Reuters: Trump Says Vote On Healthcare Can Wait Until After 2020 Election
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was willing to wait until after the 2020 presidential election to get Congress to vote on a new healthcare plan, giving Republicans time to develop a proposal to replace Obamacare. Congressional Republicans have been unable thus far to draft a proposal to replace Democratic President Barack Obama's signature Affordable Care Act despite frequent vows to do so in recent years. (4/1)

Politico: Trump Punts Health Care Until After 2020
Trump claimed that the as-yet-unseen Republican proposal “will be truly great HealthCare that will work for America,” writing online that “Republicans will always support Pre-Existing Conditions.” The unexpected string of tweets added new drama to a week that has seen Obamacare return to the fore as a policy issue. (Forgey and Bresnahan, 4/1)

The Hill: Trump Predicts New Health Care Law After 2020 
The Trump administration last week's began a new push to invalidate former President Obama's signature health care law when the Justice Department argued in a new court filing that the entire law should be ruled unconstitutional. White House aides have indicated that the administration is working on replacement legislation to submit to Congress sometime this year. (Cohn, 4/1)

Bloomberg: Trump, In Reversal, Says Obamacare Replacement Can Be Post-2020 
Most congressional Republicans, however, are in no mood to return to the battlefield. Although they had fiercely opposed the law since 2010, it gradually became more popular with voters and was considered a chief factor in last November’s Democratic victories that cost the GOP control of the House of Representatives. In the House elections, health care ranked as the top issue for voters. Those voters preferred Democratic candidates by a striking margin of 75 percent to 23 percent, according to exit polls published by CNN. Democrats won 40 seats and captured the majority after eight years. (Kapur and Harney, 4/2)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: Mick Mulvaney’s Nonsensical Math On Obamacare
Mulvaney, defending President Trump’s revived push to replace the Affordable Care Act, made several inaccurate statements about health care when he made the rounds of the Sunday-morning talk shows. But we are going to focus on this one because it involves numbers and allows for a relatively straightforward fact check. Mulvaney made a simple comparison: He said more people paid a fine for not having health insurance than people who gained from the ACA, a.k.a. Obamacare. So how do the numbers stack up? (Kessler, 4/2)

Reuters: Two Republican Attorneys General Urge Court To Uphold Obamacare
Two Republican state attorneys general on Monday urged a federal appeals court to uphold the Obamacare federal healthcare law, saying that striking it down would be disruptive for patients, doctors, insurers and employers.The attorneys general of Ohio and Montana submitted "friend of the court" briefs to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is expected to review a December ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, striking down the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. (Pierson, 4/1)

Politico: 2 Republican AGs Urge Court To Throw Out Obamacare Ruling
“The fact that a ruling has negative consequences does not mean it is wrong,” write Dave Yost of Ohio and Timothy Fox of Montana. “Let justice be done, though the heavens may fall. But the District Court’s ruling is wrong, and its errors threaten harm to millions of people in the Buckeye and Treasure states.” A federal judge in Texas ruled in December that all of Obamacare is unconstitutional. That decision has been put on hold as the lawsuit winds it way through the courts. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear an appeal filed by 17 Democratic-led states. (Demko, 4/1)

The Hill: 2 Republican AGs Urge Appeals Court To Overturn ObamaCare Ruling
Two Republican state attorneys general want a federal appeals court to overturn the ruling from a Texas judge that declared the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. In a brief filed Monday with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the attorneys general of Montana and Ohio argued that District Judge Reed O’Connor overstepped his authority in his original ruling. (Weixel, 4/1)

The Hill: GOP Lawmakers Root Against Trump In Court On ObamaCare 
Senate Republicans are privately rooting against President Trump in his court battle to strike down the Affordable Care Act. GOP lawmakers worry that if Trump wins, Congress won’t be able to pass anything to replace ObamaCare — and they’ll pay for it at the ballot box. Republicans generally agree that President Obama’s signature health care law has serious flaws, but they realize getting rid of it while Democrats control the House would leave a vacuum in place of protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions, insurance subsidies and expanded Medicaid. (Bolton and Sullivan, 4/1)

CQ: Capitol Hill Republicans Keep Focus On Lowering Health Costs
President Donald Trump says Republicans will be known as the party of health care, but on Capitol Hill, lawmakers say they’ll keep focusing specifically on lowering health care costs. An ongoing bipartisan effort to lower costs, particularly for prescription drugs, is a far cry from the 2017 effort to roll back the Democrats’ health care law and overhaul its insurance plans. But as Trump has repeatedly raised the idea of a vague, new health care plan in the past week, most lawmakers don’t appear to be charging down that road. (McIntire, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: Obamacare, Trump And A Lawsuit: How Industry Is Reacting
The Trump administration's decision to support eliminating the entire Affordable Care Act has riled lawmakers and industry alike as they navigate the line between politics and the potential practical impact of the lawsuit. The Justice Department's politically volatile move last week to agree with a Texas judge's ruling against the law sparked a political firestorm not likely to end soon in the ramp-up to 2020 elections. It has already inspired calls for a GOP replacement plan. (Luthi, 4/1)

