The New York Times: House Pushes Another Stopgap Bill As Government Shutdown Looms
House Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting on Monday night with a plan to pass a temporary spending measure that would fund the government through March 23. The measure would also include full-year funding for the Defense Department — boosting military spending, as President Trump and Republicans are determined to do — and it would include two years of funding for community health centers. But the House’s approach, to combine short-term funding to keep the government open with long-term funding for the military, was long ago rejected by most Senate Democrats, who want to pair an increase in military spending with a similar increase in domestic spending. (Kaplan, 2/5)

CQ: House Republicans Unveil Six-Week Stopgap, Health Care Bill
The House GOP plan would pair short-term funding for domestic and foreign aid programs with a full year of Pentagon appropriations (HR 695). The package also contains a slew of health care provisions, including a two-year extension for community health centers, which have warned in recent months about likely closures that could impact services for millions of low-income beneficiaries. The measure would also provide five-year extensions of rural home health and ground ambulance add-ons under Medicare. The measure also would extend other Medicare reimbursement policies for two years, including the work Geographic Practice Cost Index which would boost reimbursements for the work portion of physicians' fees where labor costs are lower than the national average, according to a GOP summary. (Mejdrich and Krawzak, 2/5)

The Hill: Over 100 House Republicans Call For Health Center Funding
More than 100 House Republicans are calling on Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to quickly reauthorize a pot of money crucial to community health centers, which service millions of the nation’s most vulnerable. In a letter sent Friday, 105 Republicans, led by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), expressed their concern over the fact that long-term funding for community health centers lapsed Sept. 30 — and urged its reauthorization in the “next moving piece of legislation to be signed into law.” (Roubein, 2/5)

The Hill: House To Fund Community Health Centers In Short-Term Spending Bill
The community health centers have been left in limbo for months awaiting an extension of their funding. Both parties generally support the centers, but the debate has been caught up in broader budget battles. Community health centers serve about 27 million people across the country, many of whom are poor or lack insurance. (Sullivan, 2/5)

The Associated Press: House Republicans Working To Plan To Avert Another Shutdown
The negotiations are bipartisan since it takes votes from Democrats to lift the budget caps and advance a follow-up omnibus spending bill, whose overall cost is likely to exceed $1.2 trillion. That means domestic programs get their due, despite the opposition of conservatives. (Taylor, 2/5)

The Washington Post: House Republicans Eye Defense Spending Boost, Complicating Plan To Avoid Second Shutdown
Government funding is set to run out Thursday at midnight, and though there were few fears of another shutdown as lawmakers scrambled Monday, the House maneuver stands to inject new uncertainty into the process. (Werner and DeBonis, 2/5)

Kaiser Health News: Community Health Centers Caught In ‘Washington’s Political Dysfunction’
As lawmakers face another deadline this week for passing legislation to keep the federal government open, one of the outstanding issues is long-term funding for a key health care safety-net program. The Community Health Center program serves 27 million people at almost 10,000 nonprofit clinics nationwide, almost all of which are in low-income rural and urban areas. (Findlay, 2/5)

Houston Chronicle: Access To Health Care In Limbo Ahead Of Possible Government Shutdown 
Texas community health officials urged Congress to act this week to reauthorize funding for clinics that serve the state's neediest patients who might not have access to health care otherwise. "We urge Congress to find a sense of urgency around funding community health centers, which have enjoyed bipartisan support for decades," Katy Caldwell, CEO of Legacy Community Health, the state's largest network of clinics, said in a statement Monday. (Deam, 2/5)

The Washington Post: Trump Uses Britain's Protests To Jump Back Into Health-Care Fray At Home
Though congressional Republicans agreed last week to back off the contentious politics of the Affordable Care Act this year, President Trump began Monday morning by stirring the health-care policy pot anew. In a tweet shortly after 7 a.m., the president lashed out at Democrats, saying they “are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working.” (Goldstein, 2/5)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Stirs A Hornet's Nest In Britain By Blasting Its National Health Service
Virtually no one in Britain considers the NHS perfect: The need for urgent reforms, such as reducing waiting times and adding doctors and hospital beds, was the declared point of the weekend demonstrations. But Trump's critique touched a raw nerve in a country that considers universal access to medical services to be something akin to a national treasure, under a system created just after World War II and now relied on by millions of people. (King, 2/5)

Bloomberg: Trump Rebuked Over NHS Tweet 
The rebuke was not long in coming. “NHS may have challenges but I’m proud to be from the country that invented universal coverage - where all get care no matter the size of their bank balance,” said U.K. Health Minister Jeremy Hunt said in a tweet. (Biggs, 2/5)

