The New York Times: Reuniting And Detaining Migrant Families Pose New Mental Health Risks
The chaotic process of reuniting thousands of migrant children and parents separated by the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy poses great psychological risks, both short- and long-term, mental health experts said on Friday. So does holding those families indefinitely while they await legal proceedings, which could happen under the president’s new executive order. The administration has no clear plan to reunite migrant families, which is sure to carry a psychological price for migrant parents and more than 2,300 children separated from them at the border in recent months. More than 400 are under age 12, and many are toddlers. (Carey, 6/22)

The New York Times: The Challenges For Doctors Treating Migrant Children Separated From Their Parents
Clinicians at public hospitals in New York City who have started seeing children separated from their families at the border are concerned about the psychological impact of the separation as well as the practical challenge of treating children whose medical history is unknown. At a news conference on Thursday, officials announced that at least 12 such children had been seen at public hospitals including Bellevue, Kings County and North Central Bronx, brought in by their new caretakers. Dr. Mitchell Katz, president and chief executive of NYC Health & Hospitals, described the children “being brought in by loving foster families struggling to take care of these children,” but aware that they have been traumatized by the separation. (Klass, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Separated Immigrant Children Are All Over The U.S. Now, Far From Parents Who Don’t Know Where They Are
Their mothers are missing, their fathers far away. They get pizza, maybe cold cuts. They are exhausted; they cannot sleep. There are other children around, but they had never seen those kids before, and those kids are crying or screaming or rocking or spreading the feeling that everything is not okay. The children who were forcibly separated from their parents at the border by the United States government are all over the country now, in Michigan and Maryland, in foster homes in California and shelters in Virginia, in cold, institutional settings with adults who are not permitted to touch them or with foster parents who do not speak Spanish but who hug them when they cry. (Sacchetti, Sieff and Fisher, 6/24)

Los Angeles Times: Administration Says It Has A Plan To Reunite Immigrant Families; Democrats Are Skeptical
Democrats responded skeptically Sunday to the Trump administration’s assertion that it has a process in place to reunite more than 2,000 “separated minors” with their parents, while Republican lawmakers sought to defend the president’s immigration policies and again promised that all the children taken from their parents in recent weeks were accounted for. Trump himself, however, redoubled his denunciation of all unauthorized arrivals, even those engaging in the legal act of seeking asylum. In a message on Twitter, he suggested that people crossing the border should be deported summarily, without a court hearing. (King, 6/24)

Kaiser Health News: Fearing Deportation, Immigrant Parents Are Opting Out Of Health Benefits For Kids 
The fear of family separation is nothing new for many immigrants already living in the U.S. In fact, that fear, heightened in recent weeks, has been forcing a tough decision for a while. Advocates say a growing number of American children are dropping out of Medicaid and other government programs because their parents are not citizens. Marlene is an undocumented resident of Texas and has two children who are U.S. citizens who qualify for Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people. (Kaiser Health News is not using Marlene’s last name because of her immigration status.) One of her children has some disabilities. (Lopez, 6/25)

KQED: Leading Immigrant Aid Group Says No Thanks To 23andMe Offer To Help Reunite Detained Families
A leading immigrant aid group is refusing a Silicon Valley DNA testing company's offer to help reunite families separated along the border. In a series of tweets this week, 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki said the company would offer its genetic testing services, amid concerns that immigration officials lacked the records necessary to connect parents with their children. (Hossaini, 6/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: 23andMe’s DNA Kit Offer For Reuniting Migrant Families Raises Privacy Concerns
Mountain View genetic testing company 23andMe has offered to donate DNA test kits to help migrant children in detention centers reunite with their parents — prompting logistical and ethical concerns about an undertaking that genetics experts say would be a first in the United States. (Ho, 6/22)

WBUR: A Latino Nonprofit Is Holding Separated Kids. Is That Care Or Complicity Or Both?
Today, Southwest Key has 26 shelters in Texas, Arizona and California, housing more than 5,100 immigrant minors. That's about half of the total population in the custody of Health and Human Services. (Domonoske, 6/22)

Arizona Republic: Southwest Key Gets $458M To House Migrant Children; Pays CEO $1.5 Mil
The federal government's fight against illegal immigration has become a booming business for a non-profit housing at metro-Phoenix and Tucson shelters migrant children separated from their parents. Texas-based Southwest Key Programs was paid at least $458 million in fiscal 2018 to house unaccompanied children, as President Donald Trump's administration has enforced its "zero-tolerance" policy of prosecuting all who cross the border illegally. (Harris, 6/22)

Bloomberg: The Dems Take Obamacare On The Road
For the first time since it became law in 2010, Obamacare is a political asset for Democrats heading into an election—a striking turn after several cycles in which the law’s unpopularity helped Republicans sweep into power in legislative races across the country. Still, Democrats face a challenge: President Trump’s attacks on Obamacare prompted a broad reassessment of its merits and hurt his party’s political standing. To successfully exploit the issue, Democrats have to find a way to cut through the din of Trump news and scandal coverage and convince voters they’ll defend the health-care law from ongoing GOP sabotage and repeal efforts. (Green and Kapur, 6/25)