The Associated Press: Association Health Plan Ruling Puts Some Companies In Limbo
A federal judge's ruling against a type of health insurance plan designed for small business owners has some companies now thinking about what to do next. The plans known as association health plans allowed sole proprietors and other business owners to band together to buy insurance at reduced rates. The attorneys general in 11 states and the District of Columbia successfully argued that the plans, part of a Trump administration policy, violated the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. U.S. District Judge John D. Bates said late Friday the plans were "clearly an end-run" around ACA provisions aimed at protecting consumers. (4/10)

And in Arizona —

Arizona Republic: Kate Brophy McGee's Arizona 'Association' Health Insurance Bill Is Dangerous, Critics Say
Senate Bill 1085, which is moving through the Arizona Legislature, expands the ability for small businesses, including sole proprietors, to band together and purchase health insurance as an "association." The bill codifies into state law elements in a final rule issued by the U.S. Department of Labor in June that loosened some of the regulations on association health plans to make them more attractive to businesses that have not previously used them. (Innes, 4/1)

The New York Times: Impasse Over Aid For Puerto Rico Stalls Billions In Federal Disaster Relief
The Senate on Monday blocked billions of dollars in disaster aid for states across the country as Republicans and Democrats clashed over President Trump’s opposition to sending more food and infrastructure help to Puerto Rico. Opposition came from both parties for different reasons. Most Republicans refused to endorse a recovery bill passed this year by the House. They cited Mr. Trump’s opposition to the bill’s Puerto Rico funding, as well as their own concerns that the bill lacked money for Midwestern states, like Iowa and Nebraska, that have since been devastated by flooding and tornadoes. (Cochrane, 4/1)

The Washington Post: Emergency Aid Bill Stalls In Senate Over Puerto Rico Dispute
The vote on the GOP bill was 44 in favor and 49 against. The House Democratic bill failed on a vote of 46-to-48. Sixty votes were needed for either piece of legislation to advance. It’s unclear how Congress and the administration will move forward to revive the emergency package, and the impasse risks indefinitely delaying disaster funding nationwide amid partisan sniping. Support for disaster aid is often bipartisan on Capitol Hill, but the dispute over this legislation has become increasingly bitter, despite the evident need. (Werner and Stein, 4/1)

Politico: Senate Fails To Advance Disaster Aid Package Amid Puerto Rico Clash
Negotiations around disaster aid hit a snag last week, after Democrats told Republicans they would not back Perdue’s package unless it matched the House-passed plan on money for Puerto Rico, which was devastated by two hurricanes in 2017. Trump, during a closed-door meeting with Republicans last week, reportedly said Puerto Rico was getting too much storm funding. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said on the Senate floor Monday night that Democrats are “unwilling to help” disaster victims “unless their demands are met.” Congress already gave Puerto Rico billions of dollars last year in aid, much of which the U.S. territory has yet to spend, he said. (Scholtes and Levine, 4/1)

The Washington Post: President Trump Lashes Out At Puerto Rico After Disaster Bill Fails In Senate
Trump, who has reportedly said in private that he doesn’t want “another single dollar” going to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, again complained about funding for the island and called San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, a frequent critic, “crazed and incompetent.” “The Democrats today killed a Bill that would have provided great relief to Farmers and yet more money to Puerto Rico despite the fact that Puerto Rico has already been scheduled to receive more hurricane relief funding than any ‘place’ in history,” Trump tweeted around 11 p.m. “The people of Puerto Rico are GREAT, but the politicians are incompetent or corrupt.” (Elfrink, 4/2)

Politico: Pelosi Aide Sought To Undercut Medicare For All
A top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used a private meeting to encourage health policy groups to raise public concerns about “Medicare for All“ just weeks after Democrats recaptured the House majority, multiple people familiar with the session told POLITICO. Wendell Primus, Pelosi’s senior health policy adviser and a long respected voice on health and domestic policy, told the roughly two dozen attendees at the Nov. 30 gathering that House Democratic leadership worried the progressives’ push for Medicare for All risked diverting attention from the party’s core health agenda — the agenda that won them the House and would likely animate Democratic voters right into 2020. (Cancryn, 4/2)

The New York Times: Americans Borrowed $88 Billion To Pay For Health Care Last Year, Survey Finds
Americans borrowed an estimated $88 billion over the last year to pay for health care, according to a survey released on Tuesday by Gallup and the nonprofit West Health. The survey also found that one in four Americans have skipped treatment because of the cost, and that nearly half fear bankruptcy in the event of a health emergency. There was a partisan divide when respondents were asked whether they believed that the American health care system is among the best in the world: Among Republicans, 67 percent of respondents said they believed so; that number was 38 percent among Democrats. (Zraick, 4/2)

