The Wall Street Journal: Ted Cruz’s Plan To Save Republican Health-Care Bill Gains Traction
Senate Republican leaders, in a bid to salvage their health overhaul, are weighing the merits of a proposal by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) to let insurers that sell plans that conform to the Affordable Care Act’s regulations also sell policies that don’t. The idea, also backed by Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah), would allow insurers to offer cheaper, less-comprehensive policies, likely to be bought by healthier people. Those policies could charge higher prices to those with pre-existing medical conditions, and possibly deny them coverage altogether. (Armour and Peterson, 7/5)

The New York Times: White House Backs Conservative Health Plan, But G.O.P. Leaders Are Leery
The White House is backing a health care proposal that would make it easier for insurance companies to avoid complying with consumer protection standards, siding with some of the most conservative senators, though Senate Republican leaders remain leery of the idea. (Pear, 7/5)

Politico: Right Threatens McConnell's Obamacare Repeal
Conservative groups are aggressively backing Sens. Mike Lee and Ted Cruz in their bid to move the Senate Republicans' Obamacare repeal bill further to the right, setting up a major confrontation between the party’s warring factions next week. On Wednesday afternoon both FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to adopt an amendment from Cruz of Texas and Lee of Utah that would largely gut Obamacare’s regulatory regime. (Everett, 7/5)

The Hill: GOP Tensions Rise Over Cruz Proposal
Tensions between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his old antagonist, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), have reappeared in the high-stakes negotiation over healthcare reform. Cruz is insisting on a reform to the Senate GOP bill that senior GOP aides say is a nonstarter with much — if not most — of the Republican conference. (Bolton, 7/6)

The Hill: Cruz 'Not Certain' Senate Will Pass Healthcare Bill
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) hedged on Wednesday night about the Senate's chances of passing the GOP bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare. "The process of repealing it in Congress has been messy. It's been bumpy. I am not certain we will get it done. I hope we will. I believe we will," the GOP senator said during a town hall with Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), a conservative outside group. (Carney, 7/5)

McClatchy: Conservatives Dismayed At GOP Over Uncertain Obamacare Repeal
Frustration is mounting among Republican activists over the GOP’s continued failure to repeal and replace Obamacare, with grassroots groups now warning of consequences for lawmakers in the 2018 elections if the Senate doesn’t reach a deal soon.“ Activists, real grassroots people, are absolutely disappointed, and to some point I’d say devastated, over what we feel like is a broken promise,” said Donald Bryson, the state director of the North Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity, an influential conservative group backed by the Koch brothers. (Glueck, 7/5)

CNN: Recess Not Helping McConnell Hunt For 50 Health Care Votes
There was a reason Mitch McConnell badly wanted a vote on the Senate health care bill before July 4. Senate Republicans are back in their home states for a weeklong break, and already, some of them have gotten an earful on the controversial GOP legislation to dismantle Obamacare. The message from their home-state constituents: Don't you dare vote for that bill. (Lee, 7/6)

The Hill: GOP Senator: Trump's Attacks On Media 'Not Helpful' To Senate
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on Wednesday knocked President Trump's penchant for lashing out against the media, calling it a "distraction" from trying to implement the GOP agenda. "I just don't for the life of me understand why the president wants to engage in that kind of activity. It's a distraction. It distracts from the president's agenda," he said during a televised Q & A on Wednesday night. (Carney, 7/5)

The Associated Press: In Front Of Live Audience, Toomey Defends Health Care Bill
Questions about the U.S. Senate's health care legislation dominated an appearance by Pennsylvania's Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in front of a live audience Wednesday night, as he defended the bill as guaranteeing the survival of Medicaid against accusations that it would deliver devastating cuts. (Levy, 7/5)

Politico Pro: Health Care Influence: Senators Face Anger Over Health Care Back Home
Republican lawmakers supporting the legislation are getting an earful from angry constituents, while those who oppose the deal are getting cheered and thanked, according to reports from around the country. Liberal groups like Save My Care are using the GOP's unpopular health care bill to target Republican senators in their home states. (Ehley, 7/5)

Arizona Republic: 5 People Protesting Senate Health Bill Cited For Trespassing After Occupying Sen. Jeff Flake's Office
Five opponents of the Senate Republican health-care bill were cited for trespassing Wednesday evening when they refused to leave U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake's Phoenix office after occupying its conference room all day. A group of activists, many with physical disabilities, hours earlier took over Flake's conference room and office lobby, demanding that the Arizona Republican agree to vote against the controversial pending legislation. (Nowicki, 7/5)

