The New York Times: Theranos Under Federal Criminal Investigation, Adding To Its Woes
Theranos, the embattled blood-testing laboratory, said on Monday that federal officials were conducting a criminal investigation into the company, adding to a series of questions from officials about its inner workings. In a note to outside partners, the company said that the Justice Department had requested documents and that the investigation was active. The note also said that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating the company. (Abelson and Pollack, 4/18)

USA Today: Blood Lab Theranos Under Federal Investigation
"The investigations by the SEC and the U.S. Attorney's Office, which began following the publication of certain news articles, are focused on requesting documents and ongoing," the statement read. "The company continues to work closely with regulators and is cooperating fully with all investigations." (della Cava, 4/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Theranos Is Subject Of Criminal Probe By U.S.
People familiar with the matter said the subpoenas seek broad information about how Theranos described its technologies and the progress it was making developing those technologies. Investigators are also examining whether Theranos misled government officials, which can be a crime under federal law, some of the people said. Such subpoenas don’t necessarily mean prosecutors are actively seeking an indictment. People familiar with the matter said the investigation is at an early stage. (Weaver, Carreyrou and Siconolfi, 4/18)

Bloomberg: Theranos Under Investigation By SEC, U.S. Attorney's Office
The criminal and civil investigations are among several probes described in a company memo provided to Bloomberg on Monday by closely held Theranos. The memo was sent to Theranos’s “partners,” which include Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and others. “The company continues to work closely with regulators and is cooperating fully with all investigations,” Theranos said. It has also been probed by the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, and state health departments in Pennsylvania and California. Theranos said the FDA and state inquiries are closed. (Kohlhatkar and Chen, 4/18)

STAT: Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes Says She's 'Devastated' By Setbacks
Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of the embattled blood-testing company Theranos, has tried more than a few approaches in recent months to head off the waves of bad news that just keep coming. She’s gone to bat for her company at an industry conference, posted a 6,000-word defense on its website, and this month assembled a group of respected medical advisors. On Monday morning, Holmes tried a new tack: an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show. (Robbins, 4/18)

KQED: Elizabeth Holmes To Present Theranos Data At Scientific Conference
In what is sure to be a hot ticket this summer, Elizabeth Holmes is going to present data on Theranos’ technology at a meeting of scientists well-equipped to judge its validity. The American Association for Clinical Chemistry said today that Holmes will speak at a plenary session of its annual meeting in Philadelphia on Aug. 1. Theranos spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan confirmed the presentation, saying, “We’re really excited about the opportunity to share our technology with the world.” (Brooks, 4/18)

Bloomberg: UnitedHealth Profit Beats Estimates, Fueled By Optum Unit
UnitedHealth Group Inc., the biggest U.S. health insurer, posted first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as results from its Optum technology and consulting business helped overcome losses on Affordable Care Act plans. (Tracer, 4/19)

Reuters: Health Insurer UnitedHealth Reports Better-Than-Expected Revenue
Health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) reported a better-than-expected quarterly revenue helped by strength in its Optum business which offers healthcare services and drug benefit plans. Optum revenues grew 54 percent to $19.7 billion. Revenue from Optum's pharmacy division rose 72 percent, the company said on Tuesday. (4/19)

Bloomberg: For Some States, UnitedHealth Exit From Obamacare Would Hurt
Although UnitedHealth Group Inc. hasn’t been a major seller of Affordable Care Act insurance plans, a further retreat from President Barack Obama’s health insurance reform program could pose problems for Obamacare users in some states. (Tracer, 4/18)

Kaiser Health News: Competition Suffers Most If UnitedHealth Exits Obamacare In 2017: Analysis
If UnitedHealthcare follows through on its threat to quit the health insurance marketplaces in 2017, more than 1 million consumers would be left with a single health plan option, forecasted an analysis released Monday. A UnitedHealthcare pullout would be felt most in several states, generally in the South and Midwest, where consumers would be left with little choice of plans, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.) In most of the 34 states where United operates this year, though, the effect would be modest for premiums and the number of plan options, Kaiser said. (Galewitz, 4/18)

