NPR/ProPublica: On Yelp, Doctors Get Reviewed Like Restaurants — And It Rankles
Dental patients really don't like Western Dental. Not its Anaheim, Calif., clinic: "I hate this place!!!" one reviewer wrote on the rating site Yelp. Or one of its locations in Phoenix: "Learn from my terrible experience and stay far, far away." In fact, the chain of low-cost dental clinics, which has more Yelp reviews than any other health provider, has been repeatedly, often brutally, panned in some 3,000 online critiques — 379 include the word "horrible." Its average rating: 1.8 out of 5 stars. (Ornstein, 8/6)

The Washington Post: You Can Now Look Up ER Wait Times, Hospital Noise Levels And Nursing Home Fines On Yelp
Yelp is adding a ton of health-care data to its review pages for medical businesses to give consumers more access to government information on hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis clinics. Consumers can now look up a hospital emergency room's average wait time, fines paid by a nursing home, or how often patients getting dialysis treatment are readmitted to a hospital because of treatment-related infections or other problems. (Sun, 8/5)

Los Angeles Times: Yelp Adds Healthcare Data For Hospitals, Nursing Homes To Reviews
Yelp has launched a new feature that adds healthcare information to its online reviews pages for hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis clinics. The San Francisco company said Wednesday that it will provide statistics for 4,600 hospitals, 15,000 nursing homes and 6,300 dialysis clinics in the U.S. The information is compiled by ProPublica from their own research and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and will be updated quarterly. (Chang, 8/5)

USA Today: Yelp, ProPublica Pair To Give Consumers More Data On Health Care Facilities
Just as Yelp can give you advice on which restaurant to go to for the best burgers, now it can give you advice on which hospital to go to for the shortest emergency room waiting time. Yelp announced Wednesday that it has joined forces with ProPublica, a non-profit investigative news organization, to incorporate additional statistics onto the Yelp pages of more than 25,000 medical treatment facilities pages. (Thadani, 8/5)

CNN Money: Yelp Adds Medicare Data To Hospital Reviews
How fast is delivery? How fast is an ER visit? Both questions can now be answered through Yelp. The company added data from Medicare and Medicaid, as well as independent research and opinion surveys, for nearly 26,000 hospitals, nursing homes, and dialysis clinics to its reviews site on Wednesday. (King, 8/5)

Modern Healthcare: How Does Your Hospital Rate On Yelp?
The online consumer review company Yelp is entering the high-stakes world of gauging patient satisfaction. Yelp will offer quality statistics for hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis clinics during a time when metrics are being scrutinized for their usefulness and accuracy. (Muchmore, 8/5)

Reuters: CVS Strips Viagra, Other Top Drugs, From Insurance Coverage
CVS Health Corp., which operates the nation's second-biggest pharmacy benefit manager, said that next year it will exclude an additional 31 prescription medicines from insurance coverage, including Viagra and widely used treatments for diabetes and multiple sclerosis. The 2016 excluded drugs, disclosed on Wednesday, also include Vivus Inc.'s weight loss treatment Qsymia, which last week was excluded from the 2016 formulary of CVS rival Express Scripts Holding Co. Vivus officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, which administer drug benefits for employers and health plans and also run large mail-order pharmacies, have been challenging the rising cost of new medications. When drugs are knocked off their formularies, patients may have to pay full price for them. PBMs often keep or dump a product depending on whether they can obtain favorable pricing. (Pierson and Berkrot, 8/5)

Also in the news were earnings reports from HCA and WellCare.

The Wall Street Journal: Hospital Operator HCA Reports Higher Profits, Admissions
HCA Holdings Inc. reported second-quarter earnings rose 5% and provided a more optimistic outlook for the year, as the hospital operator continues to benefit from increased admissions following the Affordable Care Act. Per-share profit for its latest quarter, excluding some one-time items, topped expectations. (Stynes, 8/5)

Reuters: HCA Expects Obamacare Benefit To Taper Off For Rest Of 2015
Hospital operator HCA Holdings Inc, the largest U.S. for-profit hospital operator, suggested benefits from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would taper off over the rest of the year, a warning that weighed on the stocks of hospital operators. The signature healthcare law, popularly called Obamacare, covers medical insurance for Americans and has helped in boosting business for various hospitals and insurers. (Shaji, 8/5)