Los Angeles Times: Kids In Pro-Trump Rural Areas Have A Lot To Lose If GOP Rolls Back Medicaid
Communities like this aging West Virginia coal town along the Kanawha River were key to President Trump’s victory last year; more than two-thirds of voters in surrounding Fayette County backed the Republican nominee. Now, families in [Mongomery, W.Va.] and hundreds like it that supported Trump face the loss of a critical safety net for children as congressional Republicans move to cut hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade from Medicaid, the half-century-old government health plan for the poor. (Levey, 7/6)

In other news on the proposed cuts —

Modern Healthcare: BCRA Spells Trouble For Providers
California has been approaching universal healthcare coverage in large part thanks to the expansion of the Medicare and Medi-Cal programs under the Affordable Care Act. Only 3.5% of California's population is uninsured and one out of every two children are covered by Medicaid, according to Marin General Hospital CEO Lee Domanico. But that could all change under the Senate's bill to replace the Affordable Care Act, Domanico said. (Kacik, 7/5)

CQ Roll Call: New Drug Approvals Could Bust Medicaid Budgets Under GOP Bill
Lawmakers are trying to finish legislation that could help speed prescription drug development, but patient groups and state officials worry that the parallel Republican effort to overhaul the health care system will make it harder for people to access those treatments. Bills (S 934, HR 2430) that would renew the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to collect fees from the drug and medical device industries are supposed to get their final votes in the House and Senate in July. The House is aiming to consider its bill the first week after the July Fourth recess. (Siddons, 7/5)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Worry Grows In Missouri Over Proposed Medicaid Cuts, Effects On Nursing Homes, Elderly
The Republican Senate bill targeting health care reform has created fear among some Missouri nursing home providers and patients about what will happen if the proposed cuts to Medicaid become a reality. About 89,000 Missourians 65 and older rely on Medicaid to help pay for their long-term care in nursing homes. (Liss, 7/6)

Stat: How The GOP And Democrats Might Begin To Compromise On Health Care
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned last week that Republicans’ failure to pass comprehensive health care reform could have dire consequences. He even warned of one scenario rarely seen here lately: bipartisanship. There’s no guarantee that a holistic, bipartisan health care bill could succeed should McConnell’s nearly single-handed effort to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act fail. But Democrats at least claim they are willing to compromise. (Facher and Mershon, 7/5)

Politico: GOP Promises Lower Health Premiums But Ignores All That’s Driving Them
Republicans promise to bring down the cost of health insurance for millions of Americans by repealing Obamacare. But in the race to make insurance premiums cheaper, they ignore a more ominous number — the $3.2 trillion-plus the U.S. spends annually on health care overall. (Kenen, 7/6)

The New York Times: Health Care? Taxes? Budget? G.O.P. Has Big To-Do List, But Little Time
An iffy health care vote. An unresolved budget resolution. A heavy debt ceiling lift. And, of course, there is that tax overhaul plan. Congress has a lot to do, and it doesn’t have much time. So much for a lazy July in Washington. (Rappeport, 7/5)

The Hill: Republicans Ask Dems: Where's Your Healthcare Plan?
The Republican National Committee (RNC) on Wednesday released an ad attacking Democrats for being unwilling to work with the GOP to repeal and replace ObamaCare while not offering their own plan. The ad features video footage of Democrats such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Hillary Clinton attacking the House and Senate plans to repeal ObamaCare. (Bowden, 7/5)

USA Today: Hillary Clinton Responds To RNC Asking Where Her Health Care Plan Is: 'Right Here'
Clinton responded with a link to her 2016 presidential campaign website, where there was a bullet-point version of a health care plan that would keep Obamacare and further expand Medicaid. (Collin, 7/5)

USA Today: Health Care Divides Democrats, Beyond Opposing Republicans
It’s not just the GOP that’s divided on health care. Legislation Sen. Bernie Sanders plans to introduce soon highlights a wedge issue for Democrats and is emerging as the Republican retort to their own problems with repealing and replacing Obamacare. (Gaudiano, 7/5)

