The New York Times: Better Care Or Onerous Restrictions? Texas Abortion Law Going Before Supreme Court
For all the furious debate over constitutional rights rekindled by the first Supreme Court abortion case in nearly a decade, the stated goal of the law at issue is a medical one: ensuring patient safety. Proponents say that the Texas law will give women who have abortions better access to emergency treatment should complications arise, while providing greater oversight of their doctors. But many mainstream health care groups, who analyzed the law on its medical merits, say the measures are unnecessary and could even compromise patient well-being. (Hoffman, 2/26)

The Washington Post: Arguments In Supreme Court Abortion Case Pitched To Audience Of One
Behind double-locked doors, beyond a waiting room named for Michelle Obama, past walls painted in signature purple hues called “Enigma” and “Intuitive,” the women who work at this abortion clinic await word from a man in Washington about whether a Texas law will force it to close. Outside a suburban Starbucks miles away, an administrative assistant would like that same man, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, to know that the law already has so reduced the number of providers in Texas that she took out a payday loan and hopped a plane to California for the abortion she had trouble scheduling in her home state. (Barnes, 2/28)

The New York Times: Eyes On Kennedy, Women Tell Supreme Court Why Abortion Was Right For Them
Amy Brenneman, an actress, wants Justice Anthony M. Kennedy to know about her abortion. Taking a page from the movement for same-sex marriage, Ms. Brenneman and more than 100 other women have filed several supporting briefs in a major Supreme Court abortion case to be argued on Wednesday. The briefs tell the stories of women who say their abortions allowed them to control their bodies, plan for the future and welcome children into their lives when their careers were established and their personal lives were on solid ground. The briefs are aimed largely at Justice Kennedy, who holds the crucial vote in abortion cases. They use language and concepts from his four major gay rights decisions, notably his invocation of “equal dignity” in June’s ruling establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. (Liptak, 2/29)

The Associated Press: Abortion Returns To Supreme Court Altered By Scalia's Death
The Supreme Court challenge to a Texas law that has dramatically reduced the number of abortion clinics in the state is the justices' most significant case on the hot-button issue in nearly a quarter-century. One of this election-year term's biggest cases is being argued Wednesday before a court altered by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. He was perhaps the most vociferous abortion opponent among the nine justices. The Texas law has been replicated across the South and elsewhere, part of a wave of state abortion restrictions in the past five years. (2/27)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Case Could Define Extent Of Abortion Limits
Before Wendy Davis took to the floor of the Texas Senate for an 11-hour filibuster that ultimately failed to stop sweeping new restrictions on abortion, there was Casey. Shorthand for Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court case reaffirmed a woman’s right to an abortion but gave states more power to restrict the procedure to “further the health or safety of a woman." The 5-4 ruling, however, also said states can't enact “unnecessary” regulations that have the “purpose or effect” of imposing an undue burden on those seeking the procedure. (Ura and Flannery, 2/28)

Reuters: U.S. Court Test On Abortion Reflects Success Of Strategy Shift
When the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday hears a major abortion case for the first time in nearly a decade, the regulations at issue will not involve fetuses or the mother, but rather standards for doctors and facilities where the procedure is performed. That the high court is taking up a case about such arcane regulations reflects the success of a legal strategy that abortion opponents embraced about a decade ago and initially caught some abortion-rights advocates off guard. (2/28)

Meanwhile, Louisiana clinics ask the Supreme Court to block a ruling that would close all but one clinic in the state, and a court orders the enforcement of a 24-hour waiting period —

The Associated Press: Louisiana Abortion Clinics Ask High Court Help To Stay Open
Abortion clinics in Louisiana want the Supreme Court to allow them to stay open and block a ruling that could leave just one of four clinics providing abortions. The clinics said in an emergency appeal to the high court late Friday that only a clinic in New Orleans would remain open if the state is allowed to enforce a law that requires doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Clinics in Baton Rouge and Bossier City already have had to stop providing abortions, said the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the clinics at the Supreme Court. A clinic in Shreveport would have to stop providing abortions soon, the group said. (2/26)

Los Angeles Times: One Of The Last Abortion Clinics In Louisiana: How Long Will It Hold On?
All day, phones rang inside the tiny brick abortion clinic. Women from all over Louisiana, and from as far as Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi, called mostly with the same question: Was the center still taking appointments? The clinic’s embattled administrator, Kathaleen Pittman, eyes red from lack of sleep, reassured them she had yet to cancel any consultations or procedures. Yet she could not promise anyone how long the center would remain open. (Jarvie and Hennessy-Fiske, 2/26)

