Soon after their wedding, Dr. Mimi Lee and Stephen Findley decided to create five embryos. Lee had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and she worried that treatment would leave her infertile. Now that they're divorced, Lee wants to use them; Findley, however, does not. Those embryos are at the heart of a court case that will soon decide a very modern problem: Which member of a divorced couple gets control of their frozen embryos? (Ludden, 8/22)

The Chicago Tribune: Veterans Fight For Health Care Options Closer To Home
The Veterans Administration Choice Act, signed into law about a year ago, was supposed to ease backlogs in care for veterans by opening access to non-VA treatment options. But, advocates say, the VA could be doing a much better job providing health care to Northwest Indiana veterans by allowing them to use their benefits locally. ... But local veterans say much more needs to be done to fix a system that requires some Indiana veterans to travel more than 70 miles to Chicago for treatment. ... Veterans who live within 40 miles of Adam Benjamin VA Outpatient Center don't qualify for a VA Choice voucher even if the specialty care they require is unavailable at the Crown Point facility. (Lazerus, 8/21)

The Washington Post: Military Women Are At The Same Risk Of PTSD As Men, Study Finds
As high-ranking military chiefs debate allowing women into the front lines of combat, researchers from the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs are adding new research to the mix: Women warriors are at the same risk of post-traumatic stress disorder as men. The finding, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research, offers insight into the long-term mental health effects of military service for women — including experience with combat. (Gebelhoff, 8/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Army Tests Hearing Drug At The Rifle Range
Sgt. [Tyler] Durden is a participant in a clinical trial, one tackling an issue that is both costly and garnering greater awareness in the military: hearing damage. Such damage traces not just to explosive sounds such as an M16 shot—a momentary 155 decibels, far louder than a jackhammer—but also to constant exposure to lesser noise such as that of engines. The trial is testing an experimental drug that might prevent noise-induced hearing loss, in a collaboration between an academic scientist and the military. (Dockser Marcus, 8/21)

The Washington Post: The Heroin Epidemic’s Toll: One County, 70 Minutes, Eight Overdoses
“It’s absolutely insane. This is nuts,” said District Attorney Eugene A. Vittone, a former paramedic who is trying to hold back the tide of drugs washing across Washington County, a Rust Belt community 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. On any day, Vittone said, the county averages five to eight overdoses, almost all from heroin. More are recorded each day in towns just over the county line. (Bernstein, 8/23)

NPR: Ravages Of Heroin Addiction Haunt Friends, Families And Whole Towns
Heroin is cheap, abundant and accessible, and communities across the nation, from big cities to small rural towns, are struggling with the consequences. In Marion, Ohio — once a thriving steel town — the trouble arrived around 2007, when the police started seeing balloons of heroin during routine traffic stops. Since then, heroin has changed many lives in Marion. It took Chrystina Carey's. (8/23)

The New York Times' Well Blog: Doctors Behaving Badly
What really goes on in an operating room? This week, the Annals of Internal Medicine published an anonymous essay recounting two appalling incidents that took place while gynecological patients were unconscious. The medical journal challenged doctors to call out colleagues who behave inappropriately, but so far the response has been polarizing. (Rabin, 8/21)

WBUR: Shameful Operating Room Moments: Medical Journal On Calling Out ‘Dirtball’ Doctors
Dr. Christine Laine, editor in chief of Annals of Internal Medicine, said this is the first time in her tenure that such a profanity has been printed in the journal. But, she said in an interview, it seemed appropriate in this case. When she first read the essay she says it made her “stomach churn,” and it made her angry. (Zimmerman, 8/21)

Kaiser Health News: Should You Follow Your Physician On Facebook?
Doctors’ practices are increasingly trying to reach their patients online. But don’t expect your doctor to “friend” you on Facebook – at least, not just yet. Physicians generally draw a line: Public professional pages – focused on medicine, similar to those other businesses offer – are catching on. (Luthra, 8/24)

The Associated Press: State Not Getting Mentally Ill Out Of Jail Fast Enough, Monitor Finds
Efforts by Washington state health officials to shorten the time mentally ill people wait in jails for competency services are failing to keep up with a growing demand and urgent measures are needed to deal with the backlogs, according to a court-ordered monitor. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman issued a permanent injunction in April, ordering the Washington Department of Social and Health Services to cut the wait times to seven days, saying that holding mentally ill people in jails for months while awaiting competency services is unconstitutional. (Belisle, 8/23)