Modern Healthcare: WellCare Rises After Solid Quarter Of Medicaid Contract Wins
WellCare posted a second-quarter turnaround of almost $60 million after the Tampa, Fla.-based health insurer secured state Medicaid contracts and lowered the costs of its Medicare Part D drug plans. WellCare has struggled the past two years with stagnant health plan growth. The insurer predominantly treats Medicare and Medicaid populations, giving it little room for error to keep a profit. (Herman, 8/5)

USA Today: GOP 2016 Hopefuls Gather For First Debate
The stage is set, the players are assembling, and the plot focuses on a character who has never been in this kind of show before. Donald Trump is at the center of Thursday's Republican debate in Cleveland, while more experienced rivals try to figure out how to deal with the novice candidate who sits atop most GOP polls. ... Republicans may also be quizzed about how they plan to repeal and replace President Obama's health care plan, how they would change the battle against the Islamic State, and how they could end federal funding for Planned Parenthood. (Jackson, 8/6)

The Washington Post: The Top 10 Issues You’ll Likely Hear About In Thursday’s Debate
With abortion, guns and the Iran nuclear deal dominating the national news cycle, Republican presidential candidates definitely won't run out of things to talk about in Thursday's debate. ... A little-known anti-abortion-rights activist group released several videos over the course of the last few weeks showing Planned Parenthood officials talking casually about the procurement of organs from aborted fetuses. Planned Parenthood officials denied doing anything wrong -- the implication is the organs were being sold -- but apologized for their tone. ... Americans have been able to buy health insurance on state- and federally run private exchanges since October 2013, when the hallmark piece of the president's Obama's 2010 health-care law, known as Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act, went into effect. Meanwhile, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives has voted at least 50 times to defund or repeal the law and parts of it. (Phillips, 8/6)

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Pushing Policy In The Age Of The Donald
It’s always hard to get candidates to address important but unglamorous issues like the federal debt, but it is particularly tough heading into Thursday’s Cleveland GOP debate where all eyes are turning the theatrical, combative real estate magnate at center stage. Fix the Debt, an anti-deficit budget group, is giving it the old college try. ... The group is warning about the dangers of the $18 trillion national debt because it is still growing even though the short-term federal deficit has declined. They are trying to raise political awareness in the presidential campaign because Congress seems to have lost interest in curbing the long-term growth of government entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. (Hook, 8/5)

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Bush, Clinton Spar Over Planned Parenthood
Funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America is emerging as a polarizing subject in the presidential election after Republican candidate Jeb Bush was slammed by Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for comments he made about funding women’s health. Mr. Bush, a former Florida governor, spoke Tuesday at the Southern Baptist Convention following the release of a fifth undercover video on Planned Parenthood providing fetal tissue for medical research. He said, “I’m not sure we need a half a billion dollars for women’s health.” He later said he misspoke, and was referring to the roughly $528 million the organization received last year in government funds. The bulk of that came from federal money, including Medicaid and a family planning program. (Armour, 8///5)

Politico: GOPers Frustrated By Jeb Bush Gaffe
Democratic critics of Jeb Bush’s ad-lib Tuesday about cutting women’s health spending were joined by conservatives, who are annoyed that the inartful statement may undermine their efforts to finally score a win against Planned Parenthood. Despite his swift damage control efforts, Bush’s casual aside Tuesday afternoon that “I’m not sure we need a half a billion dollars for women’s health programs” threw the Democratic attack machine into overdrive. (Stokols, 8/5)

Reuters: Republicans Tangle Over Next Steps On Planned Parenthood
Conservative Republicans in the U.S. Congress want to keep pressing the attack on Planned Parenthood by trying to cut off its federal funds, but Republican leaders are sounding wary with crucial tax and budget issues looming ahead. After three weeks of controversy over the women's healthcare and abortion provider, Republicans are in disarray over their next steps in a fight that could run for months if it gets enmeshed in a budget debate on track to begin next month. (Cornwell and Cassella, 8/6)

Los Angeles Times: Planned Parenthood Videos Highlight Questions About Fetal Tissue Research
Who released the videos, and what is the dispute about? A California nonprofit called the Center for Medical Progress has released five heavily edited videos, which it says were taped in “undercover” operations. Members of the group posed as a company looking to obtain fetal tissues from clinics that perform abortions. The center is run by David Daleiden, who previously was associated with the antiabortion group Live Action. ... What does federal law say about procuring fetal tissue and organs following an abortion? Donation of fetal tissue and organs for medical purposes is legal, and groups are allowed to charge “reasonable” fees to cover costs associated with “transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control or storage” of the material that a woman has agreed to donate. The 1993 law prohibits doctors from altering abortion procedures to meet the demand for intact body parts and forbids charging anything beyond those reasonable costs. (Mai-Duc, 8/5)