Reuters: Court Orders Abortion Waiting Period To Be Enforced In Florida
Florida appellate court on Friday ordered the enforcement of a state law that requires women to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion, reversing an injunction imposed last year before it was due to take effect. A three-judge panel on Florida's First District Court of Appeal found the temporary injunction, which a lower court imposed in late June, failed to meet legal standards. The law passed by the Republican-controlled legislature last spring required women seeking abortions in Florida to make two visits to a clinic, with a mandatory 24-hour waiting period in between. (2/26)

The Associated Press: Insurer Warnings Cast Doubt On ACA Exchange Future
Political uncertainty isn't the only threat to the Affordable Care Act's future. Cracks also are spreading through a major pillar supporting the law Health insurance exchanges created to help millions of people find coverage are turning into money-losing ventures for many insurers. The nation's largest, UnitedHealth Group Inc., could lose as much as $475 million on its exchange business this year and may not participate in 2017. Another major insurer, Aetna, has questioned the viability of the exchanges. And a dozen nonprofit insurance cooperatives created by the law have already closed, forcing around 750,000 people to find new plans. (Murphy, 2/26)

Kaiser Health News: Aetna CEO Answers Burwell’s Call, Vows Support for Exchanges Amid Losses
The head of Aetna Inc., the nation’s third-largest health insurer, said he supports insurance exchanges, even though he questioned their sustainability earlier this month and lost money in the marketplaces last year. Aetna Chief Executive Mark Bertolini said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell called him Feb. 1 shortly after he made critical remarks during an earnings conference call. Before then, Aetna had struck a more upbeat tone compared to some rival insurers. (Terhune, 2/29)

Earlier KHN coverage: Licking Wounds, Insurers Accelerate Moves To Limit Health-Law Enrollment (Hancock, 2/4)

The New York Times: Trying To Revive H.M.O.s, But Without Those Scarlet Letters
An H.M.O. by any other name is still an H.M.O. Once emblematic of everything wrong with health insurance, the health maintenance organization is making a grudging, if somewhat successful, comeback. ... Insurers are already promoting H.M.O.s on the state exchanges created under the federal health law, and many are trying to persuade more companies and their employees to sign up. ... In October, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois teamed with the state’s largest health system, Advocate Health Care, to offer a new H.M.O, BlueCare Direct, to individuals and small businesses buying coverage on the state exchange. ... But a close look at Blue Cross of Illinois’s experience shows just how complicated a comeback will be. (Abelson, 2/28)

Kaiser Health News: Will Healthcare.gov Get A California Makeover?
Experts say the California exchange uses more of its powers as an “active purchaser” than the vast majority of other states. That means it can decide which insurers can join the exchange, what plans and benefits are available and at what price. The federal government — in pending proposed rules for 2017 — has signaled it too wants to have more of a hand in crafting plans. Though there are no plans to go as far as a monthly drug copay cap, healthcare.gov would be forging ahead on a path California already paved, swapping variety for simplicity in plan design. (Bartolone, 2/29)

Rapid City (S.D.) Journal: Federal Pledge Revives Medicaid Expansion Possibility
The 2016 meeting of the South Dakota Legislature may end up being the resurrection session. Declared nearly dead early this week by a powerful lawmaker, Gov. Dennis Daugaard's proposed Medicaid expansion is at least breathing as of Friday, and Daugaard may declare it fully recovered when he speaks on Monday. The remedy came on Friday, when the state received official notice that the federal government would start reimbursing at 100 percent for services to Indian Health Service patients who are sent to receive additional care through non-IHS facilities. (Mercer, 2/27)

Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus-Leader: Feds Change Policy, Clear Way For Daugaard's Medicaid Proposal
Gov. Dennis Daugaard could bring the South Dakota Legislature his proposal to expand Medicaid on Monday as a federal health agency announced it would provide an essential piece of the puzzle. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter to state health officials Friday alerting them to the agency's decision to change its interpretation of a policy on funding American Indian health care, and will now cover 100 percent of care at facilities indirectly linked to the Indian Health System (IHS). (Ferguson, 2/26)