The Hill: GOP Group Promises ObamaCare Replacement Plan — Soon
A group of senior House Republicans is promising to deliver proof that the party is making headway in its six-year struggle to replace ObamaCare. "Give us a little time, another month or so," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) told reporters this week. "I think we’ll be pretty close to a Republican alternative." Upton is one member of a four-person task force that is supposed to come up with a replacement plan for the healthcare law, at the behest of Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). For now, the group is still in "listening mode," Upton said. When asked who they are listening to, Upton said: "You name it – the world." (Ferris, 4/18)

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., becomes the target of Planned Parenthood's first Senate ad of the year —

Politico: Planned Parenthood Aims At Ayotte
Planned Parenthood is making a major splash into the battle for control of the upper chamber, going up with its first Senate ad of the year in New Hampshire — a marquee race that could become ground zero for women’s issues. The organization’s political arm is going after Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) with a nearly $400,000 ad buy that highlights two top-tier issues that have become entwined for abortion-rights groups: The future of Roe vs. Wade and the current Supreme Court vacancy following the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. The ad, obtained by POLITICO in advance of its release, hits Ayotte on both counts, attacking what the women’s health group called her “abysmal record on women’s health and her obstruction of the Supreme Court nomination process.” (Kim, 4/19)

The Associated Press: Official: Expanding Medicaid To Net Louisiana $677M Savings
Expanding Louisiana's Medicaid program is estimated to save the state $677 million in its first five years, Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration said Monday as the Democratic governor announced enrollment will begin June 1. (Deslatte, 4/18)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Medicaid Expansion To Save Louisiana $677 Million Over Next 5 Years
Medicaid expansion is estimated to save Louisiana $677 million over the next five years and more than $1 billion over the next decade, Department of Health and Hospitals officials told Senate Health and Welfare Committee members Monday (April 18). The cost estimates came after Gov. John Bel Edwards testified before the committee about his decision to expand Medicaid eligibility to about 375,000 people between July 1 and June 30, 2017. (Litten, 4/18)

Times Record: Arkansas Governor: Medicaid Veto Strategy Will Work If Dems Support It
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday that three of the 10 Republican state senators who oppose funding his Medicaid expansion plan have said they are willing to go along with a strategy that would allow the funding to pass without their direct support. But Democrats who support Medicaid expansion also would have to go along for the strategy to work, and it was unclear Monday whether they would. (Lyon, 4/19)

The Associated Press: Hutchinson Tries To Sway Democrats On Backup Medicaid Plan
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson and legislative leaders tried to persuade skeptical Democrats Monday to support a plan to save Arkansas' hybrid Medicaid expansion by initially voting to defund the subsidized health insurance for thousands of poor people. Hutchinson promised to defend any Democrats criticized for supporting the defunding measure under the approach, which is aimed at allowing the governor to reinstate the hybrid expansion through a line-item veto. House Democrats said they were looking at ways to ensure the legality of the unusual parliamentary procedure that supporters hoped would break a budget impasse over the program. (DeMillo, 4/18)

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: If Amended, Bill Adds 3 Backers, Governor Says
The Republican governor also told the Legislative Black Caucus' members that if they vote for the amended bill and their position is misrepresented as being against funding the Medicaid expansion, "I am happy to make sure that I'm a voice for an accurate record on your intentions and your consistency in support of Medicaid expansion in Arkansas, and being an advocate for that for your constituents." Several Democratic lawmakers said Monday that they are warming to Hutchinson's line-item veto strategy for continuing funding of Arkansas' version of Medicaid expansion in the fiscal year starting July 1. (Wickline, 4/19)

KUAR Public Radio: Thoughts From The Arkansas Senate On The Medicaid Line Item Veto Workaround
Backers of Arkansas’s Medicaid expansion plan are expected to try again this week to overcome the resistance of a minority of Republican lawmakers and pass a budget bill. Proponents hope to continue the plan’s funding by paradoxically crafting an amendment to remove it from the overall Medicaid budget. Once passed, the governor promises to issue a line item veto which would effectively reinstate funding for the expansion plan component. Republican Bart Hester and Democrat Keith Ingram in the state Senate spoke with KUAR about the status of legislation. (Kaufman, 4/18)

