The Washington Post: Obama Administration Is Rapidly Running Out Of Money To Fight Zika
Money set aside to fight the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus is running low, and some funds could run out by the end of August, according to a letter to House Democrats from Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell. Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services shifted $374 million from other programs to fight Zika in the U.S., with $222 million allocated to the Centers for Disease Control. The funds have rapidly been depleted during the summer mosquito season. The National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority are both expected to run out of funds by the end of the month, and other funds will be depleted by the end of the year, Burwell said. (Snell, 8/3)

Roll Call: Zika Funding Gone By The End Of September, HHS Says
“The department is committed to using scarce federal dollars aggressively and prudently, especially in light of Congress’ inaction to provide any additional resources and the uncertainty around whether Congress will provide resources in the future,” [Burwell] said, referring to the partisan gridlock that has so far prevented lawmakers from sending the Zika spending legislation to the White House. (McCrimmon, 8/3)

The Associated Press: Administration Warns Congress: Zika Money Running Out
Republicans have been downplaying the urgency of the issue, questioning why the administration has not spent more than $350 million already on hand, including money redirected from the Ebola fight. Burwell's letter gives a detailed accounting. The Centers for Disease Control has $222 million available for domestic response including front-line assistance to states and localities. Of that, nearly $100 million will have been provided by week's end, and resources will be virtually exhausted by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, the letter says. (Werner, 8/3)

Politico Pro: Burwell: HHS Has Met Florida's Funding Request
The Obama administration says it has filled the entirety of Florida’s request for help fighting the Zika virus, even as Sen. Marco Rubio asks the White House to do more for his state. HHS has sent more than $8 million to help Florida respond to the Zika virus. Fifteen Floridians have gotten the virus through local mosquitoes, but more than 300 residents have gotten Zika through travel or sexual transmission. (Haberkorn, 8/3)

The Associated Press: As Zika Fears Escalate, Lawmakers Point Fingers From Afar
As the Zika virus escalates into a public health crisis, members of Congress remain entrenched politically, with Republicans and Democrats pointing fingers over the failure to act as the number of mosquito-transmitted cases in the U.S. grows. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell warned lawmakers on Wednesday that her budget for fighting Zika is running out quickly. Without more money fast, she said, the “nation’s ability to effectively respond to Zika will be impaired.” Yet lawmakers left Washington in mid-July for a seven-week recess without approving any of the $1.9 billion President Barack Obama requested in February to develop a vaccine and control the mosquitoes that carry the virus. (Lardner, 8/4)

Politico: Rubio: Trump ‘Hopefully’ Will Pay Attention To Zika
Sen. Marco Rubio called on both political parties in Washington to do more to fight the Zika virus, but he was almost mum Wednesday when asked about why his party’s presidential nominee has essentially said nothing about the disease now that it’s spreading in Miami and throughout Florida. ... When questioned more about why he wouldn’t discuss Trump’s position on Zika, Rubio noted he hadn’t either mentioned the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton. But Clinton since March made it a priority issue and her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, took the time at a campaign stop in Daytona Beach to call out Trump for not talking about the disease. (Caputo, 8/3)

CNN: Trump Punts To Florida Governor On Zika
Donald Trump campaigned in two Florida cities Wednesday without addressing growing public health concerns over an outbreak of locally borne Zika infections in the state. And when pressed by a local reporter for his plan to combat the virus, which two days earlier prompted the Centers for Disease Control to warn people from traveling to a Miami neighborhood, Trump demurred. He simply saying that the state's Republican governor is doing a "fantastic job" and "seems to have it under control." (Diamond, 8/3)

The Washington Post: NIH To Begin Testing Zika Vaccine In Humans
As the Zika virus continues its spread, infecting people in more than 50 countries and threatening fetal development in pregnant women, scientists have been racing to develop an effective vaccine for the disease. Federal researchers on Wednesday announced a milestone in that effort: their first clinical trial in humans. The trial will involve at least 80 healthy volunteers between ages 18 and 35 at three locations around the United States, including at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda. (Dennis, 8/3)

Reuters: U.S. Health Researchers Test Zika Vaccine As Funds Run Low
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health federal research agency, said its early-stage clinical trial will involve at least 80 healthy volunteers ages 18 to 35 at three study sites. It said the trial will evaluate the experimental DNA-based vaccine's safety and ability to elicit an immune system response. (Dunham, 8/3)

Stat: US Researchers Now Testing Zika Vaccines In Human Subjects
With the DNA vaccine, a piece of genetic code is injected into the arm. The DNA produces proteins that can galvanize the immune system to identify and attack the virus if it tries to infect a person in the future. DNA vaccines are a new focus in vaccine development, but none has been approved for use by US regulators so far. In some ways, they are easier to develop and could come with fewer risks than vaccines made from inactivated forms of the virus, Fauci said. (Joseph, 8/3)