Politico: Reversal Of Fortune: Obamacare Rate Hikes Pose Headache For Republicans
Obamacare premiums are once again poised to spike by double digits in 2019, causing heartburn for politicians as voters will head to the polls within days of learning about the looming hit to their pocketbooks. But unlike recent campaign cycles, when Republicans capitalized on Obamacare sticker shock to help propel them to control of Congress and the White House, they’re now likely to be the ones feeling the wrath of voters. (Demko, 6/24)

In other health law news —

The Star Tribune: With Preexisting Condition Protections At Risk, Health Care Looms As Top Minn. Election Issue
As the Trump administration backs away from legally defending access to health insurance for people with pre-existing medical conditions, congressional candidates in Minnesota are getting ready for another campaign season likely to be dominated by the health care debate. Republican lawmakers have twice failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), while an increasing number of Democrats are advocating for single-payer health care — a difficult proposition even if they win back control of Congress in November. An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll in early June found more than one in five voters named health care as their top concern in the upcoming midterm elections, more than any other issue. (Rao, 6/23)

Georgia Health News: 4 Insurers Submit Rates For 2019 Ga. Exchange
Four health insurers have submitted proposed rates to the state insurance department to offer coverage in next year’s exchange in Georgia. The state agency, which must approve or reject the proposals, said Friday that it had not yet had time to study them. (Miller, 6/22)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: 2019 Insurance On The Obamacare Exchange In Ohio Will Increase
Ohioans who shop for health coverage on the Obamacare marketplace will see an average premium increase of 8.2 percent, according to preliminary data released Friday from the Ohio Department of Insurance. The 2019 expected increase is more moderate compared to this year's, when it averaged 20 percent. (Hancock, 6/22)

Politico: Opioid Bills Could Net Millions For Companies
The House is touting passage of dozens of bills that could help combat the national opioid crisis — but a small handful of companies that have spent millions lobbying Congress could reap a windfall if any of the bills become law. In a two-week legislative blitz, the House cleared several narrowly tailored measures that would spur sales for companies that have ramped up their influence game in Washington, according to a review of the more than five dozen bills up for votes. (Cancryn, 6/22)

Politico: House Overwhelmingly Passes Final Opioid Package
The House on Friday overwhelmingly passed sweeping bipartisan opioid legislation, concluding the chamber’s two-week voteathon on dozens of bills to address the drug abuse epidemic. The measure combines more than 50 bills approved individually by the House focusing on expanding access to treatment, encouraging the development of alternative pain treatments and curbing the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S. It was passed 396-14, with 13 Republicans and one Democrat voting against the package. (Ehley, 6/22)

The Associated Press: House Approves Bill Expanding Treatment For Opioid Abuse
The House has overwhelmingly approved legislation designed to give health care providers more tools to stem an opioid crisis that is killing more than 115 people in the United States daily. The legislation passed Friday by a vote of 396-14. It incorporates dozens of opioid-related bills that lawmakers have made a campaign-season priority. In urging the passage of the bill, many lawmakers told personal stories about how opioid abuse has affected constituents, family and friends. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told the story of his press secretary, Erin Perrine, whose brother, Eamon, died of a drug overdose in 2016. McCarthy said she learned of his death just weeks before her wedding. (Freking, 6/22)

CQ: House Passes Bipartisan Opioid Bill Package
“We in this body have the opportunity nearly every day to approve legislation of great consequences to millions of people, but rarely do the consequences feel so immediate, so vital, as for the opioid package that we’re considering,” said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on the House floor before the vote. The package was largely put together by Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and ranking member Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., and Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and ranking member Richard E. Neal, D-Mass. (Raman, 6/22)

The New York Times: When An Iowa Family Doctor Takes On The Opioid Epidemic
A newborn had arrived for his checkup, prompting Dr. Nicole Gastala to abandon her half-eaten lunch and brace for the afternoon crush. An older man with diabetes would follow, then a pregnant teenager, a possible case of pneumonia and someone with a rash. There were also patients on her schedule with a problem most primary care doctors don’t treat: a former construction worker fighting an addiction to opioid painkillers, and a tattooed millennial who had been injecting heroin four times a day. (Goodnough, 6/23)

The New York Times: The Trump Appointee Who’s An Addiction Specialist
Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, the Trump administration’s director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, helped pioneer opioid addiction treatment with buprenorphine in clinical trials in the 1990s. She also helped create the training for doctors who want to prescribe it. What follows is a condensed interview with her. (Goodnough, 6/23)