The Associated Press: Proposed Medicaid Plan Turns Arkansas GOP Against Itself In Primaries
Four years after Republicans commandeered Arkansas' Legislature by campaigning against the federal healthcare overhaul, similar attacks are being aimed inward in several GOP primaries that could play a role in determining whether thousands will remain covered under a key part of that law. Tuesday's legislative primaries will be the first major test of Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson's plan to keep the state's first-in-the-nation hybrid Medicaid expansion. Hutchinson and fellow Republicans who previously supported the expansion are coming under fire from rivals and conservative groups painting them as supporters of the law often derided as "Obamacare." (DeMillo, 2/27)

The Hill: Senate Readies For Battle Over Opioid Abuse
Democratic demands for $600 million in emergency funding is threatening to take down a bipartisan bill tackling the nation’s growing opioid addition. Legislation backed by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is coming to the Senate floor this week. (Carney, 2/28)

The Associated Press: New Twist in Addiction Crisis: Deadly Painkiller Imposters
Authorities are sounding the alarm about a new and deadly twist in the country's drug-addiction crisis in the form of a potent painkiller disguised as other medications. Tennessee officials say they've seen two dozen cases in recent months of pills marked as the less potent opiates oxycodone or Percocet that turned out to contain fentanyl, a far more powerful drug. One official likened the danger to users playing Russian roulette each time they buy a pill on the street. (Welsh-Huggins, 2/29)

The Baltimore Sun: Heroin In Anne Arundel: Whites Are Dying, Blacks Are Going To Jail
Speaking at a symposium on opiate and prescription painkiller abuse, County Executive Steve Schuh described heroin as an addiction that knows no bounds. "Heroin and opiates, as you know, touch every aspect of this community: Nobody is safe; nobody is immune," he said at the event that attracted about 200 health professionals to the Annapolis Doubletree Hotel in April. "It's north, south, east, west. It's men, women, old, young, black, white, rich, poor. It is absolutely everywhere, and the statistics are frightening." (Sauers, 2/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Zenefits Says It Is Laying Off 250 Employees
Zenefits is dismissing 250 employees, or roughly 17% of its workforce, in a major retrenchment for a health-benefits-brokerage company that less than a year ago was touted as one of Silicon Valley’s most promising startups. The cutbacks were concentrated in sales, the company said. Zenefits eliminated a team responsible for selling health-insurance policies to corporate customers and narrow its focus to small businesses, which it sees as a more natural fit. (Winkler, 2/26)

The New York Times: Zenefits To Lay Off 17% Of Work Force
Zenefits, a San Francisco health insurance start-up facing regulatory scrutiny, plans to lay off 250 people starting Friday, David Sacks, the chief executive, says. The cuts will mostly affect the company’s sales teams and represent about 17 percent of employees. (Benner, 2/26)

NPR: Many Dislike Health Care System But Are Pleased With Their Own Care
The United States has the most advanced health care in the world. There are gleaming medical centers across the country where doctors cure cancers, transplant organs and bring people back from near death. But a poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, shows that only one-third of Americans say the health care they receive is "excellent." Even fewer people are impressed with the system as a whole. (Kodjak, 2/29)

NPR: Health Quality An Issue For Poor, 2 Years Into Obamacare, Poll Finds
A series of polls in key states by NPR and its partners finds that more than half of adults in the U.S. believe the Affordable Care Act has either helped the people of their state or has had no effect. Those sentiments are common despite all the political wrangling that continues over the law. About a third (35 percent) of adults say the law has directly helped the people of their state, while a quarter (27 percent) say it has directly hurt people. (Neel, 2/29)

The New York Times: Administration Protests Limits On Its Power To Fill Vacancies
A federal appeals court ruling that limits the president’s power to appoint officials to temporarily run federal agencies when high-level government jobs become vacant has prompted growing concerns among Obama administration officials. ... At a budget hearing, [Representative Leonard Lance, Republican of New Jersey] asked Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of health and human services, how many officials were serving at her department in an acting capacity. Ms. Burwell named two: Mary K. Wakefield, the acting deputy secretary, and Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo, the acting assistant secretary for health. Another top health official, Andrew M. Slavitt, has been nominated by Mr. Obama to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services but has been unable to get a confirmation hearing. (Pear, 2/28)

