The New York Times: White House Proposes $4.4 Trillion Budget That Adds $7 Trillion To Deficits
President Trump sent Congress a $4.4 trillion budget proposal on Monday outlining steep cuts to domestic programs, large increases in military spending and a ballooning federal deficit that illustrates how far Republicans have strayed from their longtime embrace of balanced budgets. The blueprint has little to no chance of being enacted as written and amounts to a vision statement by Mr. Trump, who as a businessman once called himself the “king of debt” and has overseen a federal spending spree that will earn him that title in an entirely different arena. (Davis, 2/12)

The Associated Press: Trump's High-Spending Budget Reverses Longtime GOP Dogma
Trump's budget revived his calls for big cuts to domestic programs that benefit the poor and middle class, such as food stamps, housing subsidies and student loans. Retirement benefits would remain mostly untouched by Trump's plan, as he has pledged, though Medicare providers would absorb about $500 billion in cuts — a nearly 6 percent reduction. Some beneficiaries in Social Security's disability program would have to re-enter the workforce under proposed changes to eligibility rules. (Taylor and Crutsinger, 2/13)

The Associated Press: Winners And Losers Under Medicare Drug Plan In Trump Budget
Some Medicare beneficiaries would face higher prescription drug costs under President Donald Trump's budget even as the sickest patients save thousands of dollars, a complex trade-off that may make it harder to sell Congress on the plan in an election year. In budget documents, the administration said its proposals strike a balance between improving the popular "Part D" prescription benefit for the 42 million seniors enrolled, while correcting design flaws that increase program costs for taxpayers. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is expected to testify on the proposal later this week in Congress. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/13)

The Wall Street Journal: White House Eyes Role Of Middlemen In Drug Price Fight
On the surface, the plans to lower drug prices in the Trump Administration’s 2019 budget shouldn’t cause much pain to the health-care industry. A closer look shows where policymakers are hoping to get deeper cost savings. In the 2019 budget released Monday, the White House unveiled a series of plans to lower drug prices, including making certain generic drugs free and capping out of pocket spending for Medicare beneficiaries. (Grant, 2/12)

Kaiser Health News: Trump’s Budget Proposal Swings At Drug Prices With A Glancing Blow
President Donald Trump’s new budget proposal flirts with combating high prescription drug prices, but industry watchers say the tweaks to Medicare and Medicaid do little more than dance around the edges of lowering the actual prices of drugs. The White House’s proposal, which comes after Congress passed a two-year spending deal last week, though, sets the tone for the administration’s focus on prescription drugs. (Tribble, 2/12)

Politico Pro: Trump's Drug Pricing Proposals Would Save $5.7B
OMB couldn't calculate the budgetary impact of some ideas, such as a proposal to establish an inflation limit for reimbursement of physician-administered drugs in Medicare Part B. The administration says this would address "abusive" pricing by manufacturers. (Karlin-Smith, 2/12)

The Washington Post: Trump Wants To Overhaul America’s Safety Net With Giant Cuts To Housing, Food Stamps And Health Care
The spending plan reaches beyond the White House’s own power over the government social safety net and presumes lawmakers will overhaul long-standing entitlement programs for the poor in ways beyond what Congress so far has been willing to do. The changes call on lawmakers to eliminate the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and transform the rest of that program into a system of capped payments to states; convert food assistance into a hybrid of commodity deliveries and traditional cash benefits; and expand requirements that low-income people work to qualify for federal assistance. (Jan, Dewey, Goldstein and Stein, 2/12)

The Hill: Trump Budget Seeks Savings Through ObamaCare Repeal
The White House budget for fiscal 2019 seeks major savings by repealing ObamaCare and endorsed a Senate GOP bill as the best way to do so. “The Budget supports a two-part approach to repealing and replacing Obamacare, starting with enactment of legislation modeled closely after the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson (GCHJ) bill as soon as possible,” the White House said in its budget request. (Weixel, 2/12)

Los Angeles Times: White House Releases Budget, Forecasts A Decade Of Mounting Debt
His budget would slash almost $700 billion in federal healthcare spending that helps low- and moderate-income Americans who rely on insurance marketplaces created by the 2010 healthcare law. As Republicans proposed last year, the plan would replace much existing healthcare spending with grants to states, allowing each one to craft its own health program. Similar proposals last year failed in the Senate, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has indicated that the chamber won't consider another run at Obamacare this year. (Parsons, 2/12)

The New York Times: What’s In The White House Budget Request?
The president’s budget singles out abortion providers and would prohibit Health and Human Services funding, including money used for family planning, from going to any clinic or health care facility that also offers abortion services. Though the language is broadly written, its intended target is Planned Parenthood, which relies on government funding to offer a variety of services to women other than abortion. The budget would help achieve the longstanding goal of social conservatives to cut off Planned Parenthood from federal assistance. (2/12)