Politico: NIH, FDA Tied To Fetal Tissue Firm
One of the companies identified as a fetal tissue supplier in sting videos of Planned Parenthood counts two federal health agencies among its customers, earning at least $300,000 for material used in research of treatments for HIV and eye disease, officials confirmed to POLITICO. It’s unknown whether the nonprofit, Advanced Bioscience Resources, got any of that fetal tissue from abortions performed at Planned Parenthood clinics. (Haberkorn and Norman, 8/6)

The New York Times: Cybersecurity Bill Is Latest to Be Delayed in Senate
The Senate headed into its August recess on Wednesday without voting on a cybersecurity bill, adding it to a contentious to-do list for September that includes a push to disapprove the Iran nuclear deal and a spending fight mired in abortion politics. ... In addition, Republicans’ return to the thorny abortion debate — this time by inserting a bill to defund Planned Parenthood into the calendar ahead of the cybersecurity measure — left too little time to finish the computer security legislation. Presidential politics has also frequently played a part, with four Republican senators set to participate in primary debates on Thursday. (Steinhauer, 8/5)

The Hill: Top Boehner Health Aid Leaving For Lobbying Firm
Charlotte Ivancic, Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) top health policy aide, is leaving his office to join the lobbying firm Tarplin, Downs & Young, the firm announced Wednesday. Ivancic led the negotiations for Boehner on the repeal of Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate this year. The elimination of the annual Washington headache of automatic cuts to doctors under Medicare, after negotiations with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was a significant achievement. (Sullivan, 8/5)

The Associated Press: Leading GOP Senator Offers Bill On Guns, Mental Health
The measure drew criticism from groups advocating stricter controls over firearms, who said it doesn't go far enough and singled out provisions they said would make it easier for some unstable people to obtain deadly weapons. But it was backed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which advocates for mentally ill people, and groups representing police organizations, correctional workers and social workers, which combined with NRA support could broaden its appeal. (8/5)

The Washington Post: Here’s One Prominent Republican’s Plan To Curb Mass Shootings
The Mental Health and Safe Communities Act introduced Wednesday by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) does not include even the modest expansion to the national background check system that was at the center of the last major gun control push, which was rejected by the Senate in 2013 amid NRA opposition. ... But the bill would clarify the types of mental health records required to be forwarded to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System -- an issue raised in the recent shooting in Lafayette, La. -- and encourage states to send more information to the database by creating a stick-and-carrot compliance system. It would also encourage "best practices" for responding to mental health crises, including the use of specially trained response teams by federal and local law enforcement agencies. (DeBonis, 8/5)

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Cornyn Bill Would Tighten Mental Health Tracking Ahead Of Gun Purchases
The bill would clarify which mental health records states are asked to send to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and would encourage state and local governments to provide more records to the national database. It would create incentives for states to establish new screening and treatment methods and crisis response strategies. To protect the due process rights of gun owners, Mr. Cornyn said, the bill would outline the process by which judges can block someone from purchasing a gun. (Stanley-Becker, 8/5)

The Hill: Banned Medicaid Providers Getting Around ObamaCare Rule
Some healthcare providers dropped by state Medicaid programs because of fraud or quality problems were still participating in other states’ programs, contrary to requirements in ObamaCare, according to an inspector general report. The Affordable Care Act requires that a state terminate a healthcare provider from Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the low income, if it is dropped for reasons like fraud or quality problems from a different state’s program. (Sullivan, 8/5)

Reuters: Banned Medicaid Providers Still Participate In Some States, Report Says
Hundreds of medical providers banned from a Medicaid program in one state are able to take part in another state's program despite regulations designed to stop them, according to a report by an independent federal auditor to be released on Wednesday. The continued participation of banned providers leaves state Medicaid programs for the poor and disabled vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse, according to the study, which says the problem reflects a struggle by states to communicate with one another. (Pell and Cooke, 8/5)

Modern Healthcare: Providers Booted From State Medicaid Programs Still Drawing Funds From Other States
About 12% of providers kicked out of their state Medicaid programs for fraud, integrity or quality issues are still participating in other states' Medicaid programs, according to a report released Tuesday by HHS' Office of Inspector General. According to the report, 295 providers across the country who were terminated from their states' Medicaid programs for cause in 2011 were still billing other states' Medicaid programs in 2014. Under the Affordable Care Act, states are supposed to pull providers' from their Medicaid rolls if they've already been removed from another state's program for fraud, integrity or quality problems. (Schencker, 8/5)