The New York Times: 33 U.S. Service Members Have Contracted Zika, Pentagon Says
More than 30 active-duty American service members — including a pregnant woman — have contracted the mosquito-borne Zika virus in countries where the disease has been identified, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday. Maj. Ben Sakrisson, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department has been tracking Zika in servicemen and women abroad since January, and that the number had reached 33 this month. (Cooper, 8/3)

The Washington Post: Military Members Test Positive For Zika
At least 33 U.S. troops, including a pregnant woman, have tested positive for the Zika virus, U.S. military spokesmen said Wednesday. Ten of those troops are men who answer to the Southern Command, the Pentagon subsidiary with oversight of troops in Latin America and the Caribbean. Southcom spokesman Jose Ruiz said the 10 were infected in five locations — Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Martinique. They serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. (Rosenberg, 8/3)

Stat: ‘Absolutely Shameless’: 7 Marketers Of Anti-Zika Repellents Slapped With Cease-And-Desist Letters
As the Zika virus spreads, wristbands and patches being touted as protection against the disease have been flooding the market. Now, the New York attorney general’s office is cracking down on the companies it considers to be the worst offenders. The office has ordered seven marketers to stop deceptively advertising their insect repellent products, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Wednesday morning. None of the seven targeted products contain ingredients like DEET and picaridin recommended by federal health officials, Schneiderman’s office said. (Robbins, 8/3)

And media outlets report on the virus in the states —

Miami Herald: As Zika Spreads In Miami, Pregnant Women Race To Get Tested
Since health officials warned pregnant women to avoid the Wynwood area because of ongoing Zika transmission — and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged those who had visited the district on or after June 15 to get tested for the virus — expectant mothers and women planning to conceive in South Florida are making a run on lab tests while others are freezing their eggs, delaying their pregnancies or, in the most extreme cases, planning to leave town to finish out their terms. (Cochrane and Chang, 8/3)

Health News Florida: Scott Says Florida Remains 'Safe State' Amid Zika Battle
Florida political leaders say controlling the spread of the Zika virus is doable but will take everyone's help, as travel advisories have been posted about visiting the state. The assurances came just hours before the Florida Department of Health reported that it was investigating an additional case of a person being infected with Zika in Miami-Dade County. The report brought to 15 the number of people believed to have been infected by mosquito bites in the state, with health officials saying they think transmission of the disease is occurring in a small area north of downtown Miami. (Turner, 8/3)

The Wall Street Journal: In Zika-Outbreak Area In Miami, Residents Take Various Precautions
In the city’s Wynwood neighborhood, the center of the current Zika outbreak, business owners opened their doors on Wednesday to another humid day in the spotlight, as local officials declared the area “open for business” and anxious pregnant women across the city worried about their risk. Jessica Ardente, 36 years old, walked her dog Wednesday morning in Margaret Pace Park, a sliver of green along the Intercoastal Waterway at the edge of the area where state and federal health officials believe mosquitoes have transmitted the virus. Ms. Ardente is in her first trimester of pregnancy and lives in Edgewood at the edge of the affected zone. She donned mosquito repellent, long pants and long-sleeved shirts to walk her dog, a routine she hasn’t changed, she said. (Evans, 8/3)

The New York Times: Florida’s $82 Billion Tourism Industry Braces For Zika
After enduring the years of ups and downs that came with being a part of Wynwood’s transformation from a struggling warehouse district into Miami’s hot new neighborhood, the restaurateur Ivette Naranjo thought the worst was behind her. Her Cafeina Wynwood Lounge hosted large events for HBO, Absolut and Audi, where up to 600 hipsters could drink and dance to a DJ spinning vinyl in the garden. On weekends, an even mix of locals and tourists sipped cocktails with names like Hot Passion and critiqued the art in the adjacent gallery. Then came Zika. (Schwartz, 8/3)

The Washington Post: CDC Director: Sporadic Zika Cases Possible For Months, Maybe Year, In Florida
On Aug. 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged pregnant women to avoid visiting a South Florida neighborhood where mosquito-borne cases of the Zika virus have emerged. It was the first time officials have warned against travel to part of the continental United States because of the outbreak of an infectious disease. The travel advisory is for a one-mile-square area that includes Wynwood, one of Miami's trendiest neighborhoods, which has a diverse mix of high-end art galleries, blocks of intricate murals and warehouse graffiti, and aging bungalows. (Sun, 8/3)

The Texas Tribune: To Fight Zika, Texas Medicaid Will Pay For Mosquito Repellent
With federal funding to fight Zika stuck in Congress, and amid news that mosquito-to-human transmission of the virus has reached the continental United States, Texas officials announced on Wednesday they would allow Medicaid to pay for mosquito repellent for women, in the hopes of preventing the disease. The decision comes two months after the Obama administration first told states they could allow Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled, to pay for Zika prevention services, including mosquito repellent and family planning. (Walters, 8/3)