And a new study was released Monday on the effects of expansion —

Kaiser Health News: Study: Medicaid Expansion Encourages More Poor Adults To Get Health Care
In states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, low-income adults were more likely to see a doctor, stay overnight in a hospital and receive their first diagnoses of diabetes and high cholesterol, according to a study published Monday. Yet researchers found no improvement in adults’ own assessments of their health, a conclusion echoed by similar studies, the authors wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine. (Galewitz, 4/18)

Reuters: States' Expansion Of Medicaid Tied To Better Care For Low-Income Adults
Researchers found increased rates of insurance coverage, healthcare use and chronic disease diagnoses among low-income adults in states that expanded access to the government-funded health insurance program. "It looks like there is better medical care for these adults," said lead author Laura Wherry, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. (Seaman, 4/18)

The Washington Post: Veterans Still Can Face Long Waits For Care — If They Get It At All
Veterans newly enrolling for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs and requesting an appointment can endure a months-long wait before they first see a medical provider, according to an audit issued Monday. The Government Accountability Office also said that the department’s method of measuring wait times understates the delay a veteran experiences. The average waiting time — as measured from the time veterans requested that VA contact them to schedule appointments to when they were seen — at the six medical centers GAO studied ranged from 22 to 71 days. (Yoder, 4/19)

The Associated Press: Study Backs Pancreas Cell Transplants For Severe Diabetes
Transplants of insulin-producing pancreas cells are a long hoped-for treatment for diabetes — and a new study shows they can protect the most seriously ill patients from a life-threatening complication of the disease, an important step toward U.S. approval. These transplants are used in some countries but in the U.S. they're available only through research studies. Armed with Monday's findings, researchers hope to license them for use in a small number of people with Type 1 diabetes who are most at risk for drops in blood sugar so severe they can lead to seizures, even death. (4/19)

Meanwhile, new research hints that a change in diet may help reverse diabetes —

The New York Times: Hope For Reversing Type 2 Diabetes
Many experts believe Type 2 diabetes is an incurable disease that gets worse with time. But new research raises the tantalizing possibility that drastic changes in diet may reverse the disease in some people. Recently, a small clinical trial in England studied the effects of a strict liquid diet on 30 people who had lived with Type 2 diabetes for up to 23 years. Nearly half of those studied had a remission that lasted six months after the diet was over. While the study was small, the finding offers hope to millions who have been told they must live with the intractable disease. (Rabin, 4/18)

STAT: White House Signals Big Increase In Funding Request For Zika Vaccine
The Obama administration has significantly increased its request for emergency funding to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus, STAT has learned. In an updated request sent to Capitol Hill Monday and provided to STAT by a congressional aide, the administration increases the amount of research funding, including vaccine research, for the National Institutes of Health from $130 million to $277 million. That money will help NIH prepare for Phase II trials for vaccines in the next fiscal year, according to the aide. (Scott, 4/18)

Morning Consult: Senate Dems Take Their Turn To Urge Action On Zika Funding
A group of Senate Democrats are urging the chamber to act on the administration’s request for $1.9 billion in emergency funding for the Zika virus in a letter to top Republicans. Dozens of Democrats support and have signed the letter, which is still collecting signatures, Matt House, a spokesman for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), said in an email. The letter, to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, urges a committee markup as soon as possible. (McIntire, 4/18)

The Associated Press: Senate Democrats Press For $1.9B To Fight Zika Virus
"For more than two months, Congress has failed to respond to the administration's Zika request. But more importantly, Congress has failed to address a disease that has infected nearly 700 Americans in 40 states, Washington, D.C., and 3 U.S. territories, including more than 65 pregnant women," the letter read. (Taylor, 4/18)

Elsewhere, New York City announces its plan to protect its residents from "the devastating consequences" of Zika —

The New York Times: Zika Virus Campaign Planned By New York City
New York City announced plans on Monday to combat the spread of Zika virus, a largely mosquito-borne disease that has spread rapidly in the Western Hemisphere and raised concern that it may cause birth defects in infants if their mothers are infected during pregnancy. The city’s plans are based on a health department program to combat the spread of West Nile virus, a relative of Zika that is also spread by mosquitoes, the office of Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. (Stack, 4/18)