The Hill: Trump Budget Proposes Big Changes To Anti-Drug Office 
President Trump’s budget is proposing moving two grants out of the anti-drug office, a major change that’s already sparked a backlash from lawmakers and more than 150 advocacy organizations. The administration has justified the proposal in its budget, saying it “will enable ONDCP to focus resources on its core mission: to reduce drug use and its consequences by leading and coordinating the development, implementation and assessment of U.S. drug policy.” (Roubein, 2/12)

Modern Healthcare: Budget Deal Could Boost Credit For Safety-Net Hospitals
Congress' decision to delay Medicaid disproportionate-share hospital payment cuts has the double benefit of sprucing up the credit quality of safety-net hospitals and local governments, Moody's Investors Service said Monday. The budget deal passed Friday includes a two-year delay in the cuts, which would have amounted to $2 billion in fiscal 2018. Although the cuts technically took effect Oct. 1, 2017, the beginning of the federal fiscal 2018, hospitals had not yet felt the effects. The move will be credit-positive for safety-net hospitals, which treat large numbers of indigent patients and often rely on supplemental payments or government subsidies, according to a Moody's credit outlook report released Monday. (Bannow, 2/12)

The Washington Post: Trump Budget Cuts 2019: What Trump Proposed Cutting In His Budget
Many of the cuts in the plan are unlikely to become reality: Congress just increased spending limits last week, and it rarely dares to change entitlement programs. But the budget is an important signal of the administration’s priorities. (2/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Budget Proposal Projects Big Jump In Deficits
The blueprint underscores what has become clear in recent months: that the budget austerity Republicans pursued in 2011 has ended. GOP lawmakers and Mr. Trump are now pursuing fiscal policies that tolerate wider deficits in a bid to ramp up economic growth. (Davidson, 2/12)

The Washington Post: White House Budget Proposal Includes Huge Deficits, Cuts In Safety Net
“Does it balance? No, it doesn’t,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters Monday. “I probably could have made it balance, but you all would have rightly absolutely excoriated us for using funny numbers because it would have taken funny numbers do to it.” (Paletta and Werner, 2/12)

Concord Monitor: N.H. Nursing Homes See Medicare Cuts In Federal Budget Plan
It was hailed as the long-overdue compromise. With a six-week funding extension, $300 billion for the military, and a promise for $6 billion in opioid prevention funds – last week’s federal spending deal drew bipartisan praise. But some New Hampshire nursing homes aren’t celebrating. Tucked into the 600-page bill is a series of cuts to long-term health services. According to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the new legislation reduces direct Medicare funding for nursing homes by $1.9 billion over 10 years – or $140 million starting in October. (DeWitt, 2/12)

The Hill: Trump Releases Budget Proposal For Health Department 
The Department of Health and Human Services would receive $95.4 billion under the budget proposal released by the Trump administration Monday. Under the proposal, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would face a cut but the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration would see increases. (Hellmann, 2/12)

Modern Healthcare: Trump Calls For $18 Billion Cut To HHS Funding
Trump's proposed budget allocates $68.4 billion to HHS, a 21% decrease or $17.9 billion less than what the agency received in fiscal 2017. It's unclear if the proposed cuts, or any of the proposals outlined in the budget documents released Monday, will be enacted given that Congress just passed a two-year budget bill. The plan received immediate praise from HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Monday. "The president's budget makes investments and reforms that are vital to making our health and human services programs work for Americans and to sustaining them for future generations," Azar said in a statement. (Dickson, 2/12)

Politico Pro: Trump Budget Seeks Deep Cuts To HHS, Entitlements
In the meantime, the White House is looking to take a hatchet to public health departments by consolidating several agencies into the National Institutes of Health — including workplace safety initiatives that the administration argues are outdated and unnecessary. “Almost 50 years later, the majority of schools of public health include coursework, and many academic institutions have developed specializations in these areas,” the administration wrote in its justification for shuttering federal occupational health and safety training programs. (Cancryn, 2/12)

CQ: HHS: Trump Seeks Deep Health Funding Cuts And Health Law Repeal
While steep cuts are unlikely to become reality, the evolving HHS budget signals that the administration heard the appeals from lawmakers in both parties who support robust funding for medical research and disease prevention, especially amid public health crises like opioid abuse. (Siddons and McIntire, 2/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Pick For Indian Health Services Cites Business Savvy, But Financial History Show Struggles
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the troubled Indian Health Service left his latest employer in a state of financial disarray, filed for personal bankruptcy and had liens imposed on one of his own businesses for failing to pay federal taxes, according to public documents and interviews. The nominee, Robert Weaver, a member of the Quapaw tribe of Oklahoma, has cited his private-sector business acumen and leadership of several small businesses as key qualifications to lead the agency and its roughly $6 billion budget. (Frosch and Weaver, 2/13)