Houston Chronicle: Mosquito Repellent Now Covered Under Texas Medicaid
Mosquito repellent will now be covered under Texas Medicaid for women between 10 and 45 years old or pregnant, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission announced Wednesday. The announcement comes in response to the spread of the Zika virus, which is transmitted most commonly through a mosquito bite. The virus has caused birth defects in unborn children whose mothers have been infected while pregnant, mostly in Central and South America. (Ketterer, 8/3)

Minnesota Public Radio: MN Officials Hunt For Possible Zika-Carrying Mosquitoes
Public health officials have begun searching several Minnesota cities for the Asian tiger mosquito — one of the two primary mosquito species known to carry Zika virus. ... Epidemiologist Dave Neitzel says he doesn't expect to find the mosquitoes because Minnesota's winters should be harsh enough to kill them. (Benson, 8/4)

Forbes: Humana To Abandon Obamacare Patients In 1,200 U.S. Counties
Humana is the latest health insurer to significantly pull back its participation selling subsidized individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act, announcing plans to scale back next year to “no more than 156 counties” across 11 states. The decision means Humana will reduce its Obamacare geographic presence by nearly 1,200 counties from the 1,351 counties across 19 states where the insurer currently sells individual coverage on exchanges under the health law now. (Japsen, 8/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Humana’s Earnings Exceed Expectations
Humana Inc. reported better-than-anticipated earnings despite losses related to its Affordable Care Act insurance plans. Chief Financial Officer Brian Kane said the company was seeing “consistently strong operational execution across our core businesses, though challenges in our individual commercial business remain.” (Wilde Mathews and Steele, 8/3)

Los Angeles Times: In Louisiana, The Rush To Sign Up For Obamacare Highlights A 'Long Overdue' Demand For Health Insurance
Patients burst into tears at this city’s glistening new charity hospital when they learned they could get Medicaid health insurance. In Baton Rouge, state officials had to bring in extra workers to process the flood of applications for coverage. And at the call center for one of Louisiana’s private Medicaid plans, operators recorded their busiest day on record. The outpouring began in June, when Louisiana became the 31st state to offer expanded Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act, effectively guaranteeing health insurance to its residents for the first time. (Levey, 8/4)

Stat: In Cancer, It’s Back To The Future As Old Treatments Make Cutting-Edge Ones More Effective
New cancer drugs that unleash the immune system on tumors are all the rage, getting credit for curing former President Jimmy Carter’s advanced melanoma and inspiring tech billionaire Sean Parker to pledge $250 million to cancer research. Behind the excitement, however, is the hard truth that these therapies work in only a minority of patients. Now scientists are finding hints of a solution in an unexpected place: Older, out-of-favor cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation may make the cutting-edge immune-based drugs effective against more cancers — even hard-to-treat ovarian and pancreatic tumors. (Begley, 8/4)

The Washington Post: Sickle Cell Trait May Not Increase The Risk Of Death
People who carry a gene for sickle cell disease might not have an elevated mortality risk, according to a study released today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Sickle cell disease occurs in 1 out of every 365 black people born in America, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They carry two copies of a gene for sickle cell disease. Those who carry only one copy of the gene are said to have sickle cell trait. About 1 in 13 black Americans have sickle cell trait. An earlier study found that sickle cell trait may lead to an increased risk of sudden death, but the new study comes to a different conclusion. (Beachum, 8/3)

The Washington Post: A Molecule Called ‘Sandman’ Could Help Solve The ‘Mystery Of Sleep’
Sleep just doesn't make sense. ... "If evolution had managed to invent an animal that doesn’t need to sleep ... the selective advantage for it would be immense," [Gero] Miesenböck said. "The fact that no such animal exists indicates that sleep is really vital, but we don't know why." But Miesenböck is part of team of sleep researchers who believe they are inching closer to to an answer. In a paper published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, they describe a cluster of two dozen brain cells in fruit flies that operate as a homeostatic sleep switch, turning on when the body needs rest and off again when it's time to wake up. (Kaplan, 8/3)

The Washington Post: Risk Factors For Heart Disease Increase Before Menopause
Risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and stroke increase more quickly than expected in the years preceding menopause, according to new research, and the risk factors seem to be more prominent in black women. Metabolic syndrome describes a constellation of risk of factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease, including a large waist, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure and high blood sugar when fasting. It has been known that metabolic syndrome is more common in women post-menopause, but it wasn't clear when the symptoms start to kick in. (Beachum, 8/3)

Stat: The Old Wives Were Onto Something: Cranberry Juice Can Block UTI Bacteria
Many people swear by cranberry juice as the natural remedy to fight off urinary tract infections, also known as UTIs. Curious to see if the folklore held up, researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and University of Massachusetts Dartmouth set out to find out what makes it so good for UTIs. (Masih, 8/4)