The Wall Street Journal: New York City To Spend Over $14 Million To Fight Zika Virus
Mr. de Blasio said the city would work to reduce mosquito populations, track new infections and start a public-information campaign. The plan also will include an additional $7.4 million in state support. “We do not see a scenario in this city or this country where there will be a widespread outbreak, but that does not stop us from wanting to address even more limited problems,” said Mr. de Blasio, who stood with health officials at the Public Health Lab in Manhattan. (Gay, 4/18)

The New York Times: Appeals Court Affirms Landmark N.F.L. Concussion Settlement
Nearly three years ago, the N.F.L. and lawyers for thousands of retired football players agreed on a deal to compensate all former players who had neurological diseases linked to repeated hits to the head, helping the league to move on from one of the most contentious issues facing the nation’s most popular sport. But it took an appellate court ruling Monday to affirm the deal, which potentially provides retirees up to $5 million each, and all but closed the door on future challenges by players in the matter. (Belson, 4/18)

The Associated Press: Appeals Court Upholds $1B NFL Concussion Settlement
In a statement, an NFL spokesman called the appeals court decisions “a significant step in implementing the clubs’ commitment to provide compensation to retired players who are experiencing cognitive or neurological issues.” The settlement would cover more than 20,000 NFL retirees for the next 65 years. The league estimates that 6,000 former players, or nearly three in 10, could develop Alzheimer’s disease or moderate dementia. (Dale, 4/18)

Meanwhile, a researcher may be inching closer to a reliable blood test for concussions —

The Orlando Sentinel: Blood Test Can Hint At Concussion, Need For Surgery
Dr. Linda Papa, an emergency physician at Orlando Regional Medical Center, started researching concussions more than a decade ago, when the topic wasn't as popular as it is today. She would get frustrated when trauma patients came in with possible concussions but the imaging and physical exams showed no sign of damage in the brain. She would end up discharging the patients, wondering if they would develop symptoms days or months later. She began to search for a tool that would reveal the otherwise-invisible damage to the delicate brain cells. (Miller, 4/18)

The Associated Press: Lawmakers To Hold Hearings On Medicaid
Alabama lawmakers plan to hold a series of hearings on the state's Medicaid program as the agency's commissioner predicts dramatic service cuts without additional funding. The House and Senate general fund budget committee have scheduled the first joint meeting Wednesday to discuss funding for the health care program that covers approximately a million Alabamians. ... Lawmakers earlier this year overrode Gov. Robert Bentley's veto to enact a budget that will steer $700 million to Medicaid next fiscal year. Bentley said $785 million is needed to maintain services in the program. (Chandler, 4/18)

North Carolina Health News: Shorthanded, Swamped County Workers Led To Food Stamp, Medicaid Delays
In 2013 and 2014, headlines proclaimed months-long delays in processing applications for Medicaid and food stamps for low-income families. At the time, former Department of Health and Human Services Sec. Aldona Wos blamed the backlogs and the expense to clear them on a confluence of events: The deadline for rolling out the new state IT system for processing benefits, called NC FAST, and new federal requirements for Medicaid applications both went into effect in the summer of 2013. (Hoban, 4/18)

The Associated Press: States Seek Ways To Regulate Steep Air-Ambulance Costs
As the air ambulance industry has grown, so too have complaints about costs and the lack of regulations. States that try to set rules are met with lawsuits that argue air ambulances — specially equipped aircraft, usually helicopters, used to ferry sick or injured people in emergencies — fall under the Airline Deregulation Act, which prevents states from interfering with fares, routes and services. (Hanson, 4/19)

Earlier related KHN coverage: A Lifesaving Flight, With A Price Tag Of $56,000 (Cates-Carney, 1/21).

The Seattle Times: Pursuing A Cure For SIDS, Seattle Children’s Doctor To Test His Theory
The heartbreak of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is being turned into hope, as parents who have lost babies to the medical mystery are helping to fund a new research study to be launched by a Seattle doctor who hopes he is close to a cure. Dr. Daniel Rubens, an anesthesiologist at Seattle Children’s hospital, has partnered with The Lullaby Trust in the United Kingdom and pediatrician Dr. Peter Fleming of Bristol University to conduct the “Oto-Acoustics Signals in SIDS,’ or OASIS study. The two-year study will launch in May. (Brodeur, 4/18)