Politico: Trump's HHS Worked With Conservative Group On Planned Parenthood Policy
A conservative legal organization worked with the Trump administration to make it easier for states to defund Planned Parenthood, according to documents obtained by congressional Democrats and shared with POLITICO. HHS last month told states they no longer have to comply with Obama administration policy that made it difficult for states to exclude the women's health group from their Medicaid programs — an announcement timed to the March of Life anti-abortion rally. HHS received a draft legal analysis from the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom a week before the announcement, according to House Oversight Committee ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings. (Haberkorn, 2/12)

And in other news —

Stat: NIH Funding Contributed To 210 Approved Drugs In Recent Years, Study Says
A new study makes a strong case for the importance of government support for basic research: Federally funded studies contributed to the science that underlies every one of the 210 new drugs approved between 2010 and 2016. Researchers at Bentley University scoured millions of research papers for mentions of those 210 new molecular entities, or NMEs, as well as studies on their molecular targets. Then, they looked to see which of those studies had received any funding from the National Institutes of Health. (Thielking, 2/12)

Modern Healthcare: Title X Grantees On Edge Over Delayed Funding Announcement 
In Texas, 28 women's health providers and a total of 100 clinics wait to see if they will get their Title X family planning grant money after it expires March 31, and a recent email from the Trump administration has raised more questions than it has answered their concerns. Texas, given its size probably has more examples of worried providers, but community health centers, hospital hospital-based clinics, public health departments and free-standing providers around the country get money through Title X, a Nixon-era program focused on family planning services for low-income women and families. The program's impact on providers' bottom lines depends on their size and the services the funds subsidize, but for some public health departments and clinics the money is crucial.  (Luthi, 2/12)

The New York Times: He Took A Drug To Prevent AIDS. Then He Couldn’t Get Disability Insurance.
Three years ago, Dr. Philip J. Cheng, a urology resident at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, nicked himself while preparing an H.I.V.-positive patient for surgery. Following hospital protocol, he took a one-month course of Truvada, a cocktail of two anti-H.I.V. drugs, to prevent infection. Later, because he was an unattached gay man, he decided to keep taking Truvada to protect himself from getting H.I.V. through sex. (McNeil, 2/12)

In other news —

The Associated Press: Can Gene Therapy Be Harnessed To Fight The AIDS Virus?
For more than a decade, the strongest AIDS drugs could not fully control Matt Chappell's HIV infection. Now his body controls it by itself, and researchers are trying to perfect the gene editing that made this possible. Scientists removed some of his blood cells, disabled a gene to help them resist HIV, and returned these "edited" cells to him in 2014. So far, it has given the San Francisco man the next best thing to a cure. (Marchione, 2/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Amazon’s Latest Ambition? To Be A Major Hospital Supplier
Amazon.com Inc. is pushing to turn its nascent medical-supplies business into a major supplier to U.S. hospitals and outpatient clinics that could compete with incumbent distributors of items from gauze to hip implants. Amazon has invited hospital executives to its Seattle headquarters on several occasions, most recently in late January, to solicit information about the sector and sound out ideas for expanding the company’s business-to-business marketplace, Amazon Business, into one where hospitals could shop to stock outpatient locations, operating suites and emergency rooms, according to hospital executives who attended the meetings. (Evans and Stevens, 2/13)

In other health industry news —

Bloomberg: A Long Era Of Low Health Care Inflation May Be Coming To End
Hospital prices increased 2.2 percent in December, the fastest rate in four years, according to an analysis by Altarum, a nonprofit health-care research organization. The group analyzes data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources to estimate the underlying prices that health plans and consumers pay for medical goods and services. While overall medical inflation was restrained last year, the report warns that “we could very well be at the cusp” of a return to a more typical pattern where increases in health-care prices outpace the broader inflation rate. (Tozzi, 2/12)

Stat: Risky Tactic, Desperate Need: Trial To Test Brain Implants For Opioid Addiction
The arsenal of therapies available to combat opioid addiction has expanded beyond pills and shots to include over-the-ear electrodes and virtual reality headsets. But an upcoming clinical trial could push the boundaries of addiction treatment further, and by a more invasive means than any therapy currently embraced by medical experts. The therapy, called deep brain stimulation, requires electrodes to be implanted into the brain to regulate activity in the brain’s neurons, much like a pacemaker does to the heart. Deep brain stimulation is currently used to treat tremors related to Parkinson’s disease, and is being tested on patients diagnosed with a variety of brain disorders. (Blau, 2/13)