Stat: Cervical Sutures Used To Prevent Early Labor Actually Make It More Likely
Stitches commonly used to sew up a pregnant woman’s cervix and prevent early labor can backfire — dramatically increasing her risk of premature labor and pregnancy loss. A specific type of thick, braided suture frequently used to stitch up the cervix can breed bacteria that seem to disrupt the vaginal microbiome and spur early labor, according to a study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine. Women who got those sutures were at three times the risk of pregnancy loss, and twice the risk of preterm labor, than those who got another type of suture, which is thinner and flatter. (Thielking, 8/3)

WBUR: Health Nuts: Study Finds Eating Tree Nuts, Peanuts Linked To Lower Inflammation
The study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital suggests that inflammation may be the key to previous findings of a link between eating nuts and lower rates of chronic disease. The study, led by Dr. Ying Bao, an assistant professor at the Brigham and Harvard Medical School, looked at over 5,000 people and found that participants who ate tree nuts or peanuts at least five times a week had lower levels of biomarkers — proteins in the blood — for inflammation. Inflammation has been linked with chronic conditions including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. (Michaels, 8/3)

The New York Times: Barnyard Dust Offers A Clue To Stopping Asthma In Children
Scientists say they may have found a sort of magic ingredient to prevent asthma in children: microbes from farm animals, carried into the home in dust. The results of their research, published on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, were so convincing that they raised the possibility of developing a spray to do the same thing for children who do not have regular contact with cows and horses. (Kolata, 8/4)

Los Angeles Times: Amish Kids Help Scientists Understand Why Farm Life Reduces The Risk Of Asthma
The old-fashioned ways of the Amish are helping researchers make new discoveries about the origins of asthma. By studying the blood, genes and environmental dust of 30 Amish children from traditional farming families in Indiana, scientists were able to zero in on the innate immune system as a key player in thwarting asthma and the allergic reactions that can trigger it. Their findings appear in Thursday’s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. (Kaplan, 8/3)

Stat: Why Do Amish Kids Have Fewer Allergies? The Answer May Come From The Farm
In trying to explain America’s rising rates of allergies and asthma, one of the common theories is that we’re just too clean. ... In a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Carole Ober, a geneticist at the University of Chicago, and her colleagues conclude that dust from the farm fields might protect Amish children from asthma and allergies, while shelter from this exposure might leave Hutterite children vulnerable. (Wessel, 8/3)

Boston Globe: Fentanyl Fuels Rise In Deaths From Opioid Overdoses
More than ever, the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl is claiming lives in Massachusetts, fueling an overdose death toll that continues to rise, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Public Health. During the first half of 2016, deaths from opioid overdoses were higher than in the same period last year. That happened despite an apparent decline in the use of heroin and prescription drugs. Prescriptions for opioid painkillers were at their lowest level since early 2015, and heroin and prescription drugs were found less frequently in the bloodstreams of overdose victims than in the past. (Freyer, 8/3)

Stat: Fentanyl Blamed For Rise In 2016 Massachusetts Overdose Deaths
The widespread availability of the potent synthetic painkiller fentanyl helped drive overdose deaths higher during the first half of 2016 in Massachusetts, an indication that the opioid crisis is showing no sign of ebbing despite increasing political and law enforcement focus on the problem. Massachusetts is one of the few states to report overdose estimates in close to real time, providing an early indicator of what might be happening nationally. The US Drug Enforcement Administration last month labeled fentanyl an “unprecedented threat” and warned the expanding market for the drug “will likely result in more opioid-dependent individuals, overdoses and deaths.” (Armstrong, 8/3)

In other news about the opioid epidemic —

The Washington Post: Aetna Is Notifying Some Doctors About Their Drug-Dispensing Habits
Many experts say the prescription painkiller epidemic started when physicians began over-prescribing powerful opioid medications, a well-meaning attempt to more aggressively treat patients' pain. With addiction to those pills at crisis levels, they argue, a good part of the solution would be for doctors to rein in use of the drugs. The giant health insurer Aetna is now actively encouraging change. Using the vast amount of data it collects from insurance claims by pharmacies, it has begun contacting doctors whose prescribing habits are far outside the norm. (Bernstein, 8/3)

New Hampshire Public Radio: N.H. Hits Resistance In Investigation Of Pharma's Opioid Marketing Practices
It’s no secret drugs like OxyContin and hydromorphone are highly addictive. The real question is this: do drug companies downplay how addictive they are while marketing the medicine to doctors? New Hampshire’s Attorney General Joe Foster suspects false marketing of legal pills has led to abuse of illicit drugs like heroin. That’s why he subpoenaed the nation’s largest manufacturers of prescription painkillers. (Rodolico, 8/3)