In other health industry news —

Pioneer Press: MN Health Insurers Earned $500M In 2018; Some Customers Could See Premium Rebates 
Minnesota health insurers earned $500 million in 2018 — a margin of 1.6 percent, after collecting $31 billion in premiums and paying all expenses. The Minnesota Council of Health Plans announced the earnings numbers Monday. The council represents Minnesota’s seven nonprofit health insurers, which provided coverage for 5.5 million Minnesotans in 2018. The last time financials were this strong for council members was in 2011 when they earned a margin of 1.8 percent. Recent earnings were double what they were in 2017 following two years of costs outpacing revenues. (Magan, 4/1)

The Star Tribune: Minnesota Nonprofit Insurers See Operating Income Soar To $500M 
Operating income for Minnesota’s nonprofit health insurers more than doubled last year as health plans made more money than expected in the market where individuals buy coverage — and could be issuing $37 million in rebates, as a result. The financial data released Monday show the continued recovery of the individual market, which provides coverage for a small share of all Minnesotans but has had an outsized impact on insurance company finances since changes with the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Snowbeck, 4/1)

Politico Pro: Centene Extends Footprint While Criticisms Of Networks Echo
The company's $17.3 billion acquisition of WellCare Health Plans, announced last week, will make it a powerhouse in the Obamacare and Medicaid markets, with 22 million members across all 50 states and annual revenues of nearly $100 billion. The question is whether persistent complaints about overly restrictive policies and surprise billings will follow. (Demko, 4/1)

The Associated Press: Alabama Lawmakers Seek To Outlaw Almost All Abortions
Alabama lawmakers are proposing to outlaw almost all abortions as conservatives take aim at the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday will introduce legislation to make it a felony to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy unless the mother's health is in jeopardy. If enacted, it would be the most restrictive in the country and certain to be challenged in court. (4/2)

The Hill: Supreme Court Sides With Planned Parenthood In Declining To Hear Case
The Supreme Court on Monday denied a request by a group of anti-abortion activists to throw out charges brought against them in a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood. The Center for Medical Progress had requested the Supreme Court toss out Planned Parenthood's claims that they committed federal conspiracy and wiretapping violations. Planned Parenthood also claims that the Center for Medical Progress violated California law by fraudulently gaining access to its facilities. (Thomsen, 4/1)

Texas Tribune: Texas Abortion Providers, Local Governments Couldn't Partner Under Bill
The Texas Senate approved in a preliminary vote Monday its first major anti-abortion bill of the session — a measure that would prohibit state and local governments from partnering with agencies that perform abortions, even if they contract for services not related to the procedure. (Sundaram, 4/1)

Boston Globe: Mass. GOP Accuses Abortion Rights Activists Of Supporting ‘Infanticide’
The party has launched Facebook ads accusing individual Democratic cosponsors of supporting “infanticide” through the bill that would permit abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy in cases where the fetus has a fatal anomaly and is not expected to survive. Massachusetts law currently allows an abortion after 24 weeks only if necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother. (Ebbert, 4/2)

Iowa Public Radio: Fetal Homicide Bill That Defines Personhood Advances In The House
A House subcommittee has advanced a bill (SF 523) that would increase the criminal penalty for intentionally or accidentally causing the death of an “unborn person.” It was the first opportunity for supporters and opponents of the proposal to weigh in on controversial language defining an unborn person as starting at conception. (Gerlock, 4/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Tech, Health Firms Race To Help Consumers Manage Personal Data
Technology and health-care companies are competing to develop new ways for consumers to corral their digital health data, prompting questions about data privacy and control. Companies such as Apple Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. are rolling out online tools that consumers can use to bring together health information now siloed in the systems of hospitals, doctors and insurers. These personal health records aim to consolidate information like diagnoses and lab results for consumers to access easily via their smartphones or computers. (Mathews, 4/2)

The Wall Street Journal: What AI Can Tell From Listening To You
Are you depressed? In danger of a heart attack? Dozing at the wheel of your car? Artificial intelligence promises to figure that out—and more—by listening to your voice. A range of businesses, health-care organizations and government agencies are exploring new systems that can analyze the human voice to determine a person’s emotions, mental and physical health, and even height and weight. (McCormick, 4/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Virtual Simulations Offer A Cure To Doctors’ Poor Bedside Manner
The bedside manner of doctors, nurses and other caregivers is getting a boost from an unexpected source: artificial intelligence. Virtual simulations that incorporate AI are making their way into medical training programs across the country, placing caregivers in the role of patients or having them interact in their real-life roles with virtual patients. The simulations aim to help train health-care workers to be more empathetic and improve difficult conversations with patients suffering from a wide range of conditions including Alzheimer’s, cancer and substance addictions. (McConnon, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: Telehealth Use Surged In 2017
Telehealth use jumped 53% from 2016 to 2017, outpacing all other sites of care, according to a new report. Telehealth utilization grew nearly twice as fast in urban than rural areas over that span, according to a new white paper from Fair Health, which parsed its database of 28 billion commercial insurance claims, the largest repository in the country. National use of urgent-care centers increased 14%, followed by retail clinics at 7% and ambulatory surgery centers at 6%, while emergency department utilization declined 2%. (Kacik, 4/1)