NPR: U.S. Opioid Crisis Has Cost $1 Trillion Since 2001, Economists Say
The opioid epidemic has cost the U.S. more than a trillion dollars since 2001, according to a new study, and may exceed another $500 million over the next 3 years. The report by Altarum, a nonprofit group that studies the health economy, examined CDC mortality data through June of last year. The greatest financial cost of the opioid epidemic, according to the report, is in lost earnings and productivity losses to employers. Early deaths and substance abuse disorders also take a toll on local, state and federal government through lost tax revenue. (Allen, 2/13)

Stateline: Why Police Backing Is Key To Needle Exchanges
Until the opioid epidemic began seeping into nearly every city and town in the country, the idea of a Main Street storefront offering free needles, alcohol wipes and small metal cookers for heroin users was unthinkable in a conservative Southern city like this one. But these days, most of the roughly 100,000 residents of this historic port on the Cape Fear River are painfully aware that their community has a serious drug problem. Syringes carpet sections of public walkways, drug users congregate in vacant lots, and an increasing number of residents are attending the funerals of friends and family members who have died of an opioid overdose. (Vetal, 2/13)

Stat: Opioid Makers Gave Millions To Patient Advocacy Groups To Sway Prescribing
As the nation grapples with a worsening opioid crisis, a new report suggests that drug makers provided substantial funding to patient advocacy groups and physicians in recent years in order to influence the controversial debate over appropriate usage and prescribing. Specifically, five drug companies funneled nearly $9 million to 14 groups working on chronic pain and issues related to opioid use between 2012 and 2017. At the same time, physicians affiliated with these groups accepted more than $1.6 million from the same companies. In total, the drug makers made more than $10 million in payments since January 2012. (Silverman, 2/12)

CNN: Patient Advocacy Groups Get Kickbacks From Opioid Manufacturers, Report Says
The report is the second to be published as part of a wide-ranging investigation by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee into the marketing and sales practices of opioid manufacturers. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, has been spearheading the effort, which started in March. A report released in September found that manufacturers falsified medical records, misled insurance companies and provided kickbacks to doctors. (Kounang and Goldschmidt, 2/12)

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Drug Overdose Deaths Up 39% -- Nearly Triple US Average
The state’s opioid crisis continued to explode in the first half of last year, with 5,232 Ohio overdose deaths recorded in the 12 months ending June 31, 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. The death toll increased by 1,469 or 39 percent, which trailed only the 43.4-percent hike in Pennsylvania and 39.4-percent increase recorded in Florida. (Ludlow, 2/12)

KQED News: Can Cannabis Save Us From The Opioid Crisis?
Have California’s medical marijuana dispensaries helped ease the state’s opioid crisis? Several studies have found lower rates of opioid-related overdoses in states that have legalized marijuana for medical purposes. (Replogle, 2/12)

The New York Times: Meth, The Forgotten Killer, Is Back. And It’s Everywhere.
They huddled against the biting wind, pacing from one corner to another hoping to score heroin or pills. But a different drug was far more likely to be on offer outside the train station downtown, where homeless drug users live in tents pitched on the sidewalk. “Everybody has meth around here — everybody,” said Sean, a 27-year-old heroin user who hangs out downtown and gave only his first name. “It’s the easiest to find.” (Robles, 2/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Scientists Unearth Hope For New Antibiotics
In a bag of backyard dirt, scientists have discovered a powerful new group of antibiotics they say can wipe out many infections in lab and animal tests, including some microbes that are resistant to most traditional antibiotics. Researchers at Rockefeller University in New York reported the discovery of the new antibiotics, called malacidins, on Monday in the journal Nature Microbiology. (Hotz, 2/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Ovarian Cancer Doesn’t Begin In The Ovaries, Researchers Say
A growing body of evidence suggests that ovarian cancer begins in the fallopian tubes and not the ovaries, giving researchers hope for developing better strategies to prevent and detect the deadly cancer. Among women with cancer, ovarian cancer is the fifth-leading cause of death, killing 14,000 American women a year. With no real way to screen for it, it usually isn’t diagnosed until it has spread and is in the later stages. (Reddy, 2/12)

The New York Times: American Fertility Is Falling Short Of What Women Want
America’s fertility is in precipitous decline. Our team of forecasters at Demographic Intelligence projects 3.84 million births in 2017, down from about 3.95 million in 2016. And it’s likely to fall further — far short of what women themselves say they want for their family size. (Stone, 2/13)

CNN: Ultrasound Exams Associated With Autism In Study, Others Say No
Ultrasound exams during pregnancy are common. And researchers have now looked at whether a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is more likely among children exposed to this technology in the womb. There is no association between the number or duration of prenatal ultrasounds and a later diagnosis of autism in the child, according to a new study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics. (Scutti, 2/12)