NPR: Study: Opioid Use High In Counties That Voted For Trump
The fact that rural, economically disadvantaged parts of the country broke heavily for the Republican candidate in the 2016 election is well known. But Medicare data indicate that voters in areas that went for Trump weren't just hurting economically — many of them were receiving prescriptions for opioid painkillers. (Chisholm, 6/23)

The Associated Press: Drug Spoon Sculpture Placed Outside Drugmaker Headquarters
An 800-pound, nearly 11-foot-long steel sculpture of a bent and burned drug spoon was placed Friday in front of the Connecticut headquarters of drugmaker Purdue Pharma as part of an art protest against the opioid crisis. Artist Domenic Esposito and art gallery owner Fernando Alvarez dropped the sculpture at the company's Stamford headquarters. Police arrested Alvarez on a minor charge of obstructing free passage. A city worker removed the spoon with a payloader and it was hauled to a police evidence holding area. (6/22)

The Associated Press: Retailers Experiment With Blue Lights To Deter Drug Use
Colored bulbs cast an eerie blue glow in the restroom of a convenience store where people who inject heroin and other drugs have been seeking the relative privacy of the stalls to shoot up. The blue lights are meant to discourage people from using drugs in store bathrooms by making it more difficult for them to see their veins. It's an idea that's been around for years but is getting a fresh look as a result of the nation's opioid epidemic. (6/24)

WBUR: Turmoil Of Opioid Epidemic Is Targeted In New Hospital Guide
Hospitals say there's been little guidance for them about how to screen patients for an opioid addiction, how to manage a patient in detox while treating injuries from a car accident, for example, and where to make naloxone available. ...To remedy this gap, the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association (MHA) is out with what it says is the first statewide "guide for patient management with regards to opioid misuse." (Bebinger, 6/22)

Arizona Republic: CVS Health Expands Drug-Disposal Program To Arizona
CVS Health is expanding drop-off boxes for unused medications at 13 store locations across Arizona, the company said this week. The new disposal units will be located inside CVS Pharmacy locations, providing sites for disposing of opioids and other medications that could be misused if they are left in medicine cabinets, the company said in announcing the plan on Wednesday. (Forburger, 6/22)

The New York Times: When A Health Insurer Also Wants To Be A Hospice Company
Death has always been lucrative enterprise, whether it involves mahogany caskets or teams of estate and tax lawyers. But hospice, the business of caring for those who are nearing death, has become a booming multibillion-dollar industry that is attracting more and more for-profit companies, including one of the nation’s major insurers. That insurer, Humana, is making an unusual bet beyond the current strategy of health insurers to merge with pharmacies or buy up doctors’ practices. In teaming up with two investment firms, Humana plans to buy two hospice chains that together would create the industry’s biggest operator with hundreds of locations in dozens of states. (Abelson, 6/22)

Modern Healthcare: Not-For-Profit Health Systems Working To Get Around Tax On High Exec Pay
Not-for-profit health systems—no strangers to paying top dollar for talented executives—are using sophisticated methods to avoid the penalties on high employee compensation. Effective tax year 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act imposes a 21% excise tax on not-for-profit compensation that exceeds $1 million, a threshold that encompasses just about all major not-for-profit health systems. (Bannow, 6/23)

And in news on the billionaires' health care initiative —

Bloomberg: Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan Health Venture Takes Aim At Middlemen
The health venture established by Amazon.com Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will take aim at intermediaries in the health-care system as a part of a broad effort to reduce wasteful spending, the venture’s newly named chief executive officer said. The still-unnamed business will initially seek to develop ways to improve care for the more than 1 million individuals who get health insurance from the three firms. Over time, the venture will make those innovations available freely to other companies, meaning that if it’s successful, its effects could be felt more broadly among the more than 150 million people in the U.S. who get their health insurance through work. (Tracer, 6/24)

Boston Globe: Buffett-Bezos-Dimon Health Care Firm Likely To Start With Modest Digs
The health care venture being launched by Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and Jamie Dimon will start off modest in scale, if its real estate needs are any guide. The newly formed entity, to be based in Boston and led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital surgeon and well-known medical writer Atul Gawande, is looking for about 20,000 square feet of office space in the city, according to local real estate brokers. (Logan, 6/22)

Stat: How Atul Gawande Landed The Most Extraordinary Job In Health Care
It’s hard to imagine having to endure a more exacting executive search committee than the triad of corporate chieftains atop Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway. But Dr. Atul Gawande’s selection last week by Jeff Bezos, Jamie Dimon, and Warren Buffett to run a venture with the extraordinary yet seemingly futile goal of disrupting the health care industry didn’t stem from any longstanding relationship he had with any of them. Its genesis was an article he wrote for The New Yorker nine years ago. (Berke, 6/26)