The Associated Press: Measles Count In US This Year Already More Than All Of 2018
The number of U.S. measles cases through the first three months of this year have surpassed the count for all of 2018, health officials say. There have been 387 cases through March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. There were 372 last year. The numbers are preliminary, and may change. But the 2019 tally is already the most since 2014, when 667 were reported. (4/1)

The Washington Post: U.S. Measles Cases Surge To Second-Highest Level In Nearly Two Decades
The upsurge, now at 387 cases, reflects outbreaks that have spread to 15 states, including New York, California, Texas and Washington, according to figures released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That surpasses the 372 reported for all of last year. Many of those outbreaks originated after unvaccinated individuals traveled to Europe, the Philippines and Israel, where the infection is more common, and returned to the United States after contracting the illness. “Europe is even worse now than North America,” said Peter Hotez, an infectious disease expert at the Baylor College of Medicine. “This is all the new normal. Nobody ever thought we’d ever be at this place.” (Sun, 4/1)

The Hill: Measles Cases In First Three Months Of This Year Already Top 2018 Total 
Vaccine rates have dropped slightly in recent years, mostly among children, health experts say, due to the spread of misinformation online about vaccine safety. While every state requires that students receive certain vaccines before starting school, most states also allow exemptions for religious or personal beliefs. (Hellmann, 4/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Measles Cases Top Last Year’s Total
Measles cases have has risen since 2000 as infected travelers bring the disease to the U.S. Those travelers—unvaccinated foreign nationals or Americans who become infected abroad—have spread the highly contagious disease to others in the U.S. who aren’t vaccinated or hadn’t previously had measles. These cases have fueled outbreaks in communities where large numbers of people haven’t been inoculated because of personal or religious exemptions to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. (Abbott, 4/1)

The New York Times: One Day There May Be A Drug To Turbocharge Your Brain. Who Should Get It?
In 2011, Dr. Dena Dubal was hired by the University of California, San Francisco, as an assistant professor of neurology. She set up a new lab with one chief goal: to understand a mysterious hormone called Klotho. Dr. Dubal wondered if it might be the key to finding effective treatments for dementia and other disorders of the aging brain. At the time, scientists only knew enough about Klotho to be fascinated by it. Mice bred to make extra Klotho lived 30 percent longer, for instance. But scientists also had found Klotho in the brain, and so Dr. Dubal launched experiments to see whether it had any effect on how mice learn and remember. (Zimmer, 4/2)

Stat: Biogen Believes Failed Alzheimer’s Trials May Still Offer Clues To Way Forward
Dr. Michael Ehlers, Biogen’s head of research, said Monday that the company is “looking very closely” at the data on aducanumab, an Alzheimer’s drug meant to slow the disease by targeting sticky brain plaques called beta-amyloid. Last month, Biogen terminated two large studies of aducanumab after determining that the drug had no hope of succeeding. Now Biogen must decide what that failure means for the rest of its work in Alzheimer’s, a ruling Ehlers said will arrive “in the coming weeks.” (Garde, 4/1)

WBUR: Insys Therapeutics Pushed Opioid With Bribes And Lies, Prosecutors Say
In Boston's federal courthouse, prosecutors spent two months calling witness and laying out their argument in the criminal case against Insys Therapeutics founder and onetime billionaire, John Kapoor, and four of his former employees. The defense could begin presenting its case Monday. If convicted, the opioid entrepreneur could face up to 20 years behind bars. Kapoor and his co-defendants are accused of racketeering, a charge often applied to drug kingpins and mafia bosses. (Emanuel, 4/1)

Kaiser Health News: Elite Hospitals Plunge Into Unproven Stem Cell Treatments
The online video seems to promise everything an arthritis patient could want. The six-minute segment mimics a morning talk show, using a polished TV host to interview guests around a coffee table. Dr. Adam Pourcho extols the benefits of stem cells and “regenerative medicine” for healing joints without surgery. Pourcho, a sports medicine specialist, says he has used platelet injections to treat his own knee pain, as well as a tendon injury in his elbow. Extending his arm, he says, “It’s completely healed.” (Szabo, 4/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Walgreens Isn’t Ready To Quit Cigarette Sales Yet
Under pressure from federal regulators and some investors, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. is testing tobacco-free stores in the U.S., but the pharmacy chain’s leader has no plans to quit selling cigarettes entirely. “The safety of our patients is very important, but we also have to do what our customers are requiring us to do,” Walgreens Boots Chief Executive Stefano Pessina said in a recent interview. “We see that when we don’t sell tobacco, we have a lot of [negative] reactions.” (Al-Muslim, 3/31)