The Hill: Senate GOP Tries To Tie Red-State Dems To Single-Payer Healthcare
The Senate Republican campaign arm is looking to tie red-state Democrats up for reelection in 2018 to the idea of government-funded single-payer healthcare. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) launched a Facebook ad campaign that seeks to connect vulnerable Democrats to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who recently said that Democrats running in 2018 and 2020 should campaign on support for a single-payer plan. (Hagen, 7/5)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Democrats Double Down On Expanding Public Health Coverage
As congressional Republicans seek to scale back the private health marketplaces in Obamacare, Democrats here and nationally are proposing expansions of public coverage. President Donald Trump and the GOP Congress are considering how to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, including the subsidized private insurance it provides to qualifying Americans. Some Democrats in Wisconsin and around the country are responding with proposals that would make government-run coverage available to more citizens. (Stein, 7/5)

Meanwhile —

McClatchy: Democrats' New Tactic: Bus Tour In GOP District To Rally Opposition To Obamacare Repeal
A consortium of liberal groups is launching an effort this month against the Republican health care bill, targeting GOP lawmakers who have supported the legislation with a bus tour that will visit their states and districts during the August congressional recess. (Roarty, 7/6)

Pioneer Press: Health Care Bill Would Have Devastating Effects On Minnesotans, Dayton Says
At a Minneapolis news conference Wednesday, Gov. Mark Dayton and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, both Democrats, railed against the proposed health care bill in the U.S. Senate. The Republican-written health care measure would unwind parts of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, and replace them with a less generous and, to backers, a less onerous health insurance program. (Chavey, 7/5)

The Associated Press: Residents Question McCaskill During Missouri Town Halls
Missouri residents are questioning U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill during town halls. More than 100 people peppered the Democrat with questions during an evening town hall Wednesday in Ashland, Missouri. She received a generally friendly response from a group mostly of supporters who applauded her. Some of her Republican colleagues have been met with angry responses at town halls in reaction to President Donald Trump's early agenda. (7/5)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Newport-Based Health Providers Air Concerns With Health Reform
Staff at the Newport Health Center shared their concerns about the Senate healthcare bill with New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan Wednesday. ... After a quick tour, Sen. Hassan sat down with administrators and staffers to discuss the current healthcare debate. (Greene, 7/5)

Bloomberg: Low-Cost Health Insurance Limits Access To Top Cancer Doctors
The nation’s top cancer doctors are more likely to be excluded from low-cost health insurance plans offered on the nation’s individual market, potentially crimping access to the highest-quality care for Americans when they need it most, a new study found. The individual exchanges, opened in 2014 as part of the Affordable Care Act, often include lower-cost policies that limit the number of physicians available to members as a way to cut costs. Those “narrow networks” are becoming more prevalent in Obamacare, as insurers seek ways to offer cheaper coverage, according to McKinsey & Co. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and examined data from 2014. (Cortez and Tracer, 7/5)

Philly.com: Penn Study: Cheaper Insurance Plans May Exclude Top Cancer Doctors
Lesley Glenn didn’t question the aggressive treatment plan that a community oncology group recommended when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 at age 47. But after the Chino Hills, Calif., resident suffered a life-threatening complication, she transferred her care — with permission from her health insurer — to USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of the nation’s top cancer hospitals. Doctors there put her on the path to where she is today, with no evidence of her advanced cancer. (McCullough, 7/5)

Modern Healthcare: Drug And Device Makers Pay Providers $8 Billion In 2016
Payments from drug and device companies to physicians and teaching hospitals hit more than $8 billion in 2016. The CMS released the third full year of Open Payments data on Friday. The disclosure is required by the Sunshine Act, a provision of the Affordable Care Act, as an effort to help the public learn about payments received by doctors from industry groups and how those payments could affect clinical care. (Dickson, 7/5)

CMS also released data about the Affordable Care Act's risk-adjustment program —

Modern Healthcare: Small Insurers Rack Up Large Charges While Blues Benefit Under ACA's Risk-Adjustment Program
Small health insurers and the few remaining co-op plans were again sacked with large charges under the Affordable Care Act's risk-adjustment program, according to the CMS. The CMS released data late Friday for the third year of the ACA's controversial risk-adjustment program, which shuffles money from plans with healthier enrollees to those with sicker ones. The agency also released the 2016 payments under the temporary reinsurance program, which protects health insurers against costly claims. (Livingston, 7/5)