The New York Times: High Blood Sugar Levels Tied To Memory Decline
Increasing blood sugar levels are associated with cognitive decline, a long-term study has found. Researchers assessed cognitive function in 5,189 people, average age 66, and tested their blood sugar using HbA1c, a test that accurately measures blood glucose levels over a period of weeks or months. (The finger-prick blood test, in contrast, gives a reading only at a given moment in time.) They followed the group for up to 10 years, tracking blood glucose levels and periodically testing cognitive ability. The study is in the journal Diabetologia. (Bakalar, 2/12)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Caregivers Struggle To Find Time For Balance, Health In Their Own Lives
What happens to those to who care for others? How do people find balance if they have jobs, children and now aging parents to look after as well? It’s pretty easy to put their own health and wellness needs lower and lower on their list of priorities as the external demands get greater and greater. (Nickel, 2/12)

NPR: A Song Explains Love's Science
Love is complicated, scientifically speaking. There's no single, specific "love chemical" that surges through our bodies when we see our beloved, and we can't point to a specific corner of the brain where love resides. Still, scientists have measured real changes in our bodies when we fall in love: an ebb and flow of signaling molecules. In that early lustful phase, sex hormones like testosterone fuel the libido (in both men and women). The dopamine highs of new attraction have been compared by some scientists to the effects of cocaine use. (Cole and Kellman, 2/13)

CNN: Parents Want Court To Prevent Transgender Teen Having Hormone Treatment
An Ohio court will decide the fate of a transgender teen who is in what the judge describes as a "gut-wrenching situation." The 17-year-old identifies as a boy. Neither he nor his family can be named, according to court instructions. The teen's parents want court authority to stop their child from getting the treatment and therapy that was recommended by his medical team in what it characterizes as a possible life-or-death situation. (Christensen, 2/13)

The Washington Post: Foreign Accent Syndrome: American Woman Says She Woke Up Sounding British
Michelle Myers's accent is global, but she has never left the country. The Arizona woman says she has gone to bed with extreme headaches in the past and woke up speaking with what sounds like a foreign accent. At various points, Australian and Irish accents have inexplicably flowed from her mouth for about two weeks, then disappeared, Myers says. (Horton, 2/12)

The Washington Post: This Woman Is First Human Infected With Rare Eye Worm
Abby Beckley thought her left eye was irritated because of a stray eyelash. She rubbed her eye, flushed it with water, but when the discomfort remained, she peered into the mirror. She thought she saw a piece of clear fuzz. She pinched it with her fingers and pulled it out. It was a worm. About half-inch long, translucent and threadlike. “It was alive and squiggling around,” she recalled. (Sun, 2/12)

The Wall Street Journal: The Deadly Flu No One Saw Coming
Heather Holland, a second-grade teacher, came home feeling a little sick on the last Monday in January. “It just sounded like her throat was scratchy,” said her husband, Frank Holland, a discomfort easy to ignore at first for a working mother. Over the next days, she made seemingly inconsequential decisions, including skipping a medicine because of the cost. Then her symptoms suddenly worsened, eventually sending Ms. Holland, 38 years old, to the hospital, on the brink of death. (McKay and Toy, 2/9)

Dallas Morning News: A Texas Teacher Died After Delaying Flu Medicine She Thought Was Too Expensive. But How Much Does It Cost? 
For Heather Holland, the week began with a scratchy throat and then brought a fever. By Wednesday, the Fort Worth-area teacher had been diagnosed with influenza B and given a prescription for oseltamivir phosphate, the generic name of the antiviral Tamiflu. At the pharmacy, Holland learned her bill after factoring insurance would be $116, according to The Wall Street Journal. She declined the drug, even though her family could afford it. (Chiquillo, 2/12)

Meanwhile —

Marketplace: Flu Season Could Cost Employers Billions Of Dollars
This flu season could cost at least $15.4 billion in lost productivity, according to employment consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. It predicts that more than 18 million Americans will miss at least four eight-hour shifts due to the flu virus. (Khrais, 2/12)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Local Health Providers: Not Too Late To Get Your Flu Shot
At least 20 adults have died in New Hampshire because of complications related to the flu since September. And across the country, this year's flu season is shaping up to be one of the worst in years. (McDermott, 2/12)

Los Angeles Times: Drivers Who Get Stoned On 4/20 Are Just As Dangerous As Drivers Who Get Drunk On Super Bowl Sunday
Here's a pro tip from a couple of doctors: Be sure to make special plans on April 20. That date, of course, is the unofficial holiday devoted to celebrating all things marijuana. (You might know it better as "4/20.") The two physicians — John Staples of the University of British Columbia and Donald Redelmeier of the University of Toronto — aren't asking that you honor marijuana's medicinal properties by experiencing them directly. Rather, they're warning you to be on alert for others who do — and then get behind the wheel while they're still under the influence. (Kaplan, 2/12)