Modern Healthcare: Cybersecurity Rising As Health IT Concern
After years of budgetary indifference to health information security, and fresh off the worst year in history for healthcare data breaches, many healthcare organizations will be putting more resources into protecting their data, according to Modern Healthcare's 26th annual Survey of Executive Opinions on Key Information Technology Issues. An overwhelming majority of respondents indicated that the threat of cybersecurity breaches will have some (51%) or considerable (42%) impact on their organization's IT security spending this year. (Conn, 2/27)

Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles County Health Department Targeted In Ransomware Attack
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services computers have been targeted in a "ransomware" cyberattack, officials said Friday. Ransomware is a type of malware that takes control of computers and cuts off users' access to files or threatens to destroy them unless a ransom is paid. Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center officials said earlier this month that they had paid a $17,000 ransom in bitcoin to a hacker who seized control of the hospital's computer systems. The attack on the Los Angeles County health department was on a smaller scale. (Sewell, 2/26)

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The Associated Press: CDC: Zika Infections Confirmed In 9 Pregnant Women In US
Zika infections have been confirmed in nine pregnant women in the United States, including one who gave birth to a baby with a rare birth defect, health officials said Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it's investigating 10 more reports of pregnant travelers with Zika. All got the virus while visiting or living in places with Zika outbreaks. (Stobbe, 2/29)

The Hill: CDC: Two Women With Zika Opt For Abortions
At least two pregnant Americans have opted for abortions after they were infected with the Zika virus, federal health officials reported Friday. A total of nine pregnant women have tested positive for the disease, and 10 more pregnant women are suspected to have the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All of the women are believed to have contracted the virus while traveling abroad. (Ferris, 2/26)

NPR: Puerto Rico Races To Stop Zika's Mosquitoes Before Rains Begin
The Zika virus is a health threat not just to Latin America, but also to parts of the U.S. It's already a problem in Puerto Rico where there are nearly 120 cases so far, including five pregnant women. That's a concern because Zika may be involved in causing birth defects. The U.S. territory has declared a public health emergency and is working to protect residents from Zika and from the primary mosquito that carries the disease, Aedes aegypti. The species is largely responsible for the spread of Zika and many other tropical diseases, including yellow fever and dengue. It can breed anywhere it finds as little as a teaspoonful of standing water. (Allen and Arrieta, 2/29)

NPR: With CDC Help, Puerto Rico Aims To Get Ahead Of Zika
The Zika virus now has a foothold in a U.S. territory. Puerto Rico is reporting at least 117 Zika cases, including at least five pregnant women. That's of special concern because of Zika's possible link to birth defects. In Bayamon, a San Juan suburb, Monica Figueroa is waiting in line at a lunch truck. She's a nurse who works at a nearby clinic and she is pregnant — "about five months and a few weeks, something like that," she says in Spanish. Figueroa knows about Zika. She says she's wearing mosquito repellent but is not especially worried. "No one seems to be paying much attention to it," she says. (Allen and Arrieta, 2/26)

NPR: Colombian Scientists Study Serious Zika-Related Conditions
Scientists don't know all the conditions linked to the Zika virus. In one lab in Cali, Colombia, researchers are trying to connect Zika and the neurological condition Guillain Barre. (Aizenman, 2/28)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Relying On Nonprofit Clinics For Zika Defense
The walls at the Legacy Community Health clinic in Houston are plastered with signs urging patients like 22-year-old Josseline Lopez — who at 29 weeks pregnant came this week for an ultrasound — to tell their doctor if they have traveled to Central or South America. (Walters, 2/27)

Meanwhile, research in Baltimore shows that low-income neighborhoods are more prone to be infected by mosquitoes —

The Baltimore Sun: Study Shows Poorer Neighborhoods Have More Mosquitoes
Every time people move in or out of a block of rental rowhouses in Franklin Square, bits of their lives — garbage bags, broken furniture, fast-food containers — are abandoned under the same tree on the sidewalk. "The cats and the rats drag it around, and the wind blows stuff everywhere," said Leonard Spain, who has lived near the 200 block of N. Carey St. in Franklin Square for most of his 48 years. "This is what we deal with in poor communities. It's the social norm. It's a big public health problem." (Cohn, 2/28)