NPR: Surgeon General Nominee Pushed For Syringe Exchange In Indiana
Several weeks before President Trump nominated Indiana's state health commissioner Jerome Adams to be the next U.S. Surgeon General, Adams toured the Salvation Army Harbor Light detox center in Indianapolis, Ind., the only treatment facility in the state for people without insurance. (Forman, 7/5)

Stateline: Opioid Overdose Deaths Swamp Medical Examiners
Dr. David Fowler’s staff is scrambling to keep up with the surging stream of corpses flowing through the doors. In his 15 years as Maryland’s chief medical examiner, Fowler has seen natural disasters, train crashes and mass shootings. Heroin- and cocaine-related homicides have plagued this city for decades. But he says he’s never seen anything that compares to the opioid epidemic’s spiraling death toll. As fentanyl, carfentanil and other deadly synthetic opioids seep into the illicit drug supply, it’s only getting worse. (Vestal, 7/6)

Media outlets report on news out of Maryland, North Carolina, Connecticut, Florida and Ohio —

The Washington Post: Opioid Crisis: In Maryland, A House Of Recovery And Reckoning
The chime on Rusty Bakalar’s phone rarely signals good news. But on a Friday evening in June, as he tallied rents he’d collected from the residents of Champ House, it brought a moment of hope. On the line was Dalton Jones, 20, who the day before had walked out of the oddly shaped building in Bowie, Md., and vanished without a trace. Disappearing is against every rule of Champ House, an against-all-odds place that runs on donations and goodwill, where up to 15 men at a time fight addiction through chores and camaraderie. (Hernandez, 7/5)

North Carolina Health News: Spending On Opioid Addiction Medications Rose Sharply Since 2011
Medicaid spending on three important medications used to treat opioid addiction increased 136 percent nationwide between 2011 and 2016, according to a new report from the Urban Institute, a public policy think tank based in Washington D.C. The increases were much higher in some states—in seven states, rates rose more than 400 percent. (Fentem, 7/6)

The CT Mirror: Growing Number Of States Press Opioid Suits Against Stamford’s Purdue Pharma
Stamford-based Purdue Pharma, the maker of pain-killer OxyContin, is the target of an increasing number of states, counties and cities suing the pharmaceutical firm, alleging it is partly to blame for the nation’s opioid epidemic... The latest suit, filed last week by the state of Oklahoma, said Purdue and three other drug companies and their subsidiaries sought to increase their opioid sales by persuading doctors to expand the market beyond “a niche for cancer patients, the terminally ill and acute short-term pain” and to “prescribe opioids to a broader range of patients with chronic non-cancer-related pain.” (Radelat, 7/6)

Health News Florida: Injured Workers Getting Fewer Opioids In Florida
The Workers Compensation Research Institute studied 26 states from 2010 to 2015. They found significant drops in how often injured workers got opioids, and drops in the strength of those drugs. (Aboraya, 7/5)

Kaiser Health News: New On The Streets: Drug For Nerve Pain Boosts High For Opioid Abusers
On April 5, Ciera Smith sat in a car parked on the gravel driveway of the Rural Women’s Recovery Program here with a choice to make: go to jail or enter treatment for her addiction. Smith, 22, started abusing drugs when she was 18, enticed by the “good time” she and her friends found in smoking marijuana. She later turned to addictive painkillers, then anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax and eventually Suboxone, a narcotic often used to replace opioids when treating addiction. (Heredia Rodriguez, 7/6)

Stat: Personalized Cancer Vaccines Vanquish Melanoma In A Small Study
A small pilot study raises hopes that personalized cancer vaccines might prove safer and more effective than immune-based therapies already in use or further along in development. In a paper published online in Nature on Wednesday, scientists reported that all six melanoma patients who received an experimental, custom-made vaccine saw their tumors disappear. (Begley, 7/5)

The New York Times: Heartburn Drugs May Increase Risk Of Early Death
Proton pump inhibitors, or P.P.I.s, the widely used heartburn medicines, may increase the risk of early death, a new study reports. P.P.I.s, sold over the counter under such brand names as Nexium and Prevacid, have been associated with serious adverse side effects, including kidney disease, bone fractures and infections. This study found an association with death from any cause. (Bakalar, 7/5)