The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County Coroner Announces New Anti-Heroin Efforts
The next time central Ohio is hit by a string of overdoses like the one caused by an elephant tranquilizer that was sold as heroin three weeks ago, a new rapid response team will be called into action. The team includes the coroner's office, law-enforcement officers, fire and medic professionals, and city and county public health officials, said Franklin County Coroner Dr. Anahi Ortiz, who announced the formation of the Opiate Rapid Response Team Wednesday. (Pyle, 8/3)

NPR: Does A Psychopath Who Kills Get To Use The Insanity Defense?
In December 2012, Jerrod Murray decided he wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. So the freshman at East Central University in Ada, Okla., offered another freshman, Generro Sanchez, $20 for a ride to Wal-Mart. After climbing into Sanchez's truck, Murray made the freshman drive into the remote countryside at gunpoint. Then Murray shot and killed Sanchez, leaving his body in a ditch. States go decades without updating their definition of insanity. When they do change their definitions, it's often in reaction to an unpopular verdict in a high-profile case. (Jacewicz, 8/3)

USA Today/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Abortion Groups Could Get $1.8 Million
Taxpayers could have to pay $1.8 million to attorneys for Planned Parenthood and another abortion provider after courts determined a 2013 law is unconstitutional. The demand for fees sets up the possibility of Republican officials having to shift taxpayer dollars to one of their biggest political opponents. GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel will likely fight having to pay at least some of the fees, his spokesman said Wednesday. (Marley and Stein, 8/3)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Health Officials To Hear Concerns About Fetal Remains Rule
Health care providers, funeral operators and women's rights activists on Thursday are expected to tell Texas health officials that a rule requiring the cremation or burial of fetal remains will do little to improve public health and could be burdensome to women who miscarry and those seeking abortions. Following outcry over the new requirements, which state health officials quietly proposed in July, the Texas Department of State Health Services will hold a public hearing on a rule change that would no longer allow abortion providers to dispose of fetal remains in sanitary landfills, instead allowing only cremation or interment of all remains — regardless of the period of gestation. The burial or cremation rule seems to also apply to miscarriages. (Ura, 8/4)

Modern Healthcare: Banner Health Cyberattack Impacts 3.7 Million People
Banner Health is contacting 3.7 million individuals whose personal information may have been accessed in a cyberattack that began on systems that process credit card payments for food and beverage purchases at Banner locations. The breach then expanded to include patient and health plan information. (Conn, 8/3)

The Columbus Dispatch: Gahanna-Based Urology Practice Still Investigating Report Of Data Breach
The Central Ohio Urology Group is still working to determine whether its patients' data has been compromised. Callers seeking information Wednesday on the possible breach by a group that aligns itself with a right-wing Ukrainian political group were referred to a recorded message. (Malone, 8/3)

In other health technology news, a new site lets patients rate their hospitals and privacy is murky when it comes to menstruation-tracking apps —

Houston Chronicle: 'Yelp' For Hospitals: Website Lets Consumers Find Best Hopsitals
Medicare.gov's "Hospital Compare" system has it all. Last week, the website published figures to help consumers find the best health service centers. Using up to 64 quality measures, such as data on staff communications and patient experience, the government website lets users compare hospitals in their local area as well as all over the country. (Ramirez, 8/3)

The Washington Post: Watch Out, Ladies: Your Period-Tracking App Could Be Leaking Personal Data
For years, millions of women have used mobile apps to help track their menstrual cycles and get a better handle on their fertility. But now, it turns out, some of those apps may have been leaking this intimate information. Glow, one of the most popular apps in this market, had a major flaw that could let anyone who knew a user’s email address access that person's data, according to a recent investigation by Consumer Reports. That’s a big deal because Glow prompts users to reveal a lot, including the last time they had sex (and in what position), how many drinks they’ve had each day and, of course, when Aunt Flo is in town. (Peterson, 8/3)

The Baltimore Sun: Students Invent Device To Aid Breathing Of Wounded Soldiers
[S]ome biomedical engineering students in the Johns Hopkins University Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design Teams Program came up with the CricSpike, a device medics could use to create an artificial airway and pump air into the lungs. The equipment could keep soldiers alive until they reach a hospital...The stakes are high: In Iraq and Afghanistan, 10 to 15 percent of the preventable battlefield deaths are attributable to airway obstructions or respiratory failure, largely the result of explosives. (Cohn, 8/4)

Meanwhile, veterans who were exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune fight for disability compensation, caregivers find they need their own support and an insurer files protests after losing its military contracts —

New Hampshire Union Leader: Tainted Water At Camp Lejeune: Veteran Fights For Disability
On the one hand, the Department of Veterans Affairs attributes the lung disease that has sickened Terrence Mulligan to the contaminated tap water the former Marine drank while stationed at Camp Lejeune in the 1970s. So the VA provides his medical treatment, which includes about a dozen medications, doctor appointments, an oxygen tank and a likely lung transplant.On the other hand, the VA has told Mulligan that he shouldn’t expect the VA to compensate him anytime soon for his inability to work. (Hayward, 8/3)