The New York Times: The Everything-In-One Promise Of A Continuing Care Community
Is it possible to have it all in retirement? That’s what so-called continuing care retirement communities promise.These hybrids offer independent living apartments (and sometimes free-standing cottages) along with assisted-living support, home care, a nursing home and often specialized memory care, all within one complex. The idea is for a resident to “age in place” and obtain additional services as that person becomes more frail and dependent, without having to move. (Wasik, 2/26)

USA Today: Communities Strive To Be 'Dementia-Friendly' As Alzheimer's Numbers Grow
"People often don’t know how they are supposed to respond to me, how they are supposed to act with me,” says [Ron Grant, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s]. That’s a common problem as an aging population swells the ranks of those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia — disorders that impair memory and reasoning. While people with dementia may eventually end up home-bound or in care facilities, most first spend years living in their communities, going to places of worship, stores, banks and restaurants and encountering law enforcement and medical workers. Better preparing everyone from waiters to police officers to support them and their caregivers is the goal of a growing movement for “dementia-friendly communities.” Grant is a spokesman for the largest effort, a coalition called Dementia Friendly America (DFA). (Painter, 2/28)

Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal: Medicaid Reform Plan To Be Unveiled Tuesday
Legislators and the public will get their first look Tuesday at the state Medicaid reform plan, which could struggle to meet the high expectations for more effective services and cost savings. Health Secretary Rick Brajer will present the plan — five months in the making — to the joint oversight committee on Medicaid and N.C. Health Choice. ... The unveiling of the plan is the first step in a process that could take between three and five years to gain federal approval for waivers to the state Medicaid program. Brajer said the state Department of Health and Human Services is on pace for presenting the draft waiver request to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services by June 1. The reform plan coordinates Medicaid’s physical, behavioral, dental, pharmacy and long-term health services. (Craver, 2/28)

Georgia Health News: Doctors Welcome Latest Move On Medicaid Pay
State lawmakers’ move to inject $26 million into the Medicaid budget for doctor pay raises would help strengthen Georgia’s medical safety net, physicians say. The House recently voted for the pay hike in the fiscal 2017 state budget. If the Senate and Gov. Nathan Deal agree with the House action, the rates that Medicaid pays for some primary care and ob/gyn services will be raised considerably higher, to Medicare levels. (Miller, 2/28)

The Columbus Dispatch: Planned Parenthood Supporters In Ohio Say They’re Being Ignored
Gov. John Kasich signed the legislation on Feb. 21. It doesn’t name Planned Parenthood specifically, but it prohibits taxpayer dollars from going to agencies that promote or perform abortions. Planned Parenthood in Ohio stands to lose about $1.3 million in mostly federal funds that it had used to reduce infant mortality, provide breast and cervical cancer screenings, prevent teen pregnancy, reduce violence against women and provide testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, the organization says. (Price and Viviano, 2/28)

Heartland Health Monitor: For Women In Rural Kansas, A Longer Drive Can Mean Less Health Care
At a domestic violence shelter in Hays, director Tiffany Kershner sits with a client in a small meeting room. Leyila, 35, who asks that only her first name be used to protect her privacy, recently left an abusive marriage. Today she’s hoping she can get an appointment with an OB-GYN, but Kershner knows that’s no easy task in Hays. (Honig, 2/26)

Modern Healthcare: Connecticut Governor Freezes Big Hospital Deals Until 2017
The governor of Connecticut has ordered the state's health department to hold off on approving any major hospital mergers and acquisitions until next year—a move that could delay at least one big deal. Gov. Dannel Malloy issued an executive order Thursday creating a task force to review the state's certificate of need programs and process, by which providers must gain state approval before completing certain transactions. (Schencker, 2/26)

The Miami Herald: Jackson Health Approves $68M In Contracts For Expansion In Miami-Dade
Trustees for Miami-Dade's public hospital network, Jackson Health System, approved nearly $68 million in contracts Friday to start making the safety-net healthcare system more competitive by constructing new buildings, renovating existing facilities and expanding into Doral. The five contracts for architects and engineers represent the next step in Jackson Health’s plans to transform itself from a financially troubled hospital system near the brink of bankruptcy in 2011 into a competitive force in South Florida healthcare by attracting more insured patients and excelling in specialties such as organ transplants, physical rehabilitation and trauma care, said Joe Arriola, chairman of the Public Health Trust that governs the $1.8 billion-a-year taxpayer owned system. (Chang, 2/26)

Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota Tells Hospitals: Don't Bill Sex Assault Victims For Exams
Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is reminding Minnesota hospitals that they are not allowed to bill sexual assault victims for forensic medical exams. (Zdechlik, 2/26)

The Associated Press: Western State Gets Safety Warning After Patient Given Wrong Drug
Days before a deadline for Washington state’s largest psychiatric hospital to fix safety problems, federal regulators issued an “immediate jeopardy” notice saying the facility failed to protect patients from harm. Inspectors with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued the notice Thursday after saying a patient at Western State Hospital was given the wrong medication. The notice reflects a crisis situation in which the health and safety of people at the hospital are at risk. Hospital CEO Ron Adler notified staff about the situation in an email acquired by The Associated Press on Friday. (Bellisle, 2/26)

The Associated Press: Battle Rages Over Florida Law Limiting Doctors' Gun Speech
As a pediatrician, Dr. Judith Schaechter can ask parents of her patients all sorts of questions regarding their safety and well-being: what the child eats, whether there's a backyard pool and whether the child gets enough sleep. Yet the question of whether there is a gun in the home is generally off limits. A Florida law bans routine gun questions even though eight children or teenagers are killed every day in the U.S. with guns, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2/27)

The Associated Press: California Lawmakers Weigh Revamped Health Insurance Tax
California lawmakers are expected to take action Monday on a tax package aimed at appeasing federal regulators and preventing a $1.1 billion funding hole in the state's health insurance program for low-income Californians. The state Senate and Assembly were expected to consider three bills that are the culmination of a special legislative session Gov. Jerry Brown called last year to adjust taxes on health insurance plans. (Noon and Cooper, 2/29)

The Associated Press: Bill Lets Addiction-Recovery Sponsors Avoid Civil Court Testimony
Several relationships — such as that of doctor and patient, attorney and client, priest and penitent — have legal protections that prevent information shared in such confidences from being used against them in court. A bill in Washington state would add a new testimonial privilege to that list for noncriminal cases: the relationship between sponsor and an addict in recovery. Senate Bill 6498, which would give legal protection to communications between a person in an alcohol- or drug-recovery program and their sponsor, passed the Senate on a unanimous vote earlier this month. The House Judiciary Committee approved the measure Friday, and it now awaits a vote by the full House. (LaCorte, 2/27)

The Denver Post: Surgical Tech's Case Exposes Multiple Failings In Patient Protections
Rocky Allen's long road of addiction passed through five hospitals, four states and a deployment in Afghanistan. One hospital said it found him swapping a doctor's fentanyl with a syringe of saline solution and informed the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Another discovered him passed out on the floor and, upon testing him for drugs, found fentanyl in his system. A Phoenix hospital hired Allen three weeks after a nearby hospital fired him. All of this happened after he was court-martialed for fentanyl theft nearly five years ago as a surgical tech who had enlisted in the Navy. (Olinger and Osher, 2/28)

The Denver Post: Once Mental Illness Sets In, Family Struggled To Reach Michael Marshall
On a day more than 30 years ago when she answered the knock at her Five Points home, Brenda Marshall-Wright did not immediately recognize the beginning of an ordeal that would span decades of heartbreak and frustration. She saw only Michael Lee Marshall, at age 16 still her baby brother. He was dressed nicely, in a shirt and slacks — but Brenda, the oldest of five siblings, noticed he was wearing an expression that betrayed fear and confusion, bordering on sadness. (Simpson, 2/27)

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Concerns Rising About Untreated Depression In New Moms
About 13% of pregnant women and new mothers have depression, a serious but treatable condition marked by sad, anxious and empty feelings that don't go away, according to the federal Office on Women's Health. (Stephenson, 2/27)

NPR: Cleveland Clinic Performs First Successful Uterus Transplant In The U.S.
The Cleveland Clinic says it has performed the first uterus transplant in the United States. This opens up another possible path to parenthood besides surrogacy or adoption for U.S. women who do not have a uterus, or who have a uterus that does not function. The transplant happened during a nine-hour-long surgery on a 26-year-old patient, who the clinic did not identify. The clinic says the patient is in stable condition and that the transplanted uterus came from a deceased donor. (Kennedy, 2/26)