Stat: To Solve Organ Shortage, States Consider 'Opt-Out' Organ Donation Laws
The shortage of organs for transplantation is a thorny problem. Nearly 118,000 people in the U.S. are on waiting lists for transplants of kidneys, hearts, livers, and other organs; an estimated 8,000 of them will not live to receive a transplant. (Samuel, 7/6)

The New York Times: Poor Sleep Tied To Increased Alzheimer’s Risk
Poor sleep may be an indication of increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease, a new study of older people suggests. Researchers studied 101 cognitively normal people, average age 63, who completed well-validated sleep questionnaires. They analyzed their spinal fluid for the presence of indicators of the plaques and tangles that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s. The study is in Neurology. (Bakalar, 7/5)

CNN: Sugar During Pregnancy May Be Linked To Child's Allergies
Women who consume too many sugary foods and drinks during pregnancy may be increasing their children's risk of developing an allergy or allergic asthma, according to a study published Thursday in the European Respiratory Journal. The researchers looked at allergies that produce respiratory and skin symptoms, including dust mites, cats and grass. "Allergic asthma" causes breathing problems, like wheezing and coughing, in the presence of common allergens such as dust. (Scutti, 7/5)

The Baltimore Sun: Hopkins Joins Gene Cloning Project To Advance Medicine Development
Scientists at Johns Hopkins, Rutgers and Harvard universities, as well as the University of Trento in Italy, have created a new technique that allows thousands of genes in a DNA sequence to be cloned at once. Researchers hope the advance in gene cloning will allow them to more quickly identify markers for diseases and discover new medicines. (Cohn, 7/5)

Stat: The Ice Bucket Challenge Raised Millions For ALS. Here's How It Was Used
Pete Frates, the ALS patient behind the fundraising juggernaut known as the “ice bucket challenge,” has been hospitalized — news that touched off a spate of appreciative tweets on Monday lauding his contributions to the efforts to find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. (Robbins, 7/5)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: 'A Really Long Road Back:' Exertional Heat Stroke A Silent Threat In Football
Tulane offensive lineman Hunter Knighton almost became a statistic on Feb. 24, 2014. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound freshman, then at the University of Miami, felt ill that morning and vomited on the way to an outdoor football practice. Flu-like symptoms contributed to dehydration, but Knighton attempted to push through the workout before disaster struck. (Teope, 7/5)

Los Angeles Times: Does My Sense Of Smell Make Me Look Fat? In Mice, The Answer Seems To Be Yes
Having an exceptionally keen sense of smell would seem to be an unmitigated blessing: It can provide early warning of dangers, detect the presence of an attractive mate, and enhance the gustatory delight of a delicious meal. But when you’re a mouse (or, perhaps, a human) and fattening food is all around, a new study finds that those with little or no ability to detect odors may have a key advantage. While mice with an intact sense of smell grow obese on a steady diet of high-fat chow, their littermates who have had their sense of smell expunged can eat the same food yet remain trim. (Healy, 7/5)

Los Angeles Times: Patrick Soon-Shiong's NantWorks To Take Over St. Vincent And 5 Other California Hospitals
NantWorks, the Culver City company controlled by billionaire physician Patrick Soon-Shiong, has taken over the operator of half a dozen California hospitals, including St. Vincent Medical Center near downtown Los Angeles and St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. NantWorks acquired a controlling stake in Integrity Healthcare, which in 2015 took over management of six hospitals from the struggling nonprofit Daughters of Charity Health System. The hospital chain now goes by the name Verity Health. (Koren, 7/5)

San Jose Mercury News: Billionaire Acquires Majority Stake In 4 Bay Area Hospitals
Eighteen months after a New York-based hedge fund invested $260 million in the former Daughters of Charity Health System, a Los Angeles-based billionaire physician on Wednesday announced that his company has bought a majority stake in the management company that runs the system’s six hospitals. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a surgeon, scientist and inventor, said his company, NantWorks, has acquired a controlling stake in Integrity Healthcare, the company that manages Verity Health System, formerly the Daughters of Charity. (Seipel, 7/5)

Modern Healthcare: Beaumont, Oakwood, Botsford Hospital Foundations Merge
Three years after the merger of Beaumont Health System, Oakwood Healthcare Inc. and Botsford Hospital, the fundraising arms of the three health systems have legally merged, creating a foundation with $100 million in assets. The Beaumont Health Foundation became a legal entity effective July 1. (Welch, 7/5)