The Houston Chronicle: Yale Study: HPV Vaccine Could Cut Cervical Cancers And Health Costs If Used More
Despite its many benefits, the new vaccine for human papillomavirus — a sexually transmitted disease commonly known as HPV — is grossly underutilized, Dr. Zane Saul said Monday. Saul, chief of the infectious disease department at Bridgeport Hospital, estimates that only 30 percent of girls and 10 percent of boys get the required three doses of the vaccine, which also reduces the risk of sexually transmitted cancers. (Cuda, 4/18)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Penn, CHOP Researchers Find Major Clue To Crippling Genetic Disorder
Imagine a disease that turns your muscles, tendons, and ligaments into bone, progressively crippling you and interfering with such basic functions as eating and breathing. Any attempt to surgically remove the extra bone triggers explosive new growth. (McCullough, 4/18)

The Associated Press: Colorado Pot Report: More Adults Using Drug, But Not Kids
Colorado kids are not smoking more pot since the drug became legal — but their older siblings and parents certainly are, according to a long-awaited report giving the most comprehensive data yet on the effects of the state's 2012 recreational marijuana law. (Gurman and Wyatt, 4/19)

North Carolina Health News: Schools Face Rise In E-Cigarette Use
The good news is that fewer kids are smoking. The bad news is that many of them are still using nicotine. According to new surveys, as many as one in three teens is starting on nicotine without lighting up. (Schlemmer, 4/19)

The Connecticut Mirror: Mental Health Service Cuts Go Along With Layoffs
The 68 layoffs announced last week at the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services were accompanied by plans to close a program serving people who are homeless or getting out of psychiatric hospitals or prison, to eliminate an intensive team that works with people living in the community who have mental health or substance issues, and to end a behavioral health program for veterans. (Levin Becker, 4/19)

Stateline: New Food Safety Law Gives States a Big Role
With the most extensive food safety regulations in history set to take effect soon, state agriculture officials across the country are preparing to enforce the federal law, but say their ability to inspect farms and enforce the new standards depends on the receipt of promised federal funds. (Ollove, 4/19)

The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento County Fentanyl-Related Fatalities At 12, Could Grow
The number of fentanyl-related fatalities reported in Sacramento and Yolo counties rose to 12 on Monday after county officials said a previously undetermined death was reclassified as caused by the painkiller. (Buck, 4/18)

Reuters: Epic Systems Wins $940M U.S. Jury Verdict In Tata Trade Secret Case
A jury in Wisconsin has awarded medical software company Epic Systems $940 million in damages in a trade secret lawsuit against Indian information technology provider Tata Consultancies, believed to one of the largest trade-secrets verdicts on record. (Weber, 4/18)

The Concord Monitor: Concord Has Removed The Last Lead Pipe In Its Water System
When news of lead pipes contaminating public water systems across the country broke late last year, the Monitor asked how many lead pipes exist in Concord’s public water system. The answer then: just one. (Brooks, 4/18)

Reuters: California Governor, Agencies Face Legal Claims In Gas Blowout
Hundreds of Los Angeles homeowners who live near the site of the worst U.S. methane leak have filed claims against state regulators and the governor, seeking $3.5 million each in damages for government failures they blame for the gas blowout. Those cases marked the first batch of more than 3,000 such claims expected by the end of this week, opening a new front in litigation stemming from the accident at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field, said an attorney for the claimants on Monday. (Gorman, 4/18)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: When A Nonprofit Health System Outsources Its ER, Debt Collectors Follow
Since the end of 2014, a Las Vegas-based debt collection firm has filed more than a thousand lawsuits against St. Louis area residents, claiming that they still owed money for treatment performed years ago at SSM Health emergency rooms. (Liss, 4/18)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Behavioral Health Changes Underway In South Jersey
The South Jersey Behavioral Health Innovation Collaborative on Monday announced pilot programs to develop better-coordinated care for people with mental-health and substance-abuse disorders. (Brubaker, 4/18)

The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Employees Sound Off About Larned Staffing Problems
Two employees of Larned State Hospital gave rare public comments Monday about difficult working conditions at the mental health facility. Kyle Nuckolls and Lynette Lewis described for a legislative committee how mandatory overtime and limited time between shifts are taking a toll on workers at the short-staffed facility and their families. (Marso, 4/18)