New Hampshire Public Radio: State Confirms Mumps Cases In Saint Anselm Students
New Hampshire health officials have confirmed several cases of mumps at Saint Anselm College. The Department of Health and Human Services says college officials reported last week that several members of its hockey team had symptoms consistent with mumps. The state says testing came back positive Friday for two members of the college’s hockey team; officials say three other students show symptoms of mumps as well. (Carlson, 2/29)

The Associated Press: State Shortage Leaves Gaps In Nebraska Prison Nursing Staff
Nebraska's prison system is facing a staffing crisis that it may not be able to overcome amid a statewide nursing shortage and the state's relatively low wages. The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services is struggling to fill 14 of about 65 nursing positions, including seven registered nurses, two nurse practitioners, two nurse supervisors and three licensed practical nurses. (Gronewold, 2/28)

The Associated Press: Authorities Charge West Virginia Couple In Cancer Scam
Authorities have arrested a West Virginia woman and her husband after officials say they scammed more than $82,000 from another couple by pretending the woman needed money for cancer treatments. The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown reports that 27-year-old Lee Anne McCauley has been arrested on charges including theft scheme and theft scheme conspiracy of $10,000 to $100,000. (2/29)

The Connecticut Mirror: Pediatricians Back New Push To Allow Medical Marijuana For Some Kids
A proposal to allow minors with certain medical conditions to use marijuana for palliative purposes is back before legislators this year, this time with the backing of onetime opponents: pediatricians. (Levin Becker, 2/28)

The New York Times: Showdown On Abortion At The Supreme Court
The decades-long crusade to end legal abortion in America after Roe v. Wade has again reached the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the eight justices will hear a case challenging a 2013 Texas law that has already shut down more than half of the state’s 41 health clinics that perform abortions. Since Roe was decided in 1973, there have been countless efforts by anti-abortion activists to enact state laws that restrict abortion rights, often in the guise of protecting women’s health. But few laws have gone as far as the Texas statute, which places so heavy a burden on hundreds of thousands of women across the state — particularly those in poorer rural areas — that it has effectively destroyed their constitutional right to an abortion. (2/27)

Los Angeles Times: Sandra Day O'Connor And The Fate Of Abortion Rights
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Whole Women’s Health vs. Hellerstedt, a case that could reinforce or all but overturn the right to abortion. What's at issue is a Texas law that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital and to build expensive surgical facilities. Most analysts believe the law will end almost all abortion services in Texas – in fact, before the Supreme Court issued a stay, half the abortion clinics in Texas had closed because of it. Now the court must decide if the Texas regulations present an “undue burden” on a woman's right to choose. (Linda Hirshman, 2/28)

The New York Times: Why Courts Shouldn’t Ignore The Facts About Abortion Rights
At the core of the most important Supreme Court abortion case in a generation is a series of questions about facts. In deciding the constitutionality of a law that would shut down most abortion clinics in a state in the name of protecting women’s health, which facts about the law’s rationale and its impact may a court consider? Which facts must a court consider? Are there facts a court must ignore entirely? (Linda Greenhouse, 2/27)

Modern Healthcare: Abortion Safety As Subterfuge Sets A Dangerous Precedent
The death of Justice Antonin Scalia makes it less likely the U.S. Supreme Court will rule outright in favor of Texas in its efforts to restrict abortion providers in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, which will be heard this week.However, a 4-4 split leaving the law intact is possible. (Merrill Goozner, 2/27)

Bloomberg: Rubio's Responsible Rebuttal To Trumpcare
None of the remaining Republican presidential candidates has a detailed health-care plan. The one who has done the most to outline an agenda, Senator Marco Rubio, is still a bit lighter on those details even than Barack Obama was when he ran in 2008. But Rubio is at least on the right track, while the other candidates are wandering aimlessly, refusing to say where they would go, or headed in the wrong direction. (Ramesh Ponnuru, 2/28)

The Washington Post: Bernie Sanders’s Health-Care Plan Could Actually Hurt The Poor
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a Democratic candidate for president, asks his audiences to think big, insisting that only fundamental reform, not incrementalism, will do. He has shown that this approach can attract a passionate following. He has also shown that big thinking quickly turns to wishful thinking without solid details behind it. Nowhere is this clearer than in Mr. Sanders’s health-care plan, which he promises would be a tremendous deal for nearly everyone. A new analysis from Kenneth Thorpe, an Emory University health-care expert who worked in the Bill Clinton White House, finds that Mr. Sanders’s proposal would actually harm many working beneficiaries of Medicaid, the state-federal health-care plan for the poor and the near-poor. (2/28)