The Baltimore Sun: Kaiser, Bon Secours Join Forces On Plan To Improve Health Through Economic Opportunity
Under normal circumstances they would be competitors, but two Baltimore health systems are combining resources to create economic opportunities to address health disparities in the sickest neighborhoods in the state. Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States announced Wednesday that it is giving Bon Secours Baltimore Health System $1.7 million to build a community resource center that officials hope will spur economic opportunity in communities that are part of the 21223 ZIP code of West Baltimore. (McDaniels, 7/5)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: St. Mary's Hospital Has Second Lowest C-Section Rate In The Country Among Low-Risk Moms
SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond Heights has the second lowest C-section rate among large hospitals across the country for first-time low-risk mothers, according to a Consumer Reports analysis of data. At just 12.3 percent, the rate is far below the 24 percent statewide average. The analysis of data from more than 1,300 hospitals across the country confirms research that shows how C-section rates — even among low-risk births — can vary dramatically from hospital to hospital. (Munz, 7/5)

Houston Chronicle: Cleveland Hospital Opens Doors After Three-Year Closure
It was an event many in the Cleveland community never saw coming. Bright and early Wednesday morning, and with very little fanfare, the Texas Rural Hospital, formerly known as Cleveland Regional Medical Center, reopened its emergency room. The hospital was shuttered for three years since its abrupt closing in August 2014. Under new management and owners, CEO Don Vickers said the hospital will keep some of the positive traditions of the past but is embracing modern health care. (Brashier, 7/5)

Pioneer Press: Children's Hospitals, Clinics And Blue Cross: No Deal By Deadline
Children’s Hospitals and Clinics are out of network for patients with Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance, effective Wednesday. The Minnesota-based hospital network and insurance provider did not reach a contract agreement by July 5, the deadline for negotiations set after a March dispute. (Carson, 7/5)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Cap On Medical Malpractice Awards Unconstitutional, Court Rules
Ruling that Wisconsin's $750,000 cap on medical malpractice claims is unconstitutional, an appellate court said Wednesday that a Milwaukee woman who lost all four limbs should collect the $16.5 million for pain and suffering awarded to her and her husband. (Spivak, 7/5)

The Associated Press: Oregon Approves Measure Requiring Insurers To Cover Abortion
Insurance companies in Oregon would be required to cover abortions and other reproductive services at no cost to the patient regardless of income, citizenship status or gender identity under a measure approved Wednesday by lawmakers. (7/5)

The Associated Press: West Virginia Health Centers To Get $19M In Federal Grants
West Virginia community health centers are getting $19 million in federal grants from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. The grants are to fund primary care services. (7/5)

Chicago Tribune: Christian Crisis Pregnancy Centers Sue Illinois Over New Abortion Notice Law
Christian crisis pregnancy centers in the south and far western suburbs are challenging a change in the state's right-of-conscience law that since January requires physicians and nurses to notify pregnant patients of all their available options, including abortion. The lawsuit, filed against state officials including Gov. Bruce Rauner, claims their constitutional free-speech rights are violated by the changes to the law because they have to offer advice they find morally wrong. The clinics also allege the new law violates federal laws banning discrimination against doctors and other health care workers who do not provide or refer patients for abortions. (Schmadeke, 7/5)

The CT Mirror: Federal Monitor: Too Many Foster Children’s Needs Still Unmet
Too many Connecticut children in foster care are not receiving the mental health services, child care and housing supports they need, partly because the programs are not available and wait lists persist, the federal court monitor overseeing the state’s child welfare agency reported Wednesday. The monitor’s latest bi-annual review of the care provided by the Department of Children and Families showed that in 44 of 106 cases sampled between October and March, children did not have all their needs met. (Rabe Thomas, 7/5)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Preventing Suicides Is Goal Of New St. Tammany Crisis Intervention Team
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office has formed a crisis intervention team to address the growing number of attempted suicides and other behavioral health issues encountered by law enforcement agencies on the North Shore. The new team is made up of four patrol deputies trained to use de-escalation techniques when dealing with those in crisis situations. (Chatelain, 7/5)