Chicago Tribune: More Doctors Embrace Membership Fees, Shunning Health Insurance 
In recent years, many consumers have grown frustrated with the [rising] costs of health insurance, and many doctors have felt stymied by a system that expects them to see high numbers of patients. In response, a growing number of consumers and medical professionals are seeking alternatives, including direct primary care. Direct primary care practices often charge patients monthly membership fees of anywhere from $35 to hundreds of dollars a month for visits and other services. Fees can sometimes vary based on family size and age, and some practices also offer memberships to employers for their employees. (Schencker, 6/22)

In other health costs news —

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Lab Charge Spikes Found At Rural Hospitals
The roughly 3,000 residents of Stamford, Texas, appeared to be on the verge of losing their hospital in 2015, another casualty of the financial crisis facing rural hospitals. But then Stamford Memorial Hospital seemed to have turned a corner based on an announcement from the hospital's CEO, Rick DeFoore, who told local media that the facility would stay open, thanks in part to "consulting help." (Bannow, 6/23)

The Washington Post: Groups Suing Trump Administration Over Family Planning Express Optimism
A federal judge Thursday challenged a Trump administration proposal to overhaul funding for family planning programs after three national reproductive rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union sued to block the moves. Planned Parenthood and the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association said new grant rules announced in February amounted to a radical shift that would jeopardize the health of millions of low-income patients by requiring providers to prioritize practices such as abstinence over sexual health services, such as contraception. (Hsu, 6/22)

Detroit Free Press: Planned Parenthood Keeps Title X Funding In Michigan Budget
In a blow to anti-abortion advocates, the 2019 state budget Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law Thursday won't shift federal money for pregnancy prevention and family planning services away from Planned Parenthood. The budget approved by the Legislature included language that would have moved federal Title X money for family planning services to health clinics and county health departments that do not provide abortions. (Shamus, 6/22)

In other women's health news —

Texas Tribune: Five Years After Wendy Davis Filibuster, Texas Abortion Providers Struggle To Reopen Clinics
It started at 11:58 p.m. on June 25, 2013, as abortion rights advocates who had gathered in the Texas Senate chamber celebrated the conclusion of then-state Sen. Wendy Davis’ 11-hour filibuster. ...On Monday, the fifth anniversary of a legislative battle that made headlines around the world, the story of Davis’ marathon act of resistance no longer looks so straightforward. (Yaffe-Bellany, 6/25)

The New York Times: Thermostats, Locks And Lights: Digital Tools Of Domestic Abuse
The people who called into the help hotlines and domestic violence shelters said they felt as if they were going crazy. One woman had turned on her air-conditioner, but said it then switched off without her touching it. Another said the code numbers of the digital lock at her front door changed every day and she could not figure out why. Still another told an abuse help line that she kept hearing the doorbell ring, but no one was there. (Bowles, 6/23)

The Washington Post: What If A Pandemic Hit The U.S. — Are We Ready?
Piles of dead bodies. Decontamination zones and overstretched hospitals. It’s the stuff of nightmares: the physical indicators of a pandemic associated with outbreaks of diseases such as Ebola in countries such as the Congo. But what if one of those pandemics — yellow fever, perhaps, or an emerging pathogen scientists don’t even know about yet — landed in the United States? It’s not a matter of if, writes Ed Yong in a long-form feature for the Atlantic, online and on newsstands, it’s when. In “The Next Plague Is Coming. Is America Ready?”, Yong takes a clear-eyed view of the worst-case scenario: a public-health system caught off guard by a pandemic that spirals out of control. (Blakemore, 6/24)

The New York Times: Breathing Tubes Fail To Save Many Older Patients
Earlier this year, an ambulance brought a man in his 80s to the emergency room at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He had metastatic lung cancer; his family had arranged for hospice care at home. But when he grew less alert and began struggling to breathe, his son tearfully called 911. “As soon as I met them, his son said, ‘Put him on a breathing machine,’” recalled Dr. Kei Ouchi, an emergency physician and researcher at the hospital. (Span, 6/22)

NPR: Cancer Doctor's Tweets Poke Holes In Hyped Science
New advances in medicine also tend to come with a hefty dose of hype. Yes, some new cancer drugs in the hot field of precision medicine, which takes into account variables for individual patients, have worked remarkably well for some patients. But while many patients clamor for them, they aren't currently effective for the vast majority of cancers. This stubborn fact has become a sticking point for an equally stubborn cancer doctor. At just 35 years old, Dr. Vinay Prasad has made a name for himself by calling out the hype surrounding precision medicine and confronting other examples of hype in his field. (Harris, 6/24)