Georgia Health News: Family Caregivers Of Military Vets Need Their Own Support
Pam Barfield is among the estimated 5.5 million caregivers for military veterans in the United States. More than 1 million of them, like Pam, are caring for post-9/11 veterans. ... She had to take care of him and also shoulder the responsibility of running the household. (Miller, 8/3)

Star Tribune: UnitedHealthcare Protests Losing Out On Federal Contracts
UnitedHealthcare has filed protests against a federal decision last month to award two large contracts in military health care to rival insurers. The Minnetonka-based insurer currently is one of three vendors with a multiyear contract to provide services to military members, veterans and their families through the government's Tricare program. New contracts to manage the federal health program start next year and were awarded to Kentucky-based Humana and a division of St. Louis-based Centene Corp. — not UnitedHealthcare. (Snowbeck, 8/3)

The Hill: Feds Vow Support For Flint Despite Lapsing Disaster Declaration
President Obama in January signed a disaster declaration for Flint in light of the drinking water crisis in the city. That declaration meant the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) committed to paying 75 percent of the costs associated with some of the aid efforts there. The declaration expires on Aug. 14, but the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday said that deadline wouldn’t be the end of their support for the city. (Henry, 8/3)

The Associated Press: Officials: Flint Water Efforts Remain After Declaration Ends
Federal, state and local officials said Wednesday that they will remain committed to fixing Flint's drinking water system after a federal emergency declaration over the city's lead crisis expires this month. The declaration ends Aug 14, after which the state will bear the full cost of bottled water, filters and other water supplies being given to residents in the wake of tests that showed elevated levels of lead in the blood of some local children. But officials said federal resources, health programs and monitoring efforts will remain in place. (8/3)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Urges States To Use Medicaid To Care For Disabled At Home
CMS has released guidance that encourages states to use Medicaid funds to keep elderly and physically and mentally disabled beneficiaries at home and in community-based settings instead of nursing homes. The agency hopes the document will remedy a longstanding imbalance between institutional and home and community-based care, it said. (Dickson, 8/3)

AL.com: Medicaid Budget Cut: 'These Cuts Affect All Alabamians'
Cuts to Medicaid in Alabama went into effect this week, kicking off a media blitz by a grass-roots organization seeking to bring attention to the shortfall in health care coverage primarily for children. Representatives of the #IAmMedicaid movement spoke at a press conference Wednesday in Huntsville, highlighting repeatedly the ripple effect of Medicaid cuts to everyone in Alabama. (Gattis, 8/3)

Kaiser Health News: Campaign For Universal Health Care In Colorado Seeks Bernie Sanders' Help
Backers of ColoradoCare — the state ballot initiative that would establish universal health care in Colorado — think they have the perfect job for former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders. With the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia behind him, Sanders "comes to Colorado and campaigns for single-payer — and we win," said T.R. Reid, one of the architects of ColoradoCare. The initiative aims to provide every resident of Colorado with affordable health insurance. Sanders made universal coverage one of the cornerstones of his presidential bid. (Daley, 8/4)

Star Tribune: State Accused Of Segregating Minnesotans With Disabilities In Group Homes
Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Minnesotans with disabilities are being forced to live in segregated group homes, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday that asserts that they are cut off from mainstream society and prevented from living in communities of their choosing. In a class-action suit against the state of Minnesota, attorneys with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid allege that the Department of Human Services maintains a "discriminatory residential service system" that funnels individuals with disabilities into nearly 3,500 group homes statewide, where they are surrounded by other people with disabilities and have little control over their daily lives, while depriving them of access to housing options that would enable them to live more independently. (Serres, 8/3)

New Hampshire Public Radio: State Supreme Court Overturns N.H. Law That Cut Aid To Parents Of Kids With Disabilities
The state supreme court has cleared the way for hundreds of low-income families to receive more financial assistance from the state. The ruling centers on a 2011 law aimed at reducing state spending by cutting funding to low-income families. That law basically said families who receive social security income - specifically families with disabled kids - were eligible for less state aid. The federal assistance was essentially counted against a family's eligibility level for help from New Hampshire. (Rodolico, 8/3)

The Tennessean: Report: Tennessee Dental Board Not Following State Law
In Tennessee, only a licensed dentist can own a dental practice. But no one at the Tennessee Board of Dentistry is following the law and ensuring dentist offices are in compliance, according to a new report from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury. The comptroller's office, which found several other issues with the board, said state statute is clear that the board needs to ensure dental practices don't break the law. (Boucher, 8/3)

The Seattle Times: Seattle Health-Care Startup Raises $11M, Seeks To Hire Doctors
The company, 98point6, has raised $11 million in debt financing of a larger $15 million round, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The downtown Seattle health-care technology company’s website says it is working on “the next generation of primary care.” That’s about all the startup is saying for now. According to its LinkedIn page, it’s in “stealth mode.” (Lerman, 8/3)