Austin American-Statesman: Retired Teacher Health Care Cuts In Texas: Social Media Reactions
This legislative session, Texas lawmakers injected $484 million into the system over the next two years, but cut some benefits for retired teachers. Starting in January, each age group covered by the retired health care plan will only have the option of receiving one health care plan, down from the usual three. (Harris, 7/5)

The Star Tribune: Push Grows For 'Right To Try' Laws That Loosen Access To Treatments
Dying patients want quicker access to experimental drugs that could extend their lives, and 37 states, including Minnesota, have enacted laws since 2014 granting that wish. Supporters say a federal law would strengthen protections, and Congress is now considering the issue. (Keen, 7/5)

NH Union Leader: Dartmouth College Student Diagnosed With Mumps
State health officials confirmed Wednesday that a student at Dartmouth College has been diagnosed with the mumps. “The student is receiving medical care and is in isolation on campus,” said Dartmouth officials in a statement. “College health providers are working with state health officials on the case. State health workers have interviewed the student to learn about the student’s contacts and Dartmouth staff will work with the state to manage and test students with symptoms of the disease.” (Feely, 7/5)

Pioneer Press: Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program To Include PTSD Sufferers
Minnesotans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders will be eligible to try medical cannabis starting Aug. 1. To receive the drug through the program, patients need to visit a health care professional who must then certify to the Minnesota Department of Health that the patients suffer from the condition. Once certified, patients can then register on the state health department’s website. Registration for PTSD started July 1. (Stassen-Berger, 7/5)

Tampa Bay Times: Some Services Shift To New Provider At Hernando Health Department
Earlier in the spring, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that Premier Community HealthCare, based in Dade City, would receive $1.2 million to expand its services into Hernando County for about 8,400 patients. Premier has been providing medical care to Medicaid and Medicare recipients and the uninsured and underserved communities in Pasco County since 1979. (Behrendt, 7/6)

Orlando Sentinel: Orlando Health Working On Book, Studies After Pulse
Orlando Health is publishing a book by early next year that will serve as a how-to guide for handling mass casualties in response to many requests for guidance from other hospitals after the Pulse shooting last year. The book, which the health system is planning to give away to other hospitals, is being written by leaders of each department — from surgeons to nurses to environmental services. (Miller, 7/5)

Austin American-Statesman: Catch A Ride: Pilot Program To Help Patients Get To Doctors’ Offices
A pilot program poised to launch in August could provide patients who receive full-coverage medical assistance through Central Health’s Medical Access Program with an easier way to get treatment through the use of ridehailing. Community Care Collaborative, a Seton Healthcare Family-Central Health nonprofit that provides health care, RideAustin and the Dell Medical School recently announced they are teaming up to help about 50 low-income and uninsured Travis County patients use the ridehailing app to get to medical appointments and pharmacies. (Goldenstein, 7/5)

The Star Tribune: Minneapolis Leaders Look To Restrict Menthol Cigarette Sales
Minneapolis leaders are looking to limit the sale of menthol cigarettes to adult-only tobacco shops in an effort to crack down on a product that anti-smoking advocates say makes it easier for teenagers to start smoking. The city already limits the sale of other flavored tobacco products to adult-only tobacco shops. (Nelson, 7/5)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Approves First Medical Marijuana Dispensary
Regulators approved Maryland's first medical marijuana dispensary on Wednesday, authorizing a Frederick company to open its doors immediately even though the drug will not be available for months. (Cox, 7/5)

The Wall Street Journal: How Many Jobs Does ObamaCare Kill?
Democrats loudly complain that people will lose health insurance if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. They never mention those who lose jobs because the ACA remains. The ACA includes a penalty on employers that fail to provide “adequate” insurance for full-time workers. Thanks to the ACA, hiring the 50th full-time employee effectively costs another $70,000 a year on top of the normal salary and benefits. (Casey B. Mulligan, 7/5)

Bloomberg: GOP's Health Plan Should Be More Ambitious, Not Less
Keeping in mind what a lousy form of coverage Medicaid is, I think it would make more sense to direct any additional federal resources to help people with low incomes get private insurance. The bill could provide those who need it with larger tax credits, or with money toward their deductibles. Amending the bill this way would have the additional advantage of broadening the pool of people in the individual insurance market. It wouldn’t make the legislation popular, or make it a repeal and replacement of Obamacare. But a bill with this modification would make the best of the Republicans’ bad situation. (Ramesh Ponnuru, 7/5)