NPR: Pregnancy Vaccine Protects Newborns From Whooping Cough
The list of things you're supposed to avoid when you're pregnant (like I am) is comically long. Hot baths. Alcohol. Soft cheeses. Tuna and lunch meat. Sprouts. So it felt a little odd to be offering up my arm for a vaccine a few weeks ago, at the start of my third trimester. Really? No ibuprofen or Pepto, but yes vaccines? The shot was to protect against whooping cough, among other things, and doctors at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists or ACOG recommend it for all women, in every pregnancy. (Simmons-Duffin, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Men's Sheds Movement Helps Lonely And Bored Older Men By Teaching Skills, Providing Community
Glenn Sears returned to his native Honolulu seven years ago to retire, but living in a condo on the 35th floor with his “perfect wife of 58 years,” he didn’t meet many people, and many of his old friends had either moved to the mainland or died. The 83-year-old former civil engineering professor was bored and lonely. Then he read about an international program called Men’s Sheds. It is sort of like a Boy Scouts for adults, a place where men can learn new skills and work together on community projects: building park benches, making toys for children’s hospitals or volunteering at food drives. (Fallik, 6/24)

The Washington Post: Robotic Surgery Is No Better Than Traditional Surgery, Bladder Cancer Study Finds
Robotic-assisted procedures have now become ubiquitous in some kinds of surgeries. What once was seen as a technological marvel is commonplace in many hospitals. But studies in recent years have shown robotic surgery performs no better than traditional surgery — even though it comes at a steeper cost to the overall health-care system. The latest comparison study was published in the medical journal Lancet on Thursday and shows there were no major differences in outcomes or complication rates in operations for bladder cancer. (Wan, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Her Doctor Said She Had The Flu. It Took Years To Find The Real, And Strange, Illness.
Diane A. Bates lay on the floor of her bathroom in the middle of the afternoon — weak, disoriented and afraid that she might die before someone found her. Bates had been battling what she had been told was a bad case of the flu for weeks. She hoped a bath might make her feel better, but she had felt wobbly and then passed out while getting out of the tub. Alone in her Seattle-area home, she managed to crawl to her bedroom, grab her cellphone and dial 911. (Boodman, 6/23)

The Washington Post: Dirofilaria Repens: Parasitic Worm Lives In Russian Woman's Face
First, it appeared as a tiny blemish under the eye. But over the next two weeks, the 32-year-old woman watched it move — snapping photos as it formed bumps above her eye before it made its way down into her lip, forcing her mouth to swell. It was a parasite — and it was living inside her face. (Bever, 6/22)

The Associated Press: Nearly 400 People Used California Assisted Death Law In 2017
California health officials reported Friday that 374 terminally ill people took drugs to end their lives in 2017, the first full year after a law made the option legal. The California Department of Public Health said 577 people received aid-in-dying drugs last year, but not everyone used them. The law allows adults to obtain a prescription for life-ending drugs if a doctor has determined they have six months or less to live. They can self-administer the drugs. (6/22)

Sacramento Bee: CA Assisted Death Law Used By Nearly 400 Patients In 2017
According to data compiled by the California Department of Public Health, more than 90 percent of individuals were 60 or older and about 89 percent were white. Almost 55 percent had completed a college education. The patients were nearly evenly split between women (51 percent) and men (47 percent). (Koseff, 6/22)

ProPublica: Medicare To Terminate Funding For St. Luke’s Heart Transplant Program in Houston
The federal Medicare program informed Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center on Friday that it would cut off funding to its heart transplant program in August, saying the Houston hospital has not done enough to fix shortcomings that endanger patients. The decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is a devastating blow to what was once one of the nation’s most renowned heart transplant programs. (Ornstein and Hixenbaugh, 6/22)

USA Today: Keystone Virus In Florida: Mosquito Virus Makes First Jump To Humans
A 16-year-old boy, the first confirmed case of the Keystone virus in humans, is leading researchers to believe the virus could be widespread in North Florida. Researchers from the University of Florida identified the Keystone virus in the teenager after he visited an urgent care clinic in North Central Florida in August of 2016. Medical professionals suspected he had Zika virus, considering his case was seen during a Zika outbreak, but he didn't. He tested positive for the Keystone virus, spread by a mosquito cousin to the Zika mosquito. He had a rash and fever. A report of his case was published earlier this month in the peer-reviewed medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. (May, 6/22)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Officials Downplay Health Threat From Little-Known Mosquito-Borne Virus That Caused Symptoms In Teen
Texas health officials are downplaying any current health risk from a little-known mosquito-borne virus found for the first time to have infected and caused symptoms in a person. University of Florida researchers reported this month that based on their analysis, a teenager tested for Zika two years ago actually had the Keystone virus, which can be found in some animal populations along coastal regions stretching from Texas to the Chesapeake Bay. (Ackerman, 6/23)

Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Grand Jury: Society Must Stop Criminalizing Mental Illness
Too many Tennesseans with mental illnesses are arrested and jailed instead of being referred for treatment, a recent Nashville grand jury determined. There must be more societal awareness of what to do when someone is having a mental health crisis, jurors also decided. The vast majority of people who have a mental illness do not pose an immediate risk to the community, regardless of whether they own a firearm. People diagnosed with a mental illness committed less than 5 percent of gun-related killings in the U.S. between 2001 and 2010, according to a 2015 study recently cited in The New York Times. (Boucher, 6/25)