The Associated Press: 2nd Guatemalan Child Dead In US Custody Had Flu, Infection
An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy who died while in custody of the U.S. border patrol on Christmas Eve died of the flu and a bacterial infection, authorities in the Central American nation said Monday. Oscar Padilla, Guatemalan consul in Phoenix, Arizona, told The Associated Pres that the autopsy report on Felipe Gomez Alonzo was delivered in recent days and had found he died from the infection and "complications from influenza B." (4/1)

The New York Times: Omega-3s May Ease Asthma Symptoms
Omega-3 fatty acids in foods may reduce symptoms of childhood asthma, while omega-6 fats may aggravate them, a small study suggests. Omega-3s are found in high concentrations in fish and walnuts. Omega-6 sources include corn oil and other vegetable oils. Some foods contain both. (Bakalar, 4/1)

The Associated Press: North Carolina Orders Duke Energy To Excavate All Coal Ash
The country's largest electric company was ordered Monday to excavate coal ash from all of its North Carolina power plant sites, slashing the risk of toxic chemicals leaking into water supplies but potentially adding billions of dollars to the costs consumers pay. Duke Energy Corp. must remove the residue left after decades of burning coal to produce electricity, North Carolina's environmental agency said. (4/1)

The Wall Street Journal: North Carolina Requires Duke Energy To Remove Coal Ash From All Storage Basins
The decision was a blow to Duke, which had originally agreed to remove coal ash from 22 of its 31 basins in the state and move it to lined landfills. The company proposed capping nine of its basins that it viewed as structurally sound and posing little threat to groundwater. Coal ash is a byproduct from coal-fired power plants, which scrub potential air pollutants from their emissions. That ash can contain arsenic, selenium, lead and mercury. Duke said Monday’s order would add decades and more than $4 billion to the original $5.6 billion estimate for cleanup at its plants. Duke is in the process of gradually retiring its coal plants. Some of the coal-ash basins are at plants that have already closed. (Bauerlein, 4/1)

The Associated Press: California Jury Orders Chevron To Pay $21M For Cancer Claims
A Northern California jury ordered Chevron Corp. to pay the families of two brothers who died of cancer a combined $21.4 million after concluding the company failed to properly warn the men about the dangers of a toxic solvent they worked with at a company-owned tire factory. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Contra Costa County jury’s verdict Friday came after three days of deliberations and four weeks of trial. (4/1)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Women Exposed To BP Spill Have Higher Levels Of Post-Traumatic Stress, Study Finds 
Women who were exposed to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in mostly rural areas of seven southeastern Louisiana parishes continued to experience symptoms of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder three to four years after the accident at levels greater than the national average, according to a study led by researchers with Louisiana State University School of Public Health in New Orleans. The study found that 12.7 percent of women in the study scored at or above symptom levels associated with PTSD, compared to previous studies estimating nationwide prevalence rates of only 3.1 percent for men and 5.3 percent for women. (Schleifstein, 4/1)

The New York Times: Baltimore Mayor To Take Leave Of Absence Amid Children’s Book Scandal
Facing a growing scandal over payments made to her for a series of children’s books that she wrote, Mayor Catherine E. Pugh of Baltimore announced on Monday that she would take an indefinite leave of absence for health reasons. The announcement came shortly after Gov. Larry Hogan asked Maryland state prosecutors to investigate a $500,000 payment that Ms. Pugh had received from a nonprofit health care company with ties to the state and city governments. (Williams, 4/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Baltimore Mayor Takes Leave Of Absence Amid Criticism Over ‘Healthy Holly’ Books
Ms. Pugh, a Democrat elected in 2016, made the announcement hours after Republican Gov. Larry Hogan called for the state prosecutor to investigate the medical system’s purchase of 100,000 “Healthy Holly” books for $500,000 since 2011. Ms. Pugh previously said she returned $100,000 to the system, one of the state’s largest private employers. “These are deeply disturbing allegations,” Mr. Hogan wrote in the letter to State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt. “I am particularly concerned about the UMMS sale because it has significant continuing ties with the State and receives very substantial public funding.” (Calvert, 4/1)

The Baltimore Sun: Kaiser Permanente, Associated Black Charities Paid Baltimore Mayor Pugh Almost $200K For 'Healthy Holly' Books 
The University of Maryland Medical System wasn’t the only major buyer of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh’s “Healthy Holly” children’s books. Health provider Kaiser Permanente paid Pugh more than $100,000 to buy about 20,000 copies of her books during a period when the company was seeking a lucrative contract to provide health benefits to city employees. (Rector, Richman, Bowie and Cohn, 4/1)