The Wall Street Journal: The GOP’s Fatal Infatuation
Watching the Republican party self-immolate over the ObamaCare law, I’d like to shake the hand of whoever had the idea to plant the expansion of federal Medicaid payments inside ObamaCare. Before this, Washington on average has been paying about 57% of Medicaid’s costs. ObamaCare expanded the federal payment’s share to 100% of newly eligible adults for any state that signed on, with the match “falling” permanently to 90% in 2020. That was political genius. ... What an irony it is that one of the Republican arguments made now for preserving ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion is the opioid crisis. Even after the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that Medicaid’s expansion was optional, some Republican governors got hooked on the promise of federal cash flow to the horizon. (Daniel Henninger, 7/5)

WBUR: Memo To Mitch McConnell: Let's Get Real About Health Care Costs
Slouching towards Kentucky and this week’s July 4th recess after failing to pass his health bill, Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell learned a hard-knocks lesson. ... If you want to rein in what the government pays for health, focus on America’s highest-in-the-world medical prices instead of denying folks coverage. (Rich Barlow, 7/6)

The Washington Post: ‘Repeal Now, Replace Later’ Will Kill The GOP’S Health-Care Reform
When King Solomon proposed splitting the baby, he knew that actually splitting the baby would have killed it. It was a ruse to save the child. Yet some Republican senators don’t seem to understand that splitting the GOP health-care bill — the “repeal then replace” approach — will similarly kill both the prospects of health-care reform and quite possibly the GOP’s control of Congress. (Marc A. Thiessen, 7/5)

The New York Times: Ted Cruz Has An Idea For How To Cover High-Risk Patients
His proposal, which he’s circulating to his colleagues on typed handouts, wouldn’t explicitly create and fund the special insurance markets, as the House bill did. Instead, insurance experts said, it would create a sort of de facto high risk pool, by encouraging customers with health problems to buy insurance in one market and those without illnesses to buy it in another. ... But there is one big drawback to the Cruz plan, compared with a traditional high-risk pool. Because of how the proposal is structured, only Americans with relatively low incomes would be able to access the tax credits. That means that, even for Americans solidly in the middle class, comprehensive insurance might remain out of their financial reach. (Margot Sanger-Katz, 7/5)

Huffington Post: Now The GOP Is Defending Obamacare Repeal By Attacking Hillary Clinton
Unable to win public support for [their health care bill], as the proposal’s dismal poll numbers indicate, Republicans are now resorting to a more familiar political tactic. They are attacking Hillary Clinton. Like so many things Republicans have said about health care, or about Hillary Clinton for that matter, these new statements aren’t consistent with the facts. But they do reveal a lot about how the two parties understand health care ― and the policy tradeoffs each is willing to make. (Jonathan Cohn, 7/5)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Leave Medicaid Expansion Alone
The benefits of Medicaid expansion in Ohio are beyond question, from dramatically reducing the number of uninsured to providing millions of dollars to combat the state’s opioid epidemic. ... That’s why the editorial board strongly supports Gov. John Kasich’s action in vetoing the freeze on Medicaid expansion proposed by Republican lawmakers in the state budget bill. (7/5)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Our Medicaid Matters
Medicaid benefits are absolutely essential for people with disabilities, and a reduction in federal reimbursements — one proposal would slash Medicaid by $860 billion over 10 years — would not only significantly cut state revenue, but would be disastrous for all individuals involved and especially people with disabilities. (Colleen Kelly Starkloff, 7/6)

Sacramento Bee: Scared Democrats Are The Hurdle To Single Payer
The party that once stood for progressive ideals of inclusion and social justice has repeatedly cried uncle on single payer, blaming logistics, funding or the “political climate".... Obama, Pelosi and Brown all supported single payer earlier in their careers, but now lack the vision and conviction because widespread public support for single payer isn’t already there, gift-wrapped for their political convenience. (Harry Snyder and Courtney Hutchison, 7/5)

Arizona Republic: Planned Parenthood Shouldn't Abandon Abortion
Yes, defunding Planned Parenthood means clipping the group’s ability to provide all sorts of other family-planning programs. Critics of Planned Parenthood have every right to oppose abortion, but they don’t have the right to make medical decisions for everyone else. (Elvia Diaz, 7/5)