CNN Money: The Real Deal On Obamacare
Many of the GOP presidential candidates say they'll repeal or greatly revise the Affordable Care Act. Love it or hate it, there are lots of opinions about Obamacare. Some are true. Many are myths. CNNMoney sets the record straight. (Luhby, 8/5)

The Texas Tribune: Obamacare Health Plans To Get Special Label
Texans who purchased an insurance plan under President Obama's signature health law will soon have a special label on their insurance cards — "QHP," for "qualified health plan." House Bill 1514, which becomes law Sept. 1, will apply to more than a million Texans who purchased insurance on healthcare.gov, the federal exchange created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Lin, Walters and Murphy, 8/6)

Politico Pro: California’s Exchange Touts Its Antidote For Rate Hikes
The head of California’s exchange, after overseeing two straight years of small rate hikes, is convinced his state has the secret formula for keeping down insurance premiums — limiting the amount of health plan choice. (Pradhan, 8/5)

CBS News: Disabled Veteran Denied Chance To Fulfill Family Dream
Many veterans depend on the VA for medical care. But some say that they are being denied a chance to fulfill their dreams because there is one battle wound for which the VA does not offer a solution. After two and a half years in the hospital and 30 surgeries, Kevin Jaye is out of the army but still dealing with the VA. (Martin, 8/5)

The Seattle Times: Veterans' Wait Times Drop For Mental Health Services, But Rise For Primary Care
Despite a big push to hire more staff, Puget Sound VA officials say average wait times for a primary-care appointment rose during the past year from just under eight days to 11 days. But they have had greater success offering Western Washington veterans quick access to mental-health services. They say veterans typically are able to see a mental-health provider with little more than a one-day wait, far better than the national average of almost five days. (Bernton, 8/5)

McClatchy: Cerner Ready To Tackle Military Health Records
Cerner Corp. is confident it can handle the mammoth task of upgrading the U.S. military’s medical records – and it already has a model system ready to go, says the company’s president, Zane Burke. (Wise, 8/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Florida Investigation Of Planned Parenthood Clinics Finds Deficiencies
Three Planned Parenthood Federation of America clinics in Florida were ordered to stop performing second-trimester abortions after an investigation found they didn’t have the proper licenses, the state Agency for Health Care Administration said Wednesday. The investigation also found one clinic that wasn't keeping proper logs relating to fetal remains, according to the agency. The state may take additional actions, including administrative sanctions, against the clinics. (Armour, 8/5)

Politico: Florida Releases Planned Parenthood Investigation Results
The state Agency for Health Care Administration released a report on Wednesday showing that none of 16 Planned Parenthood clinics in Florida are illegally selling or transferring fetal tissue or parts. But the agency did find that one clinic did not properly document the disposal of fetal remains and three clinics performed second-trimester abortions without proper licensure. (Sexton, 8/5)

The Associated Press: Inspectors Find Violations At 4 Planned Parenthood Clinics
Three of the 16 Planned Parenthood facilities inspected in Florida last week were performing procedures beyond their licensing authority, and one facility was not keeping proper logs relating to fetal remains, officials announced Wednesday. The Agency for Health Care Administration released a report saying clinics in St. Petersburg, Fort Myers and Naples were performing second-trimester abortions when they were only licensed to perform first-trimester abortions. The report also found that a Pembroke Pines clinic was not following its own procedures for the labeling and dating of the disposal of fetal remains. (Fischer, 8/5)

Fox News: Florida Inspectors Cite Four Planned Parenthood Clinics For Violations
Investigators in Florida have cited four Planned Parenthood clinics for violations, including one that kept improper logs for disposal of fetal remains, state officials said Wednesday. The state Agency for Health Care Administration said it also found that clinics in St. Petersburg, Naples, and Fort Myers have performed second-trimester abortions without a license to do so. (8/6)

The New York Times: New Hampshire: A Vote Against Planned Parenthood
Officials on Wednesday voted against funding health centers operated by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. New Hampshire’s Executive Council voted, 3 to 2, to reject contracts that would have provided the organization’s centers in the state with about $638,000 over two years, roughly one-third of the public funding for the centers, which is primarily federal. (Bidgood, 8/5)