Boston Globe: Baker Administration Warns Pot Regulator About Stoned Drivers, Marijuana Use By Youths
Massachusetts is likely to experience a surge of stoned drivers and an increase in youth marijuana use and risk “significant” black-market pot sales if cannabis regulators carry out their plan to license a wide variety of unique marijuana sellers, such as movie theaters and delivery services, the state’s top public safety official warned Monday. (Adams and Miller, 2/13)

In news from California and Connecticut —

Sacramento Bee: California Has Legal Marijuana - Just Not Many Places To Legally Smoke It
When California voters 15 months ago passed Proposition 64 – formally known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act – it didn’t create a lot of options for where people 21 and over can legally consume pot. ...While there is no statewide registry of lounges, people in the cannabis industry say they know only of a cluster in the Bay Area – eight in San Francisco and one in Oakland. (Branan, 2/12)

The CT Mirror: Advocates For Marijuana Sales Point To Big Economic Boost
Advocates for legalizing recreational marijuana use in Connecticut — and taxing its sales — are hoping a holistic, economic argument will win the day this year. ...And while Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has not proposed legalization or taxation, he did list it for the first time in his annual budget presentation — albeit as an “option” for those who don’t like the budget-balancing moves he has endorsed. (Phaneuf, 2/13)

San Jose Mercury News: Why California's Cannabis Taxes Are Much More Than Wine And Beer, But Less Than Cigarettes
While marijuana taxes stand alone in the world of so-called “sin taxes” because they vary among cities and counties, an analysis by this news organization found the cumulative tax on legal weed is more than triple the tax on wine and beer, which is typically about a dime on the dollar. For cigarettes, on the other hand, the total tax rate is more than 80 percent. (Krieger, 2/12)

San Jose Mercury News: Google Points Abortion-Seekers Toward Anti-Abortion Clinics
Women and girls using Google to find an abortion provider in the Bay Area may end up in the hands of an anti-abortion operation that doesn’t terminate pregnancies and instead pushes clients to give birth. ...The serving up of anti-abortion results that are opposite to the actual goal of the search is most pronounced when a user goes to Google Maps after searching for an abortion provider. (Baron, 2/12)

Meanwhile, in news from Ohio and Iowa —

The Associated Press: Hospital OKs Agreement With Ohio City's Last Abortion Clinic
A hospital system on Monday authorized a patient-transfer agreement to keep the last abortion clinic in one Ohio city operating. The authorization of the transfer agreement with Capital Care of Toledo "formally puts in writing an existing practice to provide emergency medical care to all who need it to our community," ProMedica spokesman Tedra White said in a statement to The Blade. (2/12)

Des Moines Register: Fetal Heartbeat Bill Sent To Iowa Senate Floor After Heated Debate
Legislation banning nearly all abortions in Iowa after a fetal heartbeat is detected was approved by the Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday night after a brief debate focusing on women's access to health care versus the rights of the unborn. A packed meeting room at the Iowa Capitol erupted in cheers from Christian conservatives after Senate Study Bill 3143 was advanced on an 8-5 vote.  All the yes votes were by Republicans. All the no votes were by Democrats. (Petroski, 2/12)

The Star Tribune: Walker's Reinsurance Plan Wins Support From Insurers, Others
Gov. Scott Walker's $200 million plan to reduce health care costs for people purchasing insurance through the private marketplace won support from Wisconsin's health insurance providers, doctors and medical community at a public hearing Monday, even as Democrats raised concerns about its sustainability. The reinsurance proposal is part of a package that Walker, who faces re-election in November, put forward designed to stabilize the state's private health insurance market. Walker argues his proposals, including a state protection for people with pre-existing conditions, are needed because Washington has failed to act on passing a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare." (Bauer, 2/12)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Scott Walker's $200M Plan To Cut Obamacare Premiums Goes To Lawmakers
The Joint Finance Committee took testimony on Senate Bill 770 as GOP lawmakers consider approving Walker's plan with a sunset provision. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) acknowledged last week that Republican senators are considering putting a time limit on the program. That might help mollify conservative senators who are still hoping that Congress will take greater action to repeal or rewrite the Affordable Care Act. (Stein, 2/12)

Los Angeles Times: He Once Held The Job As A Republican, But Now Steve Poizner Is Making A No-Party Bid For California Insurance Commissioner
Eight years after losing a bitter Republican primary for governor and stepping away from California's political scene, Steve Poizner said Monday that he will run again for the elected office he gave up in that contest — state insurance commissioner. This time, he won't run as a Republican. (Myers, 2/12)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Mayor Disputes Health Chief's Comments On Vaccines, Autism
Mayor Tom Barrett is disputing recent comments from Milwaukee's new top health official about a possible link between some vaccines and autism. ...Barrett's comments, made at a news conference about flu risks, came in response to interim Health Commissioner Patricia McManus telling a radio audience last week that "the science is still out" on whether there's a link between some vaccines and autism. (Spicuzza and Garza, 2/12)

Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming Department Of Health Releases New Healthcare App
The Wyoming Department of Health recently rolled out a new mobile phone app intended to provide health tracking and management tools to families across Wyoming. The app’s features include height and weight trackers, as well as feeding and growth trackers for pregnant moms and newborns. By entering their zip code, residents can also access local resources. (Eagan, 2/13)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Bill Would Speed Up Adoptions, Cut Off Parents
A bill that passed a Senate committee last week would cut off parental rights more quickly, deny services that might help parents address their addiction or other problems, and open a quicker path to adoption. Proponents say the legislation is a way to protect the rights of children, particularly the very young. (Pitzi, 2/12)

The Baltimore Sun: New President Appointed To Lead Baltimore Hospital Where Woman Was Put Outside In Gown 
The University of Maryland Medical Center is moving to tighten control of its Midtown Campus, a month after a patient there was found outside the emergency room in frigid temperatures wearing just a gown. Video of hospital staff putting the 22-year-old woman out went viral, stoking national outrage and sparking discussion of the practice known as patient dumping. (McDaniels, 2/12)

Kaiser Health News: California Joins States That Would Evict Veterans Who Seek Aid-In-Dying Option
California voters passed a law two years ago that allows terminally ill people to take lethal drugs to end their lives, but controversy is growing over a newer rule that effectively bans that option in the state’s eight veterans’ homes. Proponents of medical aid-in-dying and residents of the Veterans Home of California-Yountville — the largest in the nation — are protesting a regulation passed last year by the California Department of Veterans Affairs, or CalVet, that requires that anyone living in the facilities must be discharged if they intend to use the law. (Aleccia, 2/13)

Houston Chronicle: Tear Gas, Pepper Spray Use Up In Texas Prisons, Including On Suicidal Inmates
As violence behind bars continues to rise, Texas prisons over the past 10 years have seen a 71 percent increase in the use of chemical agents on inmates, often those attempting suicide or self-harm. The shift comes amid an increase in the number of violent offenders and a growing mentally ill population - factors that prison officials and officers cite in explaining the growing reliance on tools like pepper spray and tear gas. (Blakinger, 2/12)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Legislator Kills Bill To Give Inmates Free Pads, Tampons
Women are sending tampons and pads to an Arizona legislator to pressure him into moving forward a bill that would provide a free, unlimited supply of feminine hygiene products to women in Arizona's state prison. Currently, incarcerated women automatically get 12 free generic-brand pads each month. (White, 2/12)

Detroit Free Press: Former Execs Accuse Centria Healthcare Of Fraud, Forgery, Violations
Michigan’s largest autism therapy provider is accused of running a Medicaid fraud scheme targeting poor and minority communities, particularly in metro Detroit, according to former senior executives. Former employees of Centria Healthcare, who now find themselves defendants in a defamation lawsuit filed by the company, claim the business has engaged in billing fraud, violating patient privacy, forgery, falsifying reports and employing unqualified people in an effort to boost profits, according to court filings, documents reviewed, and interviews conducted during a three-month Free Press investigation.  (Rochester, Wisely and Anderson, 2/12)

The Star Tribune: Judge Allows UnitedHealth Medicare Fraud Case To Proceed 
A whistleblower case alleging that Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group defrauded the federal Medicare program can move forward, a federal judge ruled Monday, although the decision narrowed the set of claims that the government might pursue. The ruling came in a case brought by a former UnitedHealth Group employee in Minnesota alleging the company submitted false information about patient conditions to collect higher payments. (Snowbeck, 2/12)

Kaiser Health News: Maryland Offers Many Insured Men Free Vasectomy Coverage
It was a well-intentioned effort to provide men with some of the same financial protection from birth control costs that women get. But a new Maryland law may jeopardize the ability of thousands of consumers — both men and women — to use health savings accounts. The law, which took effect Jan. 1, mandates that insurers cover vasectomies without requiring patients to pay anything out-of-pocket — just as they must do for more than a dozen birth control methods for women. (Andrews, 2/13)

The New York Times: Donald Trump’s Nasty Budget
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump told the “forgotten men and women of our country” that he would champion them. As evidence that he was a different kind of Republican, he promised not to cut Medicare, Medicaid and other programs that benefit poor and middle-class families. On Monday, President Trump proposed a budget that would slash spending on Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, transportation and other essential government services, all while increasing the federal deficit. (2/12)