Bloomberg: Trump’s NHS Tweet Angers Brits Fearful Of U.S.-Style Health Care 
During the Brexit referendum in 2016, one of the key messages of the Leave campaign was to repatriate money from Brussels and spend it on the NHS. And perhaps to the bafflement of the global audience, it even featured in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012, with a choreographed segment that included patients on hospital trollies. (Morales, 2/5)

The New York Times Fact Check: Trump’s Criticism Of U.K.’s National Health Service
In a tweet on Monday, President Trump claimed that thousands of people in Britain were marching because their country’s National Health Service was “going broke and not working,” and that Democrats pushing for universal health care in the United States were pursuing a similar failed model. Here is a closer look at his assertions. (Yeginsu, 2/5)

Stateline: Trump Administration: Let States Decide If Health Plans Have Enough Doctors
The Affordable Care Act required that health insurance plans sold on the marketplaces in every state maintain a sufficient number of in-network hospitals and physicians, including specialists, in their service area — essentially, that they have an adequate network of providers. Policyholders spend less to see doctors in their network. But the Trump administration last month weakened that federal oversight, potentially forcing patients to turn to more expensive providers, travel long distances for cheaper care, endure long waits for medical appointments or, critics worry, forgo care altogether. (Ollove, 2/6)

The Hill: Pro-ObamaCare Group Launches Ad Against Idaho Rollback 
The pro-ObamaCare group Save my Care is launching a TV ad against the Republican governor of Idaho after he moved to roll back ObamaCare rules. “Gov. Butch Otter is putting the interests of his insurance industry contributors ahead of the people of Idaho,” the ad states. (Sullivan, 2/5)

And in other health law news —

The Hill: Blue Cross Blue Shield Sees 'Urgent' Need For Congress To Stabilize ObamaCare Markets 
A leading health insurance group said Monday there is an “urgent” need for Congress to act to stabilize ObamaCare markets after the repeal of the individual mandate in December. “There’s an urgent need to stabilize the market,” Justine Handelman, a senior vice president at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, told reporters at a briefing. (Sullivan, 2/5)

Kaiser Health News: Cut In Federal Subsidies Threatens Basic Health Programs In N.Y., Minn. 
Comprehensive coverage for more than 800,000 low-income people in New York and Minnesota who pay a fraction of the typical cost of a marketplace plan may be in jeopardy after the federal government partially cut funding this year. The Basic Health Program, in which these consumers are enrolled, was created under the Affordable Care Act to provide another coverage option for people with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($24,280 in 2018) who would otherwise qualify for subsidized marketplace coverage. Only New York and Minnesota have set up such programs. (Andrews, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: Health System, Insurer Stocks Fare Better Than S&P 
Stocks of investor-owned health systems and health insurance carriers took a significant hit Monday, swept down by the broader tailspin that hit the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500, both of which fell by more than 4%. HCA Healthcare was down 3.81% as of market close Monday, even bigger than the 2.49% drop the Nashville-based hospital chain experienced at the end of last week. Community Health Systems fell by 3.49%--steep, but not quite as much as the 4.56% hit it took on Friday. (Bannow, 2/5)

The Associated Press: $300M Health Care System Cost To Protect Religious Rights
President Donald Trump's new effort to protect the rights of health workers who object to participating in abortions and other procedures will cost the health care system more than $300 million to set up, according to a government estimate. More than 40 complaints have been filed since Trump's election, alleging violations of conscience and religious rights. An estimated 18 million people work in the nation's health care system. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/5)

In other news from the administration —

Politico: Public Health Workers Find Surprise Cuts In Paychecks
About 3,000 Public Health Service physicians and other workers saw their paychecks unexpectedly slashed last month because of government delays setting up a payment system Congress ordered a decade ago. “A number of unanticipated events impacted our ability to fully execute these provisions,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams told Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers in a Jan. 31 letter obtained by POLITICO. (Haberkorn, 2/5)

Politico: Kellyanne Conway’s 'Opioid Cabinet' Sidelines Drug Czar’s Experts
President Donald Trump’s war on opioids is beginning to look more like a war on his drug policy office. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has taken control of the opioids agenda, quietly freezing out drug policy professionals and relying instead on political staff to address a lethal crisis claiming about 175 lives a day. The main response so far has been to call for a border wall and to promise a "just say no” campaign. (Ehley and Karlin-Smith, 2/6)