Reuters: In Planned Parenthood Fallout, Each Side Sees the Law Differently
After an anti-abortion group released surreptitiously recorded videos of Planned Parenthood personnel in discussions about providing fetal tissue for research, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a pro-life Republican, pledged to "aggressively" investigate whether the women's health organization had violated the law. California Attorney General Kamala Harris, a pro-choice Democrat, also promised an investigation, but with an entirely different focus. Her office, she said, would scrutinize the anti-abortion group that made the videos to see if it had "violated laws, including but not limited to, [California's] registration and reporting requirements." (Levine and Ax, 8/6)

The Texas Tribune: Houston Prosecutor To Investigate Planned Parenthood
At the urging of state leaders, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson announced Wednesday she would launch a criminal investigation into a Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston. The announcement comes after an undercover video surfaced showing an executive at the clinic discussing the cost of providing organs from aborted fetuses for medical research. Texas’ Republican leaders have alleged that the video may show the clinic illegally selling fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood vehemently denies the accusation. (Walters, 8/5)

The Charlotte Observer: Charlotte Mayoral Candidates Spar Over Planned Parenthood
The controversy over Planned Parenthood has become a part of Charlotte’s mayoral race. Democrat Jennifer Roberts, the only woman in the race, sent an e-mail this week to voters asking them to join her in “standing with Planned Parenthood.” In response to the e-mail, Republican Scott Stone said he will send Roberts a letter asking her to “stop trying to gain a political advantage...from such an appalling national issue.” (Harrison, 8/5)

The Charlotte Observer: DHHS Secretary Wos Resigns; Gov. McCrory Appoints New Leader
Aldona Wos, the secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, is resigning after a tenure that moved the agency to financial stability but which was marked by persistent questions from lawmakers about its operations. Rick Brajer of Raleigh, a former business executive with no government experience, will take the job running the 17,000-employee agency. (Bonner, 8/5)

Winston-Salem Journal: Wos Resignation Could Smooth Path To Medicaid Reform
The resignation of Dr. Aldona Wos as state health secretary could be the catalyst for breaking the logjam over state Medicaid reform, analysts said Wednesday. ... Medicaid reform arguably is the biggest sticking point between state Republican leaders and [Gov. Pat] McCrory, who has said repeatedly that he thinks the program is broken. Some health-care advocates dispute that assessment. Under Wos’ oversight, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services has struggled with major inefficiency issues, particularly with the state’s $14 billion Medicaid program. (Craver, 8/5)

The Associated Press: NC Health Agency Chief Leaving Job; Brajer Is Next Secretary
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory's health and human services secretary, who led the department to improved financial footing but was criticized by lawmakers for backlogged computer projects and pricey contractors, is leaving her job. Dr. Aldona Wos of Greensboro, who announced her departure at an emotional news conference Wednesday with McCrory and her successor, said she is stepping aside to spend more time at home and with her ailing mother. Wos was named DHHS secretary in early 2013 as McCrory's term began and worked for $1 annually. (Robertson, 8/5)

WFAE: NC Health Secretary Aldona Wos Resigning
Although there was some debate as to how effective the state was at treating Medicaid patients, there was no question about how bad the state was at budgeting for the program. [Gov.] McCrory touted how much that's changed. "This is the second consecutive year the Medicaid program has finished with cash in hand." (Tomsic, 8/5)

North Carolina Health News: DHHS Secretary Wos Resigns
After two-and-a-half sometimes tumultuous years, state Department of Health and Human Services Sec. Aldona Wos has given her resignation to Gov. Pat McCrory, saying that “it’s time for me to go home and be with my family.” The announcement came a day after DHHS officials revealed that for the second year in a row Medicaid finished the fiscal year in the black. (Hoban, 8/5)

Al.com: Alabama House Rejects, Then Passes Medicaid Cuts To State Budget
The Alabama House of Representatives approved a plan to cut state funding to the Medicaid Agency by $156 million next year. The House approved the budget amendment 46-44, with Republicans casting all the votes in favor. Sixteen Republicans joined 28 Democrats in voting no. The vote came on reconsideration. The House had rejected the amendment 46-45 moments before. (Cason, 8/5)

Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama House Rejects, Then Approves, $156M Medicaid Cut
The Alabama House of Representatives got two bites at a budgetary apple Wednesday. The second ripped a big chunk out of the state’s Medicaid program. After three hours of debate, the lower chamber voted 46 to 45 to reject a $156 million cut to the state’s Medicaid program, a controversial move that not even the mover of the proposal seemed to agree with. But some minutes later, House Majority Leader Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, moved reconsideration of the vote. On the second try, the move to cut Medicaid passed 46 to 44, thanks to votes from members who had been absent on the first ballot and a switch by Rep. Ritchie Whorton, R-Owens Cross Roads, from no to yes. (Lyman, 8/5)