Columbus Dispatch: A Year Later, No Money Has Been Spent From State Fund To Help Parents Keep Kids
After a years-long fight, the families and their supporters had reason to celebrate. Ohio finally was creating a fund that could be tapped to help pay for desperately needed services for children at risk of entering the justice or foster-care systems. ... But after a year, the $5 million in the state’s “crisis stabilization fund” has gone unused. (Price, 6/24)

Texas Tribune: Special Education Advocates Worry Texas Governor's School Safety Plan Will Accelerate School-To-Prison Pipeline
As a recent spate of school shootings has provoked nationwide panic, some advocates and parents, like Tunchez, are worried school and state officials' response to the May massacre at Santa Fe High School could harm some students more than it protects them. Criminal charges have since been dropped for Tunchez’s son, who has ADHD and anxiety, but he missed more than two weeks of school, spent a couple of days in juvenile detention and failed the state standardized English test required for him to graduate. (Swaby, 6/22)

Dallas Morning News: Former ER Doctor Who Signed Bogus Documents Found Guilty With 2 Nurses In $13 Million Health Care Fraud
Dr. Kelly Robinett was a semi-retired emergency room doctor with more than 30 years of experience who didn't want to see patients much anymore when he took a job for about $400 a week signing medical paperwork. That decision cost him his livelihood, his reputation and quite possibly his freedom. The 70-year-old Carrollton man was convicted Friday of four fraud charges for his role in a $13 million home health care scam made possible by what prosecutors called his rubber stamp signature on fraudulent documents. (Krause, 6/23)

KCUR: ‘I Just Want My Teeth Not To Hurt’: Treating Kids Who May Never Have Seen A Dentist 
Neena Patel tells the kinds of stories that make your mouth hurt. She’s a dentist with Miles of Smiles, a nonprofit organization offering free services to low-income kids in Clay and Platte counties who don’t have access to dental care. She regularly sees young patients who haven’t been to the dentist in years – or ever. ... According to a needs assessment conducted in 2000, the second-biggest need in the Northland was dental care for low-income children. Miles of Smiles was created two years later. Since then the organization has treated more than 19,000 children, both in their North Kansas City office and through mobile clinic visits to about 40 area schools. Access to free dental care has given thousands of children the chance for a healthier adulthood. (Lutz, 6/23)

Nashville Tennessean: Aging In Place: Nashville's Seniors Seeking More Housing Help
Seniors and disabled people living on fixed incomes, like [Lillian] Williams, are among the most vulnerable in the region’s affordable-housing crisis. Their collective need for housing assistance is growing as their population surges. The number of adults ages 65 and older in Davidson County grew 26 percent from 2010 to 2017. In comparison, the total population increased 10 percent during that time, according to U.S. Census data. (Mazza, 6/25)

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Bucks National Trend With Stagnant Smoking Rates
While the national adult smoking rate hit another record low last year, the statewide rate remained stagnant, frustrating local health officials. About 14 percent of U.S. adults were smokers last year, down from about 16 percent the year before, figures from the Centers for Disease Control show. (Meibers, 6/22)

Arizona Republic: Judge: Arizona Corrections, Officials In Contempt, Must Pay $1.45M
A U.S. District Court judge has found the Arizona Department of Corrections, its director, Charles Ryan, and its medical director, Richard Pratt, in civil contempt of court for repeatedly failing to meet the conditions of a 2014 court settlement over health care in state prisons. In a ruling Friday afternoon, Magistrate Judge David Duncan also imposed sanctions of $1,455,000 for failed standards from December through February. (Kiefer, 6/22)

KCUR: At New Events In Kansas City, Music And Movies Make New Memories For People With Dementia 
Called Memory Cafés, the monthly events are a local version of something started by a Dutch psychiatrist in 1997. Volunteers have since spread the meetings across the globe. Kansas City writer Deborah Shouse learned about Memory Cafés while researching her book, “Connecting in the Land of Dementia,” about her mother’s journey with Alzheimer’s. (Kniggendorf, 6/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Risky Teen Leadership Retreats Under Fire As Operators Consider Changes
A prominent judge and social justice activist has called for the suspension of Bay Area youth leadership retreats that employ reckless methods in the name of empathy-building, a reaction to The Chronicle’s recent exposé of programs that have been attended by thousands of local high school students for decades. The call comes amid conversations among retreat leaders nationwide about how suspect, even unethical practices became so embedded in the so-called Camp Anytown movement, an effort initially designed to foster awareness of prejudice and create change. (de Sá, 6/22)

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio University Expands Program To Reduce Infant Mortality Rates
OU’s family program now can help even more babies, pregnant women and families, thanks to a grant from the Ohio Department of Health. The grant will expand the program, which provides counseling and other services to expectant or new mothers, into four southeastern Ohio counties: Pike, Scioto, Jackson and Morgan. (Meibers, 6/24)