In other news on the crisis —

The Associated Press: Patients To Address Court In Doctor's Opioid Kickback Scheme
Victims of a scheme in which a doctor prescribed them a highly addictive opioid spray in exchange for kickbacks are expected to tell a federal judge how their lives were affected, including stories of overdoses, monthslong withdrawals, weight loss and broken bones from falling while on the powerful drug. Jerrold Rosenberg told one patient, "Stop crying, you're acting like a child," when she complained of severe side effects, which included losing 40 pounds and repeated vomiting for years, according to an excerpt of grand jury testimony filed by prosecutors in the case. (Smith, 2/5)

Stat: Some Flu Vaccines May Work Better — But Public Guidance Is Scant
Last fall some people in the know about influenza science got picky when it came time to get their flu shots. They didn’t want to roll up their sleeve for any old vaccine on offer at their doctor’s office or workplace clinic. They sought specific products, the ones licensed for older adults that contain a performance-boosting compound called an adjuvant or more notably one of the two brands of vaccine not made — as most flu vaccines are — in eggs. (Branswell, 2/6)

The Wall Street Journal: The Chase For A Permanent Flu Vaccine
As doctors struggle with the worst flu season in nearly a decade, some are racing to answer a question: Can they find a more permanent solution than variably successful annual vaccines? Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have developed a new approach for a vaccine that tested successfully in animals. GlaxoSmithKline is in the early stages of testing another promising approach in people. (Reddy, 2/5)

And in news from the states —

The New York Times: Second Child In New York City Dies Of Flu-Related Illness
A second child has died in New York City of flu-related illness, as the city and nation cope with the worst flu season in nearly a decade, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said on Monday. The child, an 8-year-old girl who lived in Elmhurst, Queens, was found unconscious at home on Monday morning and taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead, the police said. (Garcia, 2/5)

Georgia Health News: No Major Shortage Of Flu Drugs, But Pharmacies Face Supply Gap
While some areas of the country are having a tough time getting flu-fighting medication, a CDC official said there is no nationwide shortage. A spokesman for Genentech, maker of the name-brand Tamiflu medication, agreed. (Joyner, 2/5)

KCUR: Flu Activity Still Widespread Across The Kansas City Area, May Not Have Peaked 
Area hospitals are continuing to see high numbers of influenza patients, suggesting that the flu season has yet to peak. At the University of Kansas Health System, 913 patients have tested positive for the flu so far, 162 of them in the last week alone, according to spokeswoman Jill Chadwick. Seventeen patients currently remain hospitalized. (Margolies, 2/5)

Stat: What Does ‘Tumor Mutation Burden’ Mean, And How Might It Help Patients?
As doctors, scientists, and investors try to pick apart which powerful cancer immunotherapy is the best bet for patients, there’s an emerging new tool that might clear up the fog around a whole class of medicines — if its predictive promise can be confirmed in large clinical trials. It’s called tumor mutation burden, or TMB, and it’s essentially a measure of just how unique a patient’s cancer might be. It could also help doctors identify which patients might benefit from immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors. (Garde, 2/5)

The New York Times: Floods Are Getting Worse, And 2,500 Chemical Sites Lie In The Water’s Path
Anchored in flood-prone areas in every American state are more than 2,500 sites that handle toxic chemicals, a New York Times analysis of federal floodplain and industrial data shows. About 1,400 are located in areas at highest risk of flooding. As flood danger grows — the consequence of a warming climate — the risk is that there will be more toxic spills like the one that struck Baytown, Tex., where Hurricane Harvey swamped a chemicals plant, releasing lye. (Tabuchi, Popovich, Migliozzi and Lehren, 2/6)

Bloomberg: Early Prostate Cancer Kept At Bay In Two Studies For High-Risk Men 
Men with an early form of prostate cancer who are at high risk of seeing it spread and turn deadly may benefit from treatment with Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Inc. drugs that slow progression of the disease. J&J’s experimental medicine apalutamide and Pfizer’s prostate cancer drug Xtandi delayed the worsening of the most common tumor by more than 70 percent compared with a placebo in two separate studies. The results, which are being presented at a medical meeting devoted to genital and urinary cancers in San Francisco, could offer an alternative for men whose cancer is progressing yet considered early-stage because localized to their prostate. (Cortez and Hopkins, 2/5)

CNN: Hot Tea Linked To Esophageal Cancer In Smokers, Drinkers
If you smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol daily, you may want to consider letting your tea cool before you enjoy it. Drinking tea while it's too hot could increase your risk of esophageal cancer, a new study suggests. In the study, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, drinking "hot" or "burning hot" tea was associated with a two- to fivefold increase in esophageal cancer, but only in people who also smoked or drank alcohol. (Lieber, 2/5)