The Associated Press: Head Of Public Health Department Leaving For Private Group
Alabama's longtime health officer said Wednesday that he is leaving his state post after more than two decades to become president of the Alabama Hospital Association. Dr. Don Williamson said he wanted to remain involved in health care even though he is leaving the Alabama Department of Public Health, and going to work for the private group allows him to do that. (Chandler, 8/5)

Los Angeles Times: After Years Of Scandal, L.A. Jails Get Federal Oversight, Sweeping Reforms
Under the deal, jailers will receive revamped training on how to handle mentally ill inmates, including how to identify warning signs of suicide and how to respond to an inmate who has attempted suicide. The agreement also spells out changes to how inmates are evaluated when they are booked into jail and how those suspected of serious mental illness should be kept safe until they are seen by a mental health professional. The agreement specifies how deputies must handle mentally ill inmates, including when inmates may be physically restrained, where they can be housed and how frequently they should be checked on. (Chang and Rubin, 8/5)

The New York Times: Los Angeles Agrees To Overhaul Jails To Care For Mentally Ill And Curb Abuse
Many of the changes set forth in the settlement are intended to reduce the risk of suicides at the jails, including additional steps to assess prisoners’ mental health, improve crisis intervention training for jail employees, have inmates spend more time out of their cells and enhance the investigation of all suicide attempts. ... At a time when many state mental health facilities have closed, Los Angeles is one of many jail systems struggling to deal with the surging numbers of mentally ill inmates. (Lovett, 8/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Los Angeles County Jails To Undergo Reforms To Improve Treatment Of Inmates
Los Angeles County’s jail system will undergo reforms under federal oversight as part of a settlement with the Justice Department, which had been probing alleged mistreatment of inmates. ... As part of the settlement, filed in federal court Wednesday, the Justice Department included a complaint alleging a pattern or practice of providing inadequate mental health care and using excessive force at the jails, which house up to 20,000 inmates. (Emshwiller, 8/5)

The New York Times: De Blasio, Facing Criticism, Is Taking On Homelessness With $22 Million Initiative
On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to appear with his wife, Chirlane McCray, to announce a $22 million mental health initiative that his administration says will aid the homeless. (Grynbaum and Stewart, 8/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Mayor Plans New Homeless Initiative
New York City will move to locate homeless people who have shown violent tendencies and push them toward mental-health care, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office is expected to announce Thursday. ... The city is expected to spend $22 million on the plan, according to a person briefed on it. About $8 million of the plan will pay for more caseworkers and police officers throughout the shelter system. The city is also planning to pair social workers with police officers and focus more on homeless people who are supposed to take medication. (Dawsey, 8/5)

Georgia Health News: Stage Agency: Medicaid 'Waiver' Plan Too Expensive
Grady Health System’s proposal to cover more uninsured through a “waiver’’ has run into a major snag at the state’s Medicaid agency. The big problem is concern about the cost. (Miller, 8/5)

The Associated Press: New Effort Aims To Help Ohio Doctors' Family Practices
Five of Ohio's largest independent physician groups are collaborating to help family practices manage their costs and better compete with larger health care systems. The Ohio Independent Collaborative launched Wednesday. The president, Dr. Gary Pinta, says members will use it to purchases medical supplies in bulk, coordinate patient care and better negotiate payment contracts from insurers. (8/5)

The Connecticut Mirror: Cuts At Windham Hospital Prompt Worries About Access To Care
Windham Hospital is facing significant job cuts and service reductions – needed changes, officials from its parent company say, to help the financially struggling hospital survive in a rapidly changing health care market. But the magnitude of the potential cuts has drawn concerns about access to care for residents of an area with significant poverty and poor health outcomes, where transportation options are limited and hospitals are farther apart than elsewhere in Connecticut. (Levin Becker, 8/6)

The San Jose Mercury News: Daughters Of Charity Deal Would Keep Hospitals Open Five Years
Desperate for a deal to save its beleaguered hospitals, Bay Area-based Daughters of Charity Health System was left at the altar this spring when California's Attorney General told its prospective new owner it must keep most of the hospitals open for at least 10 years. (Seipel, 8/5)

The Associated Press: HealthSource RI Changes Its Walk-in Center As Traffic Slows
Rhode Island's health insurance exchange says it has stopped helping people enroll for coverage in person at its walk-in center because fewer people are seeking help. HealthSource RI announced Wednesday its walk-in center in Providence is now a drop-off location. People can deliver documents needed to enroll in coverage and make payments, but not get in-person help enrolling. (8/5)