Texas Tribune: Legal Marijuana, Assault-Style Gun Control Texas Democrats' Platform
With little to no debate, state party Democrats on Saturday afternoon signed off on their 2018 platform, a list that reflects the ideals leaders and members support ahead of the November election and 2019 legislative session. The platform includes support for legalizing the possession and recreational use of marijuana, providing tuition-free community college to Texas residents and maintaining the Top 10 Percent Rule, which requires all public universities to admit all Texans who graduated in the top 10 percent their high school's class. (Samuels, 6/23)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A Killer Left DNA Evidence Behind. But The Milwaukee Police Destroyed It.
But even with continuing advances in DNA technology, (Deborah Lynn) Oberg’s killer likely will never be caught. That’s because the Milwaukee Police Department destroyed the evidence in her case — along with at least 50 other homicides. (Barton and Luthern, 6/22)

WBUR: A Psychiatrist's National Prescription For Fixing What We've Done At The Border
The events at the U.S. southern border over the last few weeks have greatly damaged the emotional health of our entire citizenry. Even though President Trump appears to have reversed the policy, in many ways the damage has already been done. (Steven Schlozman, 6/22)

Columbus Dispatch: Mental-Health Care A Must For Separated Immigrant Children
There is much work that must be done to protect more than 2,300 children and youth who already have been separated from their families at the Mexican border as there is no plan yet for how to reunite them across the 17 states throughout the country where they are in some type of care. ...Any plan for reuniting these children and youth with their families must include mental-health screening, assessment and treatment when indicated for all of these victims who have suffered trauma resulting from loss and uncertainty. Such trauma, if not treated, can result in mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, dissociative disorders, lack of impulse control and post-traumatic stress disorder throughout their lifetimes. (Gayle Channing Tenenbaum, 6/24)

Arizona Republic: Feds Didn’t Lose 1,475 Kids. They Lost…6,000?
Last month the Department of Health and Human Services said it didn’t know the location of 1,475 children who had been taken into custody and then handed over to others. The administration arrived at the number after attempting to contact the sponsors of 7,635 kids. (EJ Montini, 6/23)

Stat: A Past Pre-Existing Condition Shouldn't Mean My Son Is Denied Insurance
About 1 in 3 Americans, more than 130 million of us, have pre-existing conditions. It’s surprisingly easy to become part of that group. A friend of mine couldn’t get insurance because he was too tall; apparently tall people are more likely to have health problems. Others have been turned away because they work in high-risk professions, such as being a firefighter or police officer. Some are unable to get health insurance because of family history, regardless of their own current health. When companies can refuse to insure individuals because they have pre-existing conditions, at any moment you could find yourself without health coverage. Recent moves by the Justice Department, the attorneys general of 11 states, and Congress seem to be paving the way for companies to once again use pre-existing conditions to exclude individuals from getting health insurance. (Doug Hirsch, 6/25)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Lawsuit To Kill Obamacare Will Claim Other Victims
Killing Obamacare would keep a promise Trump made to a constituency he believes will win him a second term. The millions who will lose health coverage if Obamacare dies would be collateral damage to him. Congress opened the door for Trump when it repealed the penalty charged to people who didn’t follow the ACA’s directive to buy health insurance. That was a consequence of the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2012 that the penalty was a tax. Congress has the power to levy or remove taxes, so it voided the Obamacare penalty. Smelling blood in the water, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the attorneys general or governors of 19 other states filed a lawsuit contending that without the tax the ACA was unconstitutional. Now, the Justice Department has filed a brief in support of the lawsuit. While not going so far as to say the ACA is invalid, the brief does contend that the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling invalidates certain portions of the ACA. Here’s the kicker. Those invalid portions would include perhaps Obamacare’s most popular feature: a mandate that insurance companies cover people with pre-existing conditions. Think about that. People with pre-existing conditions not only include those with epilepsy, cancer and diabetes, it could include pregnant women who didn’t already have insurance. (6/24)

Boston Globe: Why Was The Federal Response In Puerto Rico So Flawed?
Nine months after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, leaving a path of death and devastation, 4,800 American households on the island still lack electricity. Up until three months ago, the number stood at 120,000.If a natural disaster struck, say, Wisconsin or New Hampshire, it’s impossible to imagine such numbers lasting past nine days. (6/24)

The New York Times: Suicides Have Increased. Is This An Existential Crisis?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released startling new statistics on the rise of deaths by suicide in the United States, which are up 25 percent since 1999 across most ethnic and age groups. These numbers clearly point to a crisis — but of what kind? Many argue that this is a crisis of mental health care, that people are not getting the services they need. The proposed solution is better therapies, more effective antidepressants and greater access to treatment. This assessment may be correct. However, the suicide rate has increased even as more people are seeking treatment for depression and anxiety, and even as treatment for those conditions has become more widely available. An additional explanation seems to be needed. (Clay Routledge, 6/23)