The Baltimore Sun: As A Maryland Senator, Pugh Pushed Bills To Benefit Hospitals While Getting Book Payments From Medical System 
While she received hundreds of thousands of dollars though a no-bid book deal with the University of Maryland Medical System, then state senator Catherine Pugh sponsored dozens of bills affecting hospitals in Maryland — including several that would have benefited UMMS. From 2011 to 2016, Pugh — who is now on indefinite leave as Baltimore’s mayor — sponsored or co-sponsored more than 40 bills affecting hospitals, doctors and insurance companies, according to General Assembly records. The Baltimore Democrat did this while serving on the medical system’s Board of Directors, which is now under fire over accusations of self-dealing in part because of Pugh’s $500,000 book deal. (Broadwater, 4/2)

The New York Times: A California Hospital Filmed Women Without Their Knowledge, Lawsuit Says
Dozens of women were filmed without their knowledge while receiving medical attention — including having surgery and giving birth — at a California hospital, according to a lawsuit filed last week in a state superior court. A lawyer for the women said 1,800 patients may have been filmed. The lawsuit alleges that motion-activated cameras were set up in three operating rooms at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, Calif., as part of an effort to catch a possible medicine thief. (Fortin, 4/2)

The Associated Press: States Renew Push For Taxes On Sugary Drinks
Nearly three decades after a U.S. state last imposed a special tax on sugary drinks, Connecticut's governor is pushing for one to help close a budget deficit — and bracing for a fight. Taxes on soda and other sugar-loaded drinks have taken effect in recent years in several cities around the country, but lobbying from the beverage industry and its allies has been credited with helping to block statewide proposals that emerge annually in state legislatures around the country. (4/1)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Ochsner Opens Urgent Care Clinic In The Central Business District 
Ochsner Health System has opened an urgent care clinic on the first floor of the Whitney Hancock building at 701 Poydras St. that will offer a variety of walk-in services for adults and pediatric patients over the age of six months. The facility is located on the first floor of the building and is equipped to treat non-life-threatening allergic reactions, fevers or flu-like symptoms, mild to moderate stomach aches, rashes, lacerations and abscesses, according to a press release. (Clark, 4/1)

The Associated Press: NY State Poised To Raise Smoking Age From 18 To 21
The Democrat-controlled New York Senate passed legislation Monday putting the state a step closer to joining seven others where the legal age for buying cigarettes and electronic cigarettes has been raised from 18 to 21. The state Assembly, also controlled by Democrats, passed its own legislation last month. (4/1)

California Healthline: California Hospitals See Massive Surge In Homeless Patients
Homeless patients made about 100,000 visits to California hospitals in 2017, marking a 28% rise from two years earlier, according to the most recent state discharge data. More than a third of those visits involved a diagnosis of mental illness, according to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. By contrast, 6% of all hospital discharges in California during that time involved a mental health diagnosis. (Reese, 4/1)

Concord Monitor: House Democrat Budget-Writers Remove Funding For Psychiatric Hospital Construction
Top members of the New Hampshire House are moving to reject a plan by Gov. Chris Sununu to construct a state-run secure psychiatric hospital, opting instead to renovate New Hampshire Hospital to take in higher-need patients. A budget proposal crafted by State House Democrats and revealed Monday would remove a provision proposed by Sununu to create a $26 million, 60-bed hospital by June 2021. (DeWitt, 4/1)

Tampa Bay Times: Certificate-Of-Need Repeal Starts Inching Forward Again In Florida Senate
A bill prioritized by the Florida House that would eliminate regulations on where hospitals can build or add beds is moving again in the Senate, as legislative leaders begin putting pressure on passing their top bills and negotiate toward agreement on the state budget. The Senate Health Policy committee voted 9-1 Monday to advance SB 1712, with only Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, dissenting — it would remove a requirement that general hospitals apply and obtain approval from the state to build or expand. (Koh, 4/1)

New Hampshire Union Leader: Manchester Health Center Receives $45K To Help Pregnant Women, Newborns With Substance Abuse Disorder 
The one2one USA Foundation, based in New York, announced Monday it has awarded the Manchester Community Health Center a $45,000 grant to help pregnant women and their newborn babies suffering from substance abuse disorder. Proceeds from the grant are designated to create a new health and social services position within the Manchester Community Health Center (MCHC) to provide local women with medical and social welfare services. (Feely, 4/1)