NPR: Amid Backlash Against Isolating Inmates, New Mexico Moves Toward Change
In New Mexico, many low-risk inmates were moved out of solitary. The men still housed in isolation can now earn their way out in nine months with good behavior. That's still more time in solitary than most reform advocates and most mental health experts support, but not so long ago, New Mexico's solitary unit was packed with inmates who were thrown into cells "and then we really had no clear cut way to get 'em outta there," says Gregg Marcantel, head of New Mexico's prison system. He says when he came in as corrections secretary four years ago, that heavy reliance on solitary had been unquestioned for decades. (Haverty, 8/24)

The Associated Press: Program Lets Non-Violent Pregnant Inmates Remain With Babies
When Craig Roberts first heard about starting a program designed to keep non-violent pregnant female inmates with their babies, he admits he was skeptical. However, after the associate warden of programs at the Lakin Correctional Center [in West Virginia] saw the bond the first mother in the program had with her baby, everything changed. (Lannom, 8/22)

Reuters: New Tool Will Compare Costs And Benefits Of Cancer Treatments
As options for cancer patients become increasingly complicated, and expensive, the most influential source for U.S. oncology treatment guidelines will for the first time offer a tool to assess the costs versus benefits of available therapies. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) says its new tool will provide a clearer picture of the relative value of medication options, particularly in cases where a very expensive therapy does little to improve survival. (Beasley, 8/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Heart Drug Linked To Extra Years For Cancer Patients
A common heart drug called a beta blocker was associated with a striking increase in survival for women with ovarian cancer in a study that suggests a possible new strategy for treating a variety of tumors. Researchers analyzing a database of 1,425 women with the tough-to-treat cancer found those who had taken a certain type of beta blocker lived more than four years longer on average than those who hadn’t been prescribed the drug. (Winslow, 8/24)

The Associated Press: 'Second Cancer' Cases Becoming More Common
Second cancers are on the rise. Nearly 1 in 5 new cases in the U.S. now involves someone who has had the disease before. When doctors talk about second cancers, they mean a different tissue type or a different site, not a recurrence or spread of the original tumor. (8/24)

The New York Times: Decades Of Data Fail To Resolve Debate On Treating Tiny Breast Lesions
More than 30 years after the widespread use of mammograms set off a surge in the detection of tiny lesions in milk ducts, there is still debate about how — or even whether — to treat them. ... The latest round of controversy was set off by a paper published Thursday in JAMA Oncology that analyzed 20 years of data on 100,000 women who had the condition, which is also known as ductal carcinoma in situ, or D.C.I.S. (Kolata, 8/21)

In the meantime, breast cancer survivors mark their survival with tattoos, and masses of supporters of Jimmy Carter, recently diagnosed with brain cancer, show up at a church to see the former president speak --

USA Today: Breast Cancer Survivors Show Strength With Tattoos
Cancer not only took Dana Kasse Donofree's breasts, it marred her body with permanent reminders of pain and loss. "I didn't want to look in the mirror every day and see the scars," she says. "I wanted to see something beautiful." So like a growing number of breast cancer survivors and their families, the 33-year-old Philadelphia woman decided to cover her scars — and reclaim power over her body — with tattoos. (Ungar, 8/23)

NPR: 'A Mighty Fine Teacher': Hundreds Gather For Carter's Sunday School
The crowd consists of the faithful and the curious alike: They've gathered here this Sunday to try to catch the Sunday school teachings of former President Jimmy Carter. ... Then, after briefly describing how his cancer will be treated, Carter gets right to it, teaching straight from the heart of his Christian faith. (Blakenship, 8/24)

Kaiser Health News: Pain By The Numbers
In one of the largest population studies on pain to date, researchers with the National Institutes of Health estimate that nearly 40 million Americans experience severe pain and more than 25 million have pain every day. Those with severe pain were more likely to have worse health status, use more health care and suffer from more disability than those with less severe pain. (Gotbaum, 8/24)

St. Louis Public Radio: This Is What Schizophrenia Feels Like: Places For People Launches Awareness Campaign
About 80 people, clustered around tables, bent their heads and waited for the voices to start. “Don’t answer,” a woman’s voice warned as a phone rang. “They’ll know who you are.” The crowd was listening to a soundscape, a six minute audio compilation called “Mindstorm,” created by a pharmaceutical company as a way to replicate the auditory hallucinations sometimes experienced by people with schizophrenia. The company, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, manufactures medication for the illness. (Bouscaren, 8/23)