St. Louis Public Radio: Researchers Find 12-Year Life Expectancy Gap In North St. Louis County
People who live in different parts of north St. Louis County may have a 12-year difference in how long they can expect to live, according to an analysis of census tracts by Virginia Commonwealth University. The school’s Center on Society and Health has released two dozen maps of life expectancy gaps in selected metro areas over the past three years. The findings in St. Louis closely mirror the results of the For the Sake of All study in 2014, which used zip code-level data to reach its conclusions. (Bouscaren, 8/3)

Bloomberg: Trinity Health Settles Church Pension Suit For $75M
Trinity Health Corp. will pay $75 million to settle class action claims that it underfunded its pension plans by improperly treating them as “church plans” exempt from federal law...The settlement requires Trinity Health to contribute $75 million among nine different pension plans within the Trinity Health umbrella, including the plan for Catholic Health East, which merged with Trinity in 2014. While this settlement is less than the $107 million deal Connecticut-based St. Francis Hospital agreed to in May, it dwarfs the $8 million settlement reached by Ascension Health and its workers in a similar case last year. (Wille, 8/3)

KQED: California Overhauling Foster Care Rates To Support Family Caregivers
After years of complaints, California is drastically changing the way it financially supports foster families. It’s a move that aims to prioritize the needs of the state’s 62,000 foster children and make it easier for grandparents ans other relatives to care for them. Starting Jan. 1, California’s foster care rates will be tied to the health and behavioral needs of each child. In the present system, the income of the home the child was removed from and whether the child was placed with relatives or non-relatives were bigger factors in determining support. (Romero, 8/3)

East Bay Times: Alameda County May Switch Health Care Provider For Jails
Alameda County appears close to cutting ties with Corizon Health, a company that has provided health care services at county jails for about two decades but has been criticized for its handling of medically vulnerable inmates. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday scheduled a special meeting at 10:30 a.m. Friday to vote on a new contract with California Forensics Medical Group, a company favored by the National Union of Healthcare Workers. (DeBolt, 8/3)

USA Today: Drop The Politics, Put Health First
We shouldn’t be politicizing the Zika threat. We should be fighting it. From the start, the Republican-led Congress has made it a priority to enact smart measures and secure resources to protect the public. (House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., 8/3)

USA Today: Bring Congress Back To Fund Zika Fight
With every House member and one-third of the Senate up for re-election, it’s time for lawmakers to take a break from asking voters to send them back to Washington and actually come back to Washington to do their jobs. Reconvening Congress in the midst of this recess requires action by the Republican leaders of the House and Senate, and so far neither has shown much inclination to do so. (8/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Zika Threat Hovers Over Olympics, Gulf Coast
When the summer games open in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night, concerns about Zika could be getting as much attention as the events themselves. That's because Zika erupted in Brazil last year and has caused some pregnant women to give births to babies with undersized heads. ... Whatever its effects on the Olympics, Zika has spread to other warmer climates inhabited by mosquitoes -- like the Gulf Coast in America. (8/4)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Science, Politics Can Team Up To Solve Antibiotic Resistance
Awareness of antibiotic resistance is increasing, and the recent finding of colistin-resistant E. coli in a Pennsylvania woman brought the urgency of the situation to new heights. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that 23,000 Americans a year die from drug-resistant bacteria. I believe the number is more likely around 40,000. That's about the same number of people who die in car crashes each year. But unlike car crash deaths, infection deaths are on the rise. (Andrew F. Reed, 8/4)

The Hill: A Terrifying Medical Threat That Bears On This Election
Tuberculosis was previously a fatal disease that until recently had become well controlled in the U.S. It is now making a comeback, and much of this rests on the shoulders of our present immigration policy. Recent data indicates that tuberculosis cases rose last year for the first time in 23 years. The health of the nation is something that should concern each and every one of us. But lost in the arguments for and against immigration is the threat that TB and other “controlled” diseases pose and the amazing financial burden they place on all of us. (Reed Wilson, 8/3)

Bloomberg: Eight Possible Fates For The Obamacare Exchanges
A lot's been happening in the health-care markets. California announced that premiums would rise by an average of 13.2 percent on its exchanges, after years of being one of the standouts for low premium growth. Meanwhile, Anthem, a large insurer, said it would expand its presence in the Obamacare exchanges -- but only if its merger with Cigna is allowed to go through. (Megan McArdle, 8/3)

Chicago Tribune: Use A Health Or Medical App? Your Data Is Rarely Private
Have you ever researched the side effects of a medication online, sent an email to a relative about your health, "liked" a health care organization on your Facebook page or downloaded a medical app? If so, it's likely that data aggregators collected that information without your knowledge or consent. Then they marketed their assumptions about your health to employers, insurers, mortgage brokers or other third parties who can use it to discriminate against you. In one instance, an insurer bought health-related data about 3 million people from a data aggregator. (Lori Andrews, 8/3)