The CT Mirror: Bill Allowing Doctors To Prescribe Lethal Doses Of Medication Dies In Committee
Despite fresh optimism at the Capitol and a change of heart by the state’s medical society, leaders of the legislature’s Public Health Committee could not muster enough support Monday to advance a controversial measure allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminally ill patients. State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, a co-chair of the Public Health committee, said “strongly held” religious beliefs among lawmakers, coupled with concerns from people with disabilities, prevented the bill from advancing to the House floor. (Carlesso, 4/1)

Arizona Republic: Nonprofit Arizona Hospitals Struggling To Keep Expenses Under Control
In general, hospitals in the state perform better financially than the national average. They've had to be frugal, particularly during the Great Recession, when the state's Medicaid program was cut. Now, new competition and innovation are causing some pain. (Wiles and Innes, 4/1)

Sacramento Bee: Earthquake Safety Law Could Add Stress To State's Hospitals
California’s hospitals are scrambling to retrofit their buildings before the “The Big One” hits, an effort that will cost tens of billions dollars and could jeopardize healthcare access, according to a newly released study. The state’s 418 hospitals have a deadline from the state, too. They’re racing to meet seismic safety standards set by a California law that was inspired by the deadly 1994 Northridge Earthquake, which damaged 11 hospitals and forced evacuations at eight of them. (Sheeler, 4/1)

Bloomberg: SCOTUS Rules Against Death-Row Inmate With Rare Health Issue 
A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Missouri can give a lethal injection to a convicted murderer who says his rare medical condition means he would probably choke on his own blood. Voting 5-4 along ideological lines, the justices rejected arguments from Russell Bucklew, who suffers from cavernous hemangioma, a disease that has caused blood-filled tumors in his head, neck and throat. (Stohr, 4/1)

Georgia Health News: State Asking Feds To End Oversight Of Mental Health Services
Early this year, in the waning days of his tenure as Georgia governor, Nathan Deal wrote the U.S. Department of Justice a four-page letter, asking for an end to federal oversight of the state’s mental health and developmental disabilities system. The oversight role stems from a 2010 settlement agreement between the state and the Justice Department. (Miller, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: Western Maryland Health System Seeks To Join UPMC
Western Maryland Health System has signed a letter of intent to join UPMC in a deal that would expand UPMC's reach into a third state. The providers are still working out exactly how the affiliation would work, but they said they expect it to close by the end of the year. They did not disclose terms. (Bannow, 4/1)

New Hampshire Union Leader: House Budget Draft Nixes Plan For $26M Secure Psychiatric Hospital 
House budget writers have zeroed out one of Gov. Chris Sununu’s most widely applauded initiatives — his plan for a new secure psychiatric unit to house some of the state’s most challenging mental health patients. The House Finance Committee will vote Wednesday on its version of the two-year revenue and spending plan, which is at odds with the governor’s plan on several fronts, including family medical leave, capital gains taxes, business taxes, education funding and mental health services. (Solomon, 4/1)

Kansas City Star: Kansas’ Hopes For Medical Marijuana Wither As No Votes Taken
Advocates saw momentum for the movement in November, when Missouri voters approved medical marijuana by a comfortable margin and Kansans elected a Democratic governor, Laura Kelly, who said she would support a “well-regulated” program. But most of the legislative session has now come and gone with little action on several medical marijuana bills. (Marso, 4/1)

The Wall Street Journal: What Causes Cancer? It’s Complicated
A San Francisco jury decided last month that a plaintiff’s case of non-Hodgkin lymphoma was caused by Bayer’s Roundup weedkiller, which contains glyphosate, a probable carcinogen; last Wednesday the panel awarded him $80 million in damages. Less than a week before, a jury in Oakland, Calif., awarded $29 million to a woman who claimed her mesothelioma was caused by asbestos in Johnson & Johnson ’s talc powder. Last year in Missouri, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $4.7 billion to 22 plaintiffs who believed the powder caused ovarian cancer. These decisions aren’t the win for consumers that they might seem to be. Instead, they represent a search for a scapegoat that distorts the science of cancer as well as society’s conception of the disease. (Arthur W. Lambert, 4/1)

The Washington Post: The Kids Talked About Shootings, College Costs, Depression. Were The Adults Listening?
It’s still hard for McKenzie Turner to talk about that day. She was walking home from middle school three years ago with her best friend, who couldn’t wait to tell his dad that he’d aced a math test. He bolted away from McKenzie so he could share the news. “But when he walked into his house, he found his dad was shot. He was bleeding out,” said McKenzie, now 15 and a sophomore at Richard Wright Public Charter School in Southeast Washington. “His dad died.” (Petula Dvorak, 4/1)