The Baltimore Sun: Provider Of Mental Health Evaluations For Baltimore Police Under Investigation
The company contracted to conduct mental health screens of aspiring Baltimore police officers is under investigation by the city's inspector general and legal department over allegations that it rushed those evaluations, according to city officials and documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The investigation focuses on whether Lutherville-based Psychology Consultants Associated fulfilled the requirements of its $730,000, two-year contract with the city. PCA allegedly conducted evaluations of prospective police officers in as little as 15 minutes, instead of the hour required under the contract to clear them for service, officials said. (Rector, 8/5)

The Baltimore Sun: GBMC Partners With Insurers To Offer Services To Self-insured Companies
Local companies that pay for their employees' medical expenses, rather than buying private health insurance, will soon have another, non-traditional option in providing care to workers. Normally companies that self-insure hire a benefits administrator to manage a network of providers for employees. But a new program offered by Healthcare Interactive Inc., a health benefits technology firm, with Group Benefit Services Inc., an employee benefits administrator, would send workers to Greater Baltimore Medical Center, which now runs on the so-called patient-centered medical home model. (Cohn, 8/5)

The Oregonian: Arizona Drugmaker Insys Settles Oregon Deceptive Marketing Case For $1.1 Million
An Arizona-based drug maker Insys Therapeutics has agreed to a $1.1 million settlement after Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum's office accused it of using deceptive marketing and improper payments to sell a powerful and addictive painkiller. (Budnick, 8/5)

The Oregonian: Flirtation, Cash, Freebies: Oregon Probe Targets Drug Sales Tactics
A drugmaker's Oregon sales campaign used intended "kickbacks" and flirtation to persuade doctors to inappropriately overprescribe an addictive narcotic – including the promise of "tequila dates" with an attractive sales manager, state documents show. Earlier Wednesday a court settlement was entered in which Arizona-based drug maker Insys, agreed to a $1.1 million settlement after Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum's office accused it of using deceptive marketing and improper payments to doctors to sell Subsys®, a powerful opioid painkiller. (Budnick, 8/5)

CQ Healthbeat: Drugstore Doctors
Pharmacists in California and Oregon will soon be able to prescribe birth control to women right over the counter, encroaching on another medical service that was once the exclusive province of doctors. The two states will be the first in the country to allow pharmacists to prescribe contraceptives on their own, without a doctor’s prescription. California legislators passed their bill in 2013 and the law goes into effect Oct. 1. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, signed her state’s bill July 6 and it takes effect Jan. 1. The two laws are part of a broader trend in states seeking efficiencies in health care as more residents become insured and doctors struggle with increased demands for their services. For instance, 21 states and the District of Columbia have given nurse practitioners the ability to practice without doctor supervision. (Evans, 8/5)

The Des Moines Register: Branstad Seeks Dismissal Of Mental Hospital Suit
Gov. Terry Branstad has asked a judge to throw out a lawsuit challenging his authority to close two state mental hospitals. Branstad says the union leader and 24 Democratic legislators who filed the suit cannot show he exceeded his authority to manage the facilities and to veto money to keep them running. He also says the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate they were directly harmed by the action, so they have no grounds to sue. (Leys, 8/5)

The Des Moines Register: Chiropractors Accused Of Exaggerating Healing Abilities
Two Iowa chiropractors could face state sanctions for allegedly exaggerating their abilities to heal patients. The Iowa Board of Chiropractic has filed administrative charges against James P. Woods of Bettendorf and Jason James of Keokuk, according to documents released Wednesday. The licensing board said Woods “claimed to be able to ‘cure almost everything,’ including ear conditions, eye conditions, stroke, kidney stones, hernia, tremors, blindness and high blood pressure.” (Leys, 8/5)

Spokesman Review: State Medicaid Pilot Project Aims At Savings
State officials say they’ve crafted a plan that could improve health care for Washington’s poorest people. At a public forum Wednesday in Spokane, officials unveiled a five-year pilot program they said will curb the cost of treatment under Medicaid insurance, streamline primary care services, and reduce patient demand in emergency rooms, psychiatric hospitals and nursing facilities. With a waiver from the federal government, they hope to make sweeping reforms in Washington’s Medicaid program, which insures more than 1.7 million people – a quarter of the state’s population. (Sokol, 8/6)