The Washington Post: Why I Am Being Open About My Suicidal Thoughts
Two years ago, I freed myself from what had long felt like a shameful secret: I wrote about my experience suffering from depression. Publicly sharing details about my nearly lifelong malady proved to be a turning point in how I felt about myself. It started with less shame and stigma and soon resulted in greater authenticity and connection in my relationships, especially among friends and colleagues with depression and other mental health conditions. I felt I didn’t have to lie anymore. (Steven Petrow, 6/23)

Stat: FDA Shouldn't Allow Politics To Hurt Women Suffering Miscarriage
When my obstetrician couldn’t detect a fetal heartbeat during my 9th week of pregnancy, he cleared his schedule. His assistant worked through lunch. They booked an operating room, lined up an anesthesiologist, coordinated insurance approvals, and scheduled a dilation and evacuation procedure for the following morning. It was over by noon. I was able to start healing, emotionally and physically. I was lucky to get such fast and efficient care. It doesn’t work that way for countless women across the country. Every year in the U.S., more than 500,000 women miscarry pregnancies before 12 weeks of gestation. Many must travel long distances to reach medical facilities that can perform effective and painless procedures to remove the expired fetus and extra uterine tissue. And many women have difficulty paying for these procedures, which are even more expensive for those with underlying health problems. (Dorothy Novick, 6/22)

Columbus Dispatch: Stopping Health-Care Fraud Must Be Public Policy Key 
The vast landscape of scamming in government programs is always discouraging — the drive of cheaters to skim dollars off of any large pot of public money appears relentless. But honest people like Cathy Bell remind us that some care about what’s right, even when it doesn’t benefit them. (6/23)

Detroit News: How To Stop The Opioid Crisis
Just over a month ago, I wrote in these pages about how the synthetic drugs fueling the opioid epidemic have flooded through Michigan. This is happening in too many states across the country with tragic results, and the headlines have continued. In Detroit, a grandmother was charged this month for leaving fentanyl accessible to her eight-year-old grandson, who fatally overdosed last summer. In Calhoun County, the public health department just reported that fentanyl-related deaths have more than quadrupled since 2015. And criminals continue to smuggle drugs into and throughout the state, threatening families in the Midwest and across the country. Amid this grim news we have signs of progress. Last week, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives came to an agreement on the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, legislation by Michigan’s own Congressman Mike Bishop designed to close a major security loophole in the global postal system that has fueled the opioid epidemic. And the House just passed the bill, bringing us one step closer to cutting off the flow of dangerous drugs. (Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, 6/24)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Legislators Are Pushing Pennsylvania Backward On Opioids
Two bills under consideration by Pennsylvania legislators threaten to take the commonwealth backward on opioids. The first is an effort to limit already-scarce evidence-based treatment. The second limits physician discretion when prescribing opioids. (Abraham Gutman, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: Well-Meaning Proposals To Change California's Mental Health Law Fall Short
At the core of the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles and around California is the simple fact that thousands of people spend their nights beneath overpasses, beside freeways and on the street because they cannot afford other places to live. There is a significant subset that is homeless because mental illness leaves them incapable of doing much of the day-to-day business of living beyond finding a place to sleep, something to wear and a little to eat; but for most of those street-dwellers as well, the problem is essentially the same: There is no other place for them to go. The community-based residential and outpatient treatment facilities that were supposed to go hand in hand with the closure of state psychiatric hospitals beginning in the 1960s never got the promised funding or political support. (6/23)

Sacramento Bee: California's SB 1152 Helps Homeless Patients Discharged From Hospitals
Often, discharged patients are dropped off at homeless facilities by ambulance or Uber or Lyft, many still in hospital gowns. ...Being discharged to the streets without a plan not only hinders recovery, but often makes the health issues worse, resulting in readmission to the hospital, or worse. (Sharad Jain, 6/22)

San Jose Mercury News: Ban Young Children From Playing Tackle Football
Despite the flood of medical evidence documenting the dangers of neurologic damage from repetitive, sub-concussive blows to the head, recent attempts at the legislative level to protect children have failed. ssemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, introduced Assembly Bill 2108 (the Safe Youth Football Act) in February. It garnered attention throughout the state and the nation. The bill sought to limit tackle football to children 12 and older. (Michael Shea, 6/22)

Arizona Republic: ACLU Wants To Attack Prisons, Not Improve Inmate Health Care
Rather than focusing on the facts, ACLU has made the courtroom a venue for anecdotal allegations of medical failings — some of which are demonstrably false and several of which are one-sided accounts. Much of this is presented to the public by a single activist radio reporter at KJZZ who allows himself to be used as a mouthpiece of the ACLU rather than a journalist covering the totality of the difficult issues in providing health care in a prison setting with limited taxpayer-funded resources. (Steve Rector, 6/21)