Health News Florida: Prison Health Changes Begin Taking Effect
A new prison health contractor started moving into nine North Florida facilities over the weekend, an initial step toward providing care for more than 80,000 inmates, the state Department of Corrections said Friday. (4/18)

The Daily Southtown: Memory Care Provider Hopes To Allay Concerns About Assisted Living Facility
An Oregon-based memory care firm will take questions from the public Tuesday night about its plan to build a residential facility in Oak Lawn for people with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. (Koeske, 4/18)

The San Antonio Express-News: Texas Board Investigating Nurse Practitioner, Disciplinary Action Possible.
A San Antonio family nurse practitioner faces possible disciplinary action by the Texas Board of Nursing after the agency accused him of engaging in non-therapeutic prescribing practices. (O'Hare, 4/18)

The Associated Press: Miami Doctor Gets 9 Years' Prison For $30M Medicare Fraud
A Miami doctor has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for his role in a $30 million Medicare fraud scheme. Federal prosecutors said Monday that 51-year-old Dr. Henry Lora also was ordered to pay more than $30 million in restitution to the government. He pleaded guilty in February to health care fraud conspiracy and other charges. (4/19)

The Chicago Sun-Times: Head Of Schaumburg Health Care Company Convicted Of Fraud
The head of a home health care company based in northwest suburban Schaumburg was convicted by a federal jury Friday night of more than 20 counts of Medicare fraud. (Owen, 4/19)

Los Angeles Times: Doctors' Message To Asian Americans: Watch Out For Diabetes Even If You're Young And Thin
The Silicon Valley techies visiting his office were typically slender Asian Americans in their 30s who worked out regularly and ate healthy meals. But, as Sinha repeatedly found, they either already had or were about to get diabetes. "It was such a discordance from what I'd learned about in medical school," Sinha said. "Maybe, I thought, this is just an anomaly." It wasn't. What Sinha noticed a decade ago is now supported by a growing body of scientific research: Asians, in part for genetic reasons, are disproportionately likely to develop diabetes. They get the disease at younger ages and lower weights than others, experts say. (Karlamangla, 4/19)

The New York Times: Obamacare’s Striking Effect On America’s Least Fortunate
Republican lawmakers, particularly in the House and in state governments, have been adamantly opposed to the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 health reform law often referred to as Obamacare. Perhaps that’s because the legislation has helped millions of poor people, minorities and immigrants get health insurance. An analysis of Census data by the Times reporters Sabrina Tavernise and Robert Gebeloff shows striking gains for many of the least privileged people in the country under the health reform law. (Vikas Bajaj, 4/18)

The Washington Post: Obamacare Is Helping A Lot Of People. Not Everyone Thinks That’s Good News.
In politics there are some issues where liberals and conservatives share the same goal, but disagree about how to achieve it — we all want to have as little crime as possible, for instance, but there are different ideas about how to accomplish that. Then there are issues where the two groups have different goals — liberals want to preserve women’s reproductive rights, and conservatives don’t. And sometimes, there are issues we think fall in the first category, but actually belong in the second. (Paul Waldman, 4/18)

The Charlotte Observer: Ahem, You Know What’s Working? Obamacare
Back in 2009, when only enemies called it Obamacare, supporters of the Affordable Care Act cited at least a few good things the law might do. It could slow the cost of health care, they said, not only in terms of the price consumers pay for insurance, but in overall medical care inflation. Mostly, though, the new legislation was about the promise of bringing health insurance to millions who couldn’t get it. (4/18)

The New York Times: Debunking Republican Health Care Myths
“Disaster.” “Incredible economic burden.” “The biggest job-killer in this country.” Central to the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz has been the claim that the Affordable Care Act has been a complete failure, and that the only way to save the country from this scourge is to replace it with something they design. It’s worth examining the big myths they are peddling about the Affordable Care Act and also their ill-conceived plans of what might replace it. (4/19)

The Fiscal Times: GOP Promises A Plan To Replace Obamacare ... Again
File this one under “We’ll believe it when we see it,” but Republican members of the House of Representatives are insisting that sometime soon, they will be producing the GOP’s alternative to the Affordable Care Act. (Rob Garver, 4/18)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: What Hillary's Election Will Mean For Drug Prices, Health Care
If past is prologue and American voters make a hold-your-nose, less-worse choice that puts Hillary Clinton in the White House, then it would be instructive to review a few highlights from her public career to assess what her presidency might mean for U.S. drug prices. (Daniel R. Hoffman, 4/18)