Reuters: Depression May Increase Heart Risk In Rheumatoid Arthritis
Mental health problems like anxiety and depression may partly explain why people with rheumatoid arthritis have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study. Researchers linked anger, anxiety, depressive symptoms, job stress and low social support to increasing risk of hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). (Doyle, 8/21)

The Chicago Tribune: Pre-Birth Blues: Depression Has No Due Date For Some Women
[Kate] Moser did not have a glowing pregnancy. After two wrenching miscarriages, the Chicago teacher felt fraught with anxiety and fear she tried to suppress. Strangers commenting on her growing belly left her wilted or incensed. Driving to a doctor’s appointment seemed impossible. ... Moser is one of many women who suffer depression and anxiety while pregnant. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists estimates 1 in 7 women experience depression during pregnancy or within 12 months of delivery. ... But despite growing awareness of postpartum depression or “the baby blues,” anxiety and depression during pregnancy remain underreported, with no standard screening procedures in place, experts say. (Bowen, 8/24)

In health and wellness news, D.C. considers new rules for private trainers and a study quantifies the dangers of sleep disorders -

The Washington Post: In The Nation’s Capital, A New Business To Regulate: D.C.’s Personal Trainers
After decades of unregulated existence in all 50 states, the booming field of personal trainers is braced for a wave of scrutiny that is expected to transform the industry and could make or break some of the biggest fitness companies in the country. The new regulations, being written by and for the nation’s capital city, will create a registry of all personal trainers in the District only. But they are expected to become a model that winners and losers in the fight believe will be replicated elsewhere. (Davis, 8/23)

NPR: Snooze Alert: A Sleep Disorder May Be Harming Your Body And Brain
It's time for consumers to wake up to the risks of sleep disorders, scientists say. More than 50 million adults in the U.S. have a disorder such as insomnia, restless leg syndrome or sleep apnea, according to an Institute of Medicine report. (Hamilton, 8/24)

The Associated Press: Hutchinson Faces Tough Sell On Medicaid Plan
Gov. Asa Hutchinson's plan to keep Arkansas' hybrid Medicaid expansion if the state can impose new limits finally answers a question the Republican has faced since before he took office. Now there's a bigger question: Can he win over lawmakers on both sides of the debate, not to mention the federal officials who would have to approve those limits? Hutchinson last week laid out several changes he'd like to see if the state will keep the "private option" Medicaid expansion that provides health insurance to 200,000 low-income residents. It was the strongest endorsement he's given for a program that relies on a key part of the federal health law he and other Republicans have regularly derided as Obamacare. (DeMillo, 8/22)

The Bismarck Tribune: Medicaid System Goes Online In October
A multimillion-dollar IT project for the state’s largest agency is on track to be completed this fall after being delayed for years and costs rising from $62.5 million to more than $97.9 million. Department of Human Services officials said the state’s new Medicaid Management Information System project had experienced a series of delays and changes in its budget, missing a federal deadline of Oct. 1 last year to go live. The tentative go-live date for the new system is Oct. 5. (Smith, 8/21)

The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Advocacy Group Calls For Independent KanCare Obudsman
The leader of an advocacy group for older Kansans told a legislative committee Friday that the state’s grievance process for Medicaid claims has been stacked against beneficiaries since the state moved to managed care in 2013. Mitzi McFatrich, executive director of Kansas Advocates for Better Care, said the beneficiaries have no one independent of state government to advocate for them if they disagree about their medical care plan with one of the three private insurance companies that administer Medicaid. (Marso, 8/21)

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Lawmakers Fret Over UCare Disruption
Legislators are already considering what lessons should be learned from a state contract decision that could prompt 475,000 people in public insurance programs to switch health plans for next year. Legislators at a state Senate hearing last week were clearly riled about a process that is expected to generate $450 million in taxpayer savings, but is shaking up the list of managed care organizations in the Medicaid and MinnesotaCare programs. (Snowbeck, 8/23)

The Associated Press: NY Reaches $8M Settlement In Medicaid Case
Three New York hospitals and a health care management company have agreed to an $8 million settlement with state and federal authorities to resolve allegations they illegally billed Medicaid. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the settlement on Monday. Under the deal, Missouri-based SpecialCare Hospital Management Corp. agrees to pay $6 million. St. Joseph's Medical Center in Yonkers, Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson and Benedictine Hospital in Kingston agree to pay a total of $2 million. (8/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Brooklyn Medicaid Fraud Case Settled
A Brooklyn-based home health-care service has agreed to pay $6 million as part of a settlement with the New York state attorney general to resolve allegations of improper Medicaid billing, highlighting the state’s heightened attention to fraud in this growing industry. (Davis O'Brien, 8/23)