The Washington Post: Trump Hates Deficits — Unless They Help Rich People
The president’s budget — a statement of principles rather than anything binding, especially given the recent congressional deal — would slash funding for lots of programs that lower- and middle-income Americans rely on. The budget would cut hundreds of billions from Medicaid, food stamps, educational programs, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (a program whose funds go toward cash welfare, child care, services related to child abuse and neglect), disability programs and Section 8 housing. Even Head Start and nutritional assistance for impoverished infants and pregnant mothers are not spared. It would also completely eliminate a number of programs, such as the Social Services Block Grant, which funds public services for the most vulnerable Americans, including poor children, the elderly and those with disabilities.When are deficits good? (Catherine Rampell, 2/12)

The New York Times: Republicans Need A Nudge To Lower Health Care Costs
Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration repealed the penalties associated with the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate in the tax act that passed in December. Now they need to replace the mandate with something that will address rising premiums and command broader support. Automatic enrollment into health insurance plans is a good place to start. (Lanhee J. Chen and James C. Capretta, 2/12)

Bloomberg: A Better Way To Provide A 'Right To Try'
The idea that gravely ill patients should have access to experimental medicines is morally unassailable. A bill before Congress to establish a national “right to try,” however, is the wrong way of going about it. Passed by unanimous consent in the Senate last fall and endorsed with gusto by President Donald Trump in his State of the Union speech, the legislation would allow Americans to use yet-to-be-approved drugs that have passed only preliminary safety tests -- without permission from the Food and Drug Administration. The bill is similar to right-to-try laws that have been passed by 38 states. Though grounded in compassion, the bill would do little to actually improve the prospects of terminally ill patients -- and may put some of them at greater risk. For one, its underlying assumption -- that the FDA gets in the way -- is plain wrong. (2/12)

Boston Globe: The First Step To Treatment Is Staying Alive
Drug treatment can’t help dead people. That’s why San Francisco is scheduled to open two safe injection sites later this year, where drug users will be allowed to shoot up under medical supervision. If an addict overdoses, trained staff will be available to revive them with an overdose antidote like naloxone, commonly known as Narcan. Staffers can also recommend treatment options to those interested. In an effort to stem fatal overdoses, safe injection sites are now under discussion in such cities as Philadelphia, Seattle, and Ithaca. There are no similar discussions in Boston, however, or anywhere else in Massachusetts, where Governor Baker, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and Mayor Domenic Sarno of Springfield have all expressed either doubt or outright opposition. (2/9)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: The Other Opioid Epidemic: Chronic Pain Patients In Need Of Care
We have two epidemics related to misuse of opioids in America. First: people with addiction and premature death from abuse of opioids. Second: also devastating but getting far less attention, people suffering for years from chronic unrelenting pain losing access to needed medicine. (Ira Cantor, 2/12)

Miami Herald: Statewide Needle-Exchange Program Will Save Lives Of Opioid-Addicted Floridians 
The situation on Miami’s streets is grave, and similar conditions can be found throughout Florida. Fifteen Floridians die every day from an overdose. This epidemic requires bold responses. A bill is pending in the Legislature (S 800/H 579) that would permit all counties in Florida to offer syringe-exchange programs. In 2016, lawmakers passed the Infectious Disease Elimination Act, authorizing a five-year pilot syringe exchange program at the University of Miami. As faculty at the Miller School of Medicine, we are proud of the university’s leadership in what has been a highly effective, front-line intervention for people who use drugs. (Hansel Tookes and Felicia Knaul, 2/12)

The New York Times: Background Checks Are Not The Answer To Gun Violence
With each mass shooting, calls rise from gun control advocates for tighter rules on firearms. The go-to policy prescription involves background checks. But a measure passed by the House and being considered in the Senate to expand the National Instant Criminal Background Check System would not only fail to fix major flaws in the system but would also probably introduce new ones. (John R. Lott, 2/12)

Kansas City Star: Don’t Use Powerful Drugs As Restraints In Nursing Homes
A new report from Human Rights Watch shows that many nursing homes across the country are using these drugs to control the way residents behave, often without consent from the residents or their families. ...But there is hope that things will change in Kansas. A bill has been introduced in the Kansas Legislature that would require informed consent to give nursing home residents psychotropic medicines. (Charlene Wagner, 2/12)

Seattle Times: Adding Third-Sex Option On Birth Certificates Is A Start
On Jan. 27, the state of Washington gave adults a third sex option on birth certificates — an “X” to indicate neither male nor female — without medical documentation. As gender scholars, we applaud this. It’s a big deal for the state to say that we don’t simply have males and females. Just adding one more category is a good start but doesn’t solve the problem of how we use these categories.We all learned from parents, teachers and friends that sex is an either/or, a binary. Males have XY chromosomes, testes and a penis, whereas females have XX chromosomes, ovaries and a uterus. But this attempt at classifying bodies is a flawed oversimplification. (Barbara Risman and Georgiann Davis, 2/11)