Stat: Addressing The Challenges Of Direct-To-Consumer Health Products 
Health products are increasingly moving from the realm of the medical professional to the consumer. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) versions of teeth alignment kits, genetic tests, hearing aids, heart-rhythm monitors, neurostimulation devices, and mental health tools are already on the market, causing professional organizations of dentists, geneticists, audiologists, cardiologists, neurologists, and psychiatrists to grapple with challenges to their authority and practice. So far, questions about safe and appropriate marketing and use have reverberated mainly within individual professional domains. We believe that thinking about these products as part of a larger problem can yield valuable insights. (Anna Wexler and Steven Joffe, 4/2)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Defunding Planned Parenthood Risks Lives
If the drivers of this effort to defund Planned Parenthood were actually concerned with life, then we would see just as much effort on their end to ensure that women have the resources they need to access these services. Early detection is vital to addressing health concerns such as cervical cancer, breast cancer and STDs that can lead to serious complications if not treated right away. (Rebekah Bolser, 4/1)

Miami Herald: People Of Faith Must Act To Confront The Challenges Of Climate Change
The Nature Conservancy and St. Thomas are committed to building a climate-conscious community that learns from those of various religious backgrounds. Both understand the importance of faith leaders in amplifying climate-change education. The moral perspective of the faithful adds further urgency to the scientific data all around us. (Temperance Morgan and David Armstrong, 4/1)

Arizona Republic: Phoenix VA Is Still Broken, Which Is Why We Need An Office There
Veterans should not have to go to their federal representatives to help them cut through the VA red tape, yet it inexplicably continues to occur. One of the primary features of our bill is to install a dedicated, full-time congressional liaison at the Phoenix VA so that we can help our veterans get the care that they deserve, as swiftly as possible. (Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko, et. al., 4/1)

The Washington Post: No, Mick Mulvaney, Republicans Don’t Have A Respectable Record On Preexisting Conditions
Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney insisted Sunday that the 60 million Americans with preexisting medical conditions have no reason to fear President Trump’s new push to scrap Obamacare. “The debate about preexisting conditions is over,” he said. “Both parties support them, and anyone telling you anything different is lying to you for political gain.” He’s right that someone is being dishonest about preexisting conditions, but it’s not the Democrats. For nine years, Republicans have promised a silver-bullet policy that would adequately cover Americans without resort to big spending, mandates or costs to healthy people, if only the voters would let them govern. After voters put them in charge, they offered one half-baked plan after another and never could pass one. Mr. Mulvaney is either deluded or himself lying when he argues that Republicans have a respectable record on preexisting conditions. (4/1)

The Washington Post: If Trump Ends Obamacare, Keeping My Daughter Alive Will Wipe Me Out
My daughter Claire is 12, growing from a sweet child into a very opinionated teen, from a little girl who still enjoys looking through picture books and watching cartoons with her siblings into a young woman who prefers looking through magazines and watching full-length movies while eating M&Ms. As with most parents, watching my baby grow up is bittersweet. However, unlike most parents, I was not sure my daughter would ever make it to her teenage years. (Jamie Davis Smith, 4/1)

The New York Times: Republican Health Care Lying Syndrome
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and Republican claims about health care. O.K., it’s not news that politicians make misleading claims, some more than others. According to a running tally kept by Daniel Dale of The Toronto Star, as of Monday morning, Donald Trump had said 4,682 false things as president. But G.O.P. health care claims are special, in several ways. (Paul Krugman, 4/1)

The Hill: The Trump Health Care Pivot 
Health care is a big deal. It routinely ranks as the No. 1 or No. 2 issue that the American people care about most. Yes, it is even more important than the Russian collusion story. So, President Trump was absolutely right to pivot to health care as the book closed on the Mueller investigation. Of course, it would have been nice to tip off his friends and allies on Capitol Hill that such a pivot was coming. (John Feehery, 4/1)

USA Today: The ACA Is Under Threat By The Trump Administration
At a time when one in four Americans are forgoing needed health care because they simply can't afford to see their doctor or buy their prescription drugs, the Trump administration is making the situation worse.It is waging war on some of our country's most vulnerable people — children, the terminally ill, people with disabilities and the elderly — by urging the complete judicial repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Such an action would leave millions of families without health care coverage, their health care costs would increase exponentially, and our nation would erase hard-won protections for people with pre-existing conditions.Is this what making America great again looks like? (Frederick Isasi, 4/2)

The Wall Street Journal: The Case For Medicare For All
A single-payer health-insurance system can finance good-quality coverage for all U.S. residents while still reducing overall health-care spending by roughly 10%, according to a study I co-authored last November. All Americans would be able to get care from their chosen providers without having to pay premiums, deductibles or copayments. Other countries currently provide good health care to residents at a fraction of the U.S. cost. As of 2017, the U.S. spent $3.3 trillion on health care—17% of gross domestic product. Germany, France, Japan, Canada, the U.K., Australia, Spain and Italy spent between 9% and 11% of GDP on health care. Yet some measures—like those based on the amenable mortality rate, which tracks medically preventable deaths—rank the U.S. well below those countries. (Robert Pollin, 3/28)