The Associated Press: Review Shows Feds Misstated Arizona Insurance Co-Op Results
A federal government analysis that said Arizona's health insurance co-op had gotten just a fraction of its projected enrollment last year missed thousands of signups and incorrectly showed the state nonprofit set up under the Affordable Care Act signed up only 4 percent of the people it expected in 2014. (8/21)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. Upgrades Kids' CHIP Insurance Plan
Gov. Wolf announced Thursday a series of small benefit upgrades for families with coverage though the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), effective Dec. 1. Changes include removal of limits on inpatient and outpatient stays for mental-health and substance-abuse treatment, and the end of outpatient co-payments for mental-health services. Vision care was broadened to cover more types of prescription lenses and tinting. CHIP has long been considered excellent insurance, and many of the changes will apply to small portions of the 148,000 children in the program. For example, few would normally exceed the current limit of 50 outpatient visits a year, which will be removed. But some with chronic conditions had maxed out, said Colleen McCauley, health policy director for the nonprofit Public Citizens for Children and Youth. (Sapatkin, 8/21)

Stateline: As Legal Marijuana Expands, States Struggle With Drugged Driving
Washington State Patrol Sgt. Mark Crandall half-jokingly says he can tell a driver is under the influence of marijuana during a traffic stop when the motorist becomes overly familiar and is calling him “dude.” The truth in the joke, Crandall says, is that attitude and speech patterns can be effective markers for drugged driving. And, according to legalization advocates and some in law enforcement, they can be more reliable than blood tests that measure THC—the psychoactive compound in marijuana. (Breitenbach, 8/21)

The Chicago Tribune: Rauner Signs Bill Allowing Nursing Home Residents To Install Cameras
Taking action on dozens of bills, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed measures into law that would allow nursing home residents to put cameras in their rooms to protect against abuse and require high school students to take a civics class in order to graduate. The Republican governor also made liberal use of his veto pen, rejecting proposals that would extend key services to wards of the state until they were 21 instead of 18, and require doctors to provide hepatitis C screenings for people born from 1945 to 1965. (Garcia and Geiger, 8/21)

WGCU: Johns Hopkins Study Looks At Florida Pill Mill Crackdown
A new study from Johns Hopkins University shows Florida’s pill mill crackdown worked in its first year. After becoming the epicenter for prescription opioid abuse, the state passed tougher laws for pain management clinics. The state also implemented a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program which gave healthcare professionals a better look at patients’ prescription drug histories.The laws went into full affect in 2011. Researchers at Johns Hopkins looked at hundreds of millions of prescriptions from the year before and after. Lainie Rutkow was lead author on the study and says the first year of data shows a promising drop. (8/21)

The Texas Tribune: Law Could Bring Remote Doctor Visits To Schools
Remote doctor appointments could be coming soon to the school nurse’s office. Starting Sept. 1, a new law will allow physicians to get paid for seeing children over a sophisticated form of video chat, as long as the student is at school and enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program for the poor and disabled. The law’s supporters say it could lead more schools around the state to set up nurse's offices equipped to handle remote doctor visits — and save parents time and money. (Rocha, Dehn and Walters, 8/23)

The Texas Tribune: New Law To Provide Protections For Breast-Feeding Moms
As of Sept. 1, a new state law will guarantee that all public employees — including state and county workers and public school teachers — will be guaranteed “reasonable accommodations” to pump breast milk in the workplace. Those include sufficient break times and a private room, such as a single-person bathroom, where employees can pump. Federal law already requires employers to provide accommodations for hourly employees to pump breast milk while at work, but they don’t have to provide those accommodations for salaried workers. In the last legislative session, Democratic state Rep. Armando Walle of Houston pushed for a state law that would mirror those federal regulations for salaried workers. (Ura and Dehn, 8/22)

NPR: New York City Struggles To Keep Up With High Homeless Numbers
Eight months after homelessness hit a record in New York City, you can still see the need of the city's most vulnerable in Tompkins Square Park. ... New York's current mayor, Bill de Blasio, has beefed up funding to help more families find permanent housing and pay for rent, as well as to improve shelter conditions and open new facilities. He recently announced a $22 million mental health program that includes more treatment for mentally ill people living on the streets. (Lo Wang, 8/23)