The Boston Globe: Keeping A Lid On Drug Prices
Are drug prices too high? This recurring question is again in the news, fueled by a presidential campaign, and at least three different issues. Some highly effective new drugs, such as Sovaldi for hepatitis C, were introduced at unusually high prices; some off-patent generic drugs, like Daraprim for toxoplasmosis, had prices dramatically increased for no apparent reason; and prices of many prescription drugs seem high, especially with insured patients now paying ever higher out-of-pocket costs. (Jeffrey S. Flier, 4/17)

The New York Times' Upshot: Why Medical Devices Aren’t Safer
Things sometimes go wrong with airbags, food and drugs, prompting recalls. It can also happen with medical devices, though you’d think lifesaving devices like heart defibrillators or artificial hips would be closely monitored. But the data needed to systematically and rapidly identify dangerous medical devices are not routinely collected in the United States. It wouldn’t be that hard to do. (Austin Frakt, 4/18)

STAT: Medicare ‘Bundled Payments’ Improve Health, Save Money
A Medicare program that began on April 1 requires about 800 hospitals to “bundle” payments for knee and hip replacements. Long in the making, this effort should point the way to more coordinated, comprehensive care for patients and save money in the process. (Susan DeVore, 4/18)

The Wichita Eagle: Step Therapy Bill Delays Access To The Best Care
I decided more than 30 years ago to focus my career on caring for those suffering from HIV and AIDS. Though HIV was considered a death sentence in 1981, it is now, for the most part, a controlled and treatable chronic condition – made possible only with the right medications. Each individual HIV-infected patient requires a personalized treatment protocol that takes into account a patient’s size and gender, treatment history, viral resistance, coexisting illnesses, other medications, immune status and the side effects that a particular drug may cause, among other factors. (Donna Sweet, 4/18)

Georgia Health News: Commentary: Insurance Deals Pose Major Threat
At a minimum, two pending mergers of giant insurance companies will shake up Georgia’s health care marketplace. Proponents of the deals say the effect will be beneficial. But the Medical Association of Georgia says the mergers will be “disastrous’’ for the state, raising prices and lowering consumer choice. (Andy Miller, 4/18)

Louisville Courier-Journal: It Is 'Broke.' Let's Fix It
No question about it: The rollout of Kentucky's benefind system has been a nightmare for many recipients of state aid programs -- some of the commonwealth's most vulnerable citizens. Now is the time to work together to fix it, not to point fingers. Benefind was intended to be a first-of-its-kind system to create a single point of contact for those getting or seeking assistance from a variety of aid programs such as Medicaid and food stamps. The administration of former Gov. Steve Beshear brought in Deloitte Consulting to design and build the system at a cost of roughly $100 million. The system was supposedly nearly ready to launch when Beshear's term ended last December. In fact, the Deloitte contract negotiated by the Beshear folks called for additional payments by the state if work extended beyond that point. (4/15)

The Chicago Tribune: Say 'No' To More Chicago Business Mandates, Including Paid Sick Time
The Chicago City Council is considering a proposal that would force Chicago employers to offer their workers at least five days of paid sick leave annually. The sponsor of the ordinance, Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th, called the proposal a "baseline of decency." He argues all workers deserve the option of taking a day off, caring for a loved one or dealing with a family emergency without losing a whole day's pay or worrying about their job security. His plan would require workers to earn paid time off — one hour for every 40 hours worked. Limited unused sick time could be rolled into the next 12-month period, but even under the most generous of circumstances a worker would get only seven paid days off total. (4/18)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Sen. Kurt Schaefer’s Bullying On Abortion Rights Wears Thin
Missouri state Sen. Kurt Schaefer loves the limelight. That’s common among political candidates lusting for higher office; Schaefer wants to be the state’s next attorney general. In recent months Schaefer has tried to get plenty of attention, polishing his ultra-conservative credentials with the Republican crowd in the Show-Me State. His weapon: bullying attacks on abortion rights for women. His targets: Planned Parenthood and the University of Missouri. (Yael T. Abouhalkah, 4/19)