The Richmond Times Dispatch: Bernie Sanders' Magical Economic Thinking
[Austan] Goolsbee describes Sanders’ plans — nationalized health care, free college for everybody, massive increases in government spending — as “magic flying puppies with winning Lotto tickets tied to their collars.” (2/28)

The Los Angeles Times: Lands' End Promotes Gloria Steinem In Catalog, Provokes Anti-Abortion Freakout Then Bails
Clothing retailer Lands' End, desperate to refurbish its image into something relevant and chic, featured an interview with legendary feminist Gloria Steinem in its spring catalog ... Faced with an explosion of outrage from anti-abortion groups and customers, Lands' End has pulled the feature from its website and even appears to have canceled an arrangement to donate $3 to the ERA Coalition/Fund for Women's Equality every time a customer ordered the group's monogram stitched into an item. (Michael Hiltzik, 2/26)

The Health Care Blog: Readmissions, Observation, And Improving Hospital Care
Because hospitals are expensive and often cause harm, there has been a big focus on reducing hospital use. This focus has been the underpinning for numerous policy interventions, most notable of which is the Affordable Care Act’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), which penalizes hospitals for higher than expected readmission rates. The motivation behind HRRP is simple: the readmission rate, the proportion of discharged patients who return to the hospital within 30 days, had been more or less flat for years and reducing this rate would save money and potentially improve care. So it was big news when, as the HRRP penalties kicked in, government officials started reporting that the national readmission rate for Medicare patients was declining. (Ashish Jha, 2/26)

The Concord Monitor: My Turn: Medicaid Expansion Is No Way To Run A State
Right now, the New Hampshire House is considering reauthorizing Medicaid expansion under Obamacare. Doing so would be a big mistake that our state simply cannot afford to make. In 2014, New Hampshire expanded its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act. Previously, to qualify for Medicaid a person needed to be both poor and medically needy (pregnant women, children or disabled). Under Medicaid expansion, a person needs only to be below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. That means that able-bodied adults, even above the poverty line, would have taxpayers buy health insurance for them. (State Rep. Frank Edelblut, 2/27)

The Concord Monitor: The Trouble With New Hampshire's Secure Psychiatric Unit
Earlier this month, a hearing was held debating HB 1541 before the House Committee on Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs. The bill, introduced by Rep. Renny Cushing, would prohibit the placement of non-adjudicated civilly committed individuals in the Secure Psychiatric Unit (or SPU) at the New Hampshire Prison for Men. I attended the hearing. I also testified. I am a registered nurse with extensive experience working with acute psychiatric populations. (Beatrice Coulter, 2/27)

The Washington Post: Five Myths About Lead In Water
For months, the citizens of Flint, Mich., were on their own in trying to bring attention to their city’s polluted water. In August, one of us, Marc, brought his research team to Flint at the request of Flint resident LeeAnne Walters, who couldn’t get the government’s help in dealing with the orange dreck coming from her tap. The team found that Flint’s water supply contained very high levels of lead, a toxin linked to health problems ranging from tooth decay to neurological disorders. It took decades, but Americans eventually got smart and banned lead paint. Yet when it comes to lead in water, even with the political and media spotlight on Flint, misconceptions persist. (Yanna Lambrinidou and Marc Edwards, 2/26)

The New York Times: H.I.V.’s Toll On Black And Latino Men
There is encouraging news in the fight against H.I.V in the United States: Over all, fewer people are contracting the virus, which causes AIDS. But H.I.V. continues to take a devastating toll on men who have sex with men, particularly among African-Americans and Latinos. If current rates persist, one in every six men who has sex with men will become infected with H.I.V., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week in its first lifetime risk analysis. One out of every two black men and one out of every four Latino men in this segment of the population is projected to become infected. (2/29)

STAT: Reject The Pseudoscience Of Homeopathy
Homeopathy is alive and well in the United States, according to new research from Massachusetts General Hospital, and it is thriving elsewhere. A health practice with no scientific underpinning and unconvincing clinical evidence that is used by millions of people around the world amounts to a mockery of evidence-based medicine. I am part of a group of experts who want to counterbalance the misinformation on this topic. (Edzard Ernst, 2/26)