The New York Times: No, Giving More People Health Insurance Doesn’t Save Money
In 2014, an estimated nine million people became newly insured thanks to Obamacare. There’s an oft-expressed view that getting all those people covered could actually save the health system money. The argument goes something like this: Once people have insurance, they’ll go to the doctor instead of an expensive emergency room. Or: Prevention costs far less than a serious illness down the road. ... This argument for the cost savings from universal health coverage makes some intuitive sense, but it’s wrong. There’s strong evidence from a variety of sources that people who have health insurance spend more on medical care than people who don’t. (Margot Sanger-Katz, 8/5)

Health Affairs: Don’t Repeal The “Cadillac Tax” On High Cost Health Plans
The greatest deficiency of the Affordable Care Act was its failure to address the problem of excessive health care costs. The most effective, and probably the only effective, way to reduce costs is through a fundamental change in incentives. We need a health care system in which practically everybody has a choice of health plan and an opportunity to keep the savings by choosing economically — that is, a regime of defined contributions and responsible consumer choice. Provider interests were too powerful to permit a serious cost containment component in the ACA. An outright repeal of the Cadillac Tax would not only undermine the cost containment efforts now underway, but it would be an unmistakable signal that our democracy is not capable of reining in excessive health care costs. (Alain Enthoven, 8/5)

The Washington Post: Why Did Health Spending Rebound?
It was nice while it lasted, but it’s over and may not return for many years, if ever. The “it” is the slowdown in national health spending. From 2008 to 2013, health spending grew roughly 4 percent a year, which was less than half the 9 percent average of the three decades before the Great Recession. Because the 4 percent rate matched the economy’s overall growth, health spending stabilized at 17.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). There was some hope that an era of sizable increases was over. Forget it. (Robert J. Samuelson, 8/5)

The Washington Post's Plum Line: What Jeb Bush’s ‘Gaffe’ On Women’s Health Really Tells Us
It must have been at least a week since we’ve had a major campaign “gaffe” (really, who can keep track?), so into that breach Jeb Bush bravely stumbled yesterday, seeming to dismiss the notion of spending too much on women’s health care, when he said “I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues.” Naturally, Hillary Clinton was all over him, guaranteeing that there would be many stories written about it. (Paul Waldman, 8/5)

Politico: Planned Parenthood Did Nothing Wrong
Republicans on Capitol Hill, and now GOP presidential candidates like Donald Trump and Jeb Bush, are jumping over each other to defund Planned Parenthood because it transfers fetal tissues to researchers at cost. But if Americans want the benefits of biotechnology—helpful surgeries, cosmetics, vaccines, Alzheimer’s treatment and pharmaceutical drugs—they and their elected representatives need to learn a few basic facts about how these social services and products are derived from human tissue research (Michelle Goodwin, 8/5)

California Healthline: Oscar Wants To 'Revolutionize' Health Care. But Will It Even Survive Covered California?
Hi, Oscar. That's the clever framing that founders of the buzzed-about startup health insurer Oscar have used for their website (hioscar.com) and advertisements. And the company will soon introduce itself to Californians; Covered California also confirmed that Oscar will start selling plans in Los Angeles and Orange County. But can Oscar's services live up to its press clippings? And is the New York-based company ready to compete in a brand-new market, more than 3,000 miles away from its home base? (Dan Diamond, 8/5)

Forbes: Is Alaska Gov. Bill Walker's Medicaid Expansion An Illegal Power Grab?
In July, Alaska Governor Bill Walker (I) announced his intention to unilaterally implement Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. Walker’s expansion would shrink Alaska’s economy, discourage work, crowd out resources for truly needy patients and ultimately put funding for education, pensions and other critical services at risk. But Gov. Walker’s unilateral Obamacare expansion isn’t just bad policy, it’s also likely illegal. (Jonathan Ingram and Josh Archambault, 8/4)

news@JAMA: Rewriting The Rules For Medicaid Managed Care
Medicaid, which turned 50 years old on July 30, 2015, has grown to become the largest single type of health care coverage in the United States, providing health insurance coverage for about 66 million low-income people who are not eligible for or cannot afford other forms of coverage. The population groups served by Medicaid have evolved over time, as has the delivery model, from fee-for-service to managed care. About 58% of all Medicaid beneficiaries, 39 million individuals in 39 states and the District of Columbia, accessed Medicaid benefits through capitated health plans in fiscal year 2011 (the most recent year with complete data). Most of the growth of Medicaid managed care is the result of a mandatory requirement in many states for specified eligibility groups to use this delivery model. (Andrew B. Bindman, 8/5)