Alaska Dispatch News: Let's Pull Together On Medicaid For Sake Of All Alaskans
Our great state is facing some serious challenges. Meanwhile, members of the Legislative Council have chosen to sue me for accepting federal money to provide health care for low-income, working Alaskans. Since July 16 when I announced my intent to accept the money, not a day has gone by without someone approaching me to thank me or share a personal story. ... I am disappointed members of the Legislative Council chose to “defend the power of the purse” over the will and needs of the people. At a time when the state is facing a $3.5 billion deficit, 10 legislators chose to spend $450,000 to hire an outside law firm to block what more than 60 percent of Alaskans want; they chose to sue to prevent $145 million in federal dollars from being injected into our economy to provide lifesaving care for our fellow Alaskans. (Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, 8/22)

Alaska Dispatch News: GOP Leaders Stand Strong Against Walker's Medicaid Expansion Fiat
While the left revs up its propaganda machine to decry the Legislative Council’s correct -- sublimely correct -- decision to sue the pants off Gov. Bill Walker for embracing Barack Obama’s penchant for ignoring constitutional strictures and playing overlord, the rest of us should be thanking our lucky stars. Perhaps the folks in black robes can pound a stake into the heart of Walker’s misbegotten drive to bankrupt Alaska by expanding Medicaid, a program that eventually will cost billions, just as the state wades through its cash reserves and teeters above a very deep fiscal abyss. (Paul Jenkins, 8/22)

Forbes: Small Business Dilemma: Paying For Health Care
The employer mandate does not apply to employers with fewer than 50 employees. According to the Treasury, approximately 96% of employers are small businesses with fewer than 50 FTE workers which means they are exempt from the employer responsibility provisions. This is good news for small businesses, but that doesn’t make the health care question go away. The reality is that many small businesses still do provide health care for their employees, either out of a sense of responsibility or out of a desire to attract quality candidates (or both). So how can small businesses make that happen? It’s not enough to simply pay for coverage. Depending on how you pay for those plans, you can find yourself in trouble (it can be tough to avoid the gotchas). (Kelly Phillips Erb, 8/22)

The New York Times: What Does The Latest News About Breast Cancer Mean?
A new study published in JAMA Oncology raises doubts about the value of surgery for breast lesions at the earliest stages of cancer. The conclusions were based on data from women with ductal carcinoma in situ, or D.C.I.S., and add to the confusion surrounding diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. What should women do with this latest knowledge? (8/21)

Los Angeles Times: The Real Problem With 'Pink Viagra'
The drug has many names: flibanserin, Addyi, Ectris, Girosa or, colloquially, "pink Viagra." Whatever you want to call the long-in-the-making libido pill for women, it recently gained FDA approval despite "serious, serious safety concerns" and benefits that are "modest, maybe less than modest." But as a science-driven sex educator, I am less troubled by the risk of low blood pressure and fainting than I am by the drug maker's reinforcement of an outdated, scientifically invalid model of sexual desire. (Emily Nagoski, 8/23)

The New York Times: Clashing Views On E-Cigarettes
A British government agency has issued a bullish assessment of the value of electronic cigarettes in helping people to quit smoking. It found that e-cigarettes can reduce the health risks of smoking by 95 percent because they deliver nicotine to satisfy an addiction, but far fewer harmful chemicals than regular cigarettes. It also found little evidence that large numbers of consumers who had never smoked were taking up e-cigarettes. That seemed to challenge the notion that e-cigarettes would be a gateway to more dangerous products. But the study is hardly definitive; experts in America have drawn different conclusions on usage and on the gateway issue. (8/24)

The Wall Street Journal: The Unforgettable Death Of My Forgotten Patient
Ms. M was not the patient I thought I would reminisce about for months after she had passed away, but her difficult death clung to me. She was miserable, mean, fetid and foulmouthed. She clawed at my hands as I tried to place my stethoscope on her chest and spat in my face as I bowed my head to listen to her heart. In between vivid hallucinations and violent outbursts, she cursed and told me I knew nothing. Tormented by pain, Ms. M died alone, except for the doctors and nurses who had found their way into her life by chance after others had long ago pulled away and left her forgotten. (Brittany A. Bettendorf, 8/21)

The New York Times: No, You Do Not Have To Drink 8 Glasses Of Water A Day
If there is one health myth that will not die, it is this: You should drink eight glasses of water a day. It’s just not true. There is no science behind it. ... I was a co-author of a paper back in 2007 in the BMJ on medical myths. The first myth was that people should drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. This paper got more media attention (even in The Times) than pretty much any other research I’ve ever done. It made no difference. When, two years later, we published a book on medical myths that once again debunked the idea that we need eight glasses of water a day, I thought it would persuade people to stop worrying. I was wrong again. (Aaron E. Carroll, 8/24)