The Washington Post: Nonprofits Serve As A Bridge To Better Health Care
Although the District’s uninsured rate has fallen in recent years, many of the District’s most vulnerable patients are struggling to keep up with the premium payments necessary to maintain their health-care insurance. While the Affordable Care Act was an important step to help increase access to health care locally, without a sustainable solution to address the rising cost of treatment, thousands of D.C. residents could be left out in the cold. Fortunately, local charitable assistance programs have stepped in to serve as a temporary bridge to care, at no added cost to the public. (Dana Kuhn, 8/3)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: A Better Way To Affordable, Quality Health Care
The Affordable Care Act has done little to actually make health insurance affordable. Insurers may raise rates by more than 60 percent in some states next year. Marilyn Tavenner, Obama's former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the current chief of insurer trade group America's Health Insurance Plans, has predicted that premium hikes will be "higher than we saw previous years." (Sally C. Pipes, 8/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Give A Kidney, Get A Kidney
The numbers are staggering. Because of a lack of donor kidneys, an average of 13 people die every day while waiting for a transplant. There are more than 100,000 names on the kidney waiting list in the U.S. and another 30 million people with chronic kidney disease who are at risk of joining them. More than 85% of those on the waiting list in 2015 are still waiting. (Jeffrey Veale, 8/3)

Stat: Let’s Cure Cancer, Not Just Turn It Into A Chronic Disease
Many new therapies for cancer have come on the market since my dad died. Some offer short-term fixes. Others have converted some cancers into chronic diseases that patients live with in unsettling harmony as the cancer depletes their finances. Cure is usually elusive, while an ever-present fear that the disease will return often remains. (June M. McKoy, 8/3)

The Atlantic: The FDA's Dueling Priorities
In February 2012, a dozen members of the Food and Drug Administration’s Neurological Device Panel spent a Friday on the stage of a Hilton ballroom hearing about cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) devices. Tracey Kirsch was in the audience while the panel was warned by FDA personnel no fewer than 25 times that CES—a weak, pulsed electrical current delivered across the head—causes seizures. Kirsch runs a company that produces AlphaStim, one such device that attaches to the ear lobes and may treat anxiety, depression, and insomnia by briefly inhibiting activity in the brain’s cortex. (Jessa Gamble, 8/3)

Lexington Herald Leader: Bevin’s Red Tape No Miracle Cure
After hearing about the work, volunteerism and education requirements and the My Rewards Account incentives that would have to be documented and tracked under Gov. Matt Bevin’s Medicaid proposal — not to mention the premiums, co-pays and penalties that would need to be collected and recorded — KET’s “Kentucky Tonight” host Bill Goodman asked, logically enough, if the mechanisms for all that paperwork are already in place. (8/3)

Louisville Courier-Journal: Mental Illness Is Not The Whole Of A Person
When I was 16 years old, something I never saw coming struck me without apparent warning. It was not a car accident or other shocking, unforeseen event. Mental illness is what gripped me, brought me to my knees and rocked my whole family. As a high school junior, I began a confusing, painful, and sometimes shameful journey of understanding what was happening to me. Yet, today, 38 years later, I thrive despite my mental illness and help others in recovery learn to do the same. (Ruth Marlatt, 8/3)

The New York Times: Health Secrets Of The Amish
In recent decades, the prevalence of asthma and allergies has increased between two- and threefold in the United States. These days, one in 12 kids has asthma. More are allergic. The uptick is often said to have started in the late 20th century. But the first hint of a population-wide affliction — the sneezing masses — came earlier, in the late 19th century, among the American and British upper classes. Hay fever so closely hewed to class lines, in fact, it was seen as a mark of civilization and refinement. Observers noted that farmers — the people who most often came in contact with pollens and animal dander — were the ones least likely to sneeze and wheeze. (Moises Velasquez-Manoff, 8/3)

The Cleveland Plain Dealer: Make Health More Than Just A Number By Reducing Health Disparities In Cuyahoga County
Place matters when it comes to health. Just look at the numbers. Take the number 12. Life expectancy differs by as much as 12 years if you travel less than 10 miles from Cleveland's northeastern neighborhoods to the region's more affluent, eastern, outer-ring suburbs. (Heidi Gullett and Greg Brown, 8/3)

The Hill: Feds Warn Truck Drivers About Dangers Of Transporting E-Cigs
A federal agency in charge of the trucking industry is warning drivers about the potential dangers of storing and transporting electronic cigarettes.The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a safety advisory Wednesday to alert owners and operators of commercial motor vehicles about the safety risks associated with possessing and using battery-powered portable electronic smoking devices in their vehicles. (Melanie Zanona, 8/3)