NPR: Nursing Homes Still Overprescribing Antipsychotics, Despite Warnings
A study published Monday by Human Rights Watch finds that about 179,000 nursing home residents are being given antipsychotic drugs, even though they don't have schizophrenia or other serious mental illnesses that those drugs are designed to treat. Most of these residents have Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia and antipsychotics aren't approved for that. What's more, antipsychotic drugs come with a "black box warning" from the FDA, stating that they increase the risk of death in older people with dementia. (Jaffe, 2/5)

NPR: Lethal Pneumonia Outbreak Caused By Low Chlorine In Flint Water
An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that killed 12 people and sickened at least 87 in Flint, Mich., in 2014 and 2015 was caused by low chlorine levels in the municipal water system, scientists have confirmed. It's the most detailed evidence yet linking the bacterial disease to the city's broader water crisis. In April 2014, Flint's water source switched from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Almost immediately, residents noticed tap water was discolored and acrid-smelling. By 2015, scientists uncovered that the water was contaminated with lead and other heavy metals. (Hersher, 2/5)

Boston Globe: Harvard Researchers: Vaccines Could Lessen Deaths, Poverty In Developing Countries
Researchers at Harvard University believe that vaccinations could not only lower the number of deaths in developing countries, but also decrease poverty caused by the burden of medical expenses, according to a study published Monday. The study’s findings were published in the journal Health Affairs. (Ruckstuhl, 2/5)

Politico: California Union Leverages Ballot Initiatives For Health Care On Its Own Terms
One of California's most powerful heath care unions wants the public to press hospitals and insurers over high costs, filing 10 state and local propositions for November’s elections — a tactic critics deride as an inappropriate attempt to gain negotiating leverage via the ballot box. Following victories to raise the minimum wage in Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington, the Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West got state approval to collect signatures for two California propositions: one to prevent health insurers with high reserves from raising premiums, and another that would tax millionaires to help fund safety-net hospitals and clinics. (Colliver, 2/5)

The Star Tribune: Like Amazon, Big Companies In Minn. Tried To Upend Health Care, But The Effort Fell Apart 
The effort rolled out last week by three of the nation's most influential companies to revamp health care is the latest in a series of such pushes by corporate America, including a widely heralded effort in the Twin Cities that ultimately failed. For a period during the late 1990s, big employers in Minnesota launched an innovative program that gave workers data to help them shop for health care based on the cost and quality of care provided by competing groups of doctors and hospitals. (Snowbeck, 2/5)

Dallas Morning News: State Of Emergency: An Examination Of Freestanding ERs In Texas
Since the Legislature passed a 2009 law allowing freestanding emergency rooms to operate in Texas, the industry has taken off statewide. The facilities aim to add convenience by allowing patients to be seen faster than in full-service hospitals' ERs — where overcrowding has been an issue — and by making emergency care more accessible in areas without a hospital nearby. But health economists say the business model grew too fast, and questions have been raised about whether Texans were fully aware that the centers are not always a lower-cost option. (Rice and Joseph, 2/5)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett Withdraws Health Nominee After Outcry
Mayor Tom Barrett is withdrawing his pick to serve as temporary head of the troubled Milwaukee Health Department. Barrett said Monday he was dropping his appointment of Paul Nannis because it was clear that he did not have the votes to be confirmed by aldermen. (Spicuzza and Bice, 2/5)

The Associated Press: Death Takes A Toll: Bill Helps First Responders With PTSD
Former Orlando police officer Gerry Realin isn't the same since he spent five hours in the Pulse nightclub among the bodies of those killed in what was then the nation's deadliest mass shooting. He's been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and sometimes still thinks he smells the dead bodies that lay in the hot club as police processed the crime scene. The once fun, mischievous practical joker now is a recluse. He rarely goes out, and when he does, it's to paddleboard alone to enjoy nature or to spend time at a park with his wife and children. He avoids crowds. (2/5)

Arizona Republic: Phoenix-Area Police, Autism Groups Bridge Gap With Training, Education
Cynthia Macluskie, founder of Autism Society of Greater Phoenix, said all major first-responder agencies in the Phoenix area partner with health centers and local organizations to tap into learning opportunities. Macluskie wants to ensure those with autism are prepared. (Gomez, 2/5)

Nashville Tennessean: Diane Black: Jobs, Health Care, Education Are Top Campaign Issues
U.S. Rep. Diane Black said Monday the top issues in her campaign for Tennessee governor are jobs and the economy, health care and education. ...“I am not for expanding Medicaid. I know what is going to happen with the expansion of Medicaid. The federal government right now is at a point where it cannot afford the Medicaid expansion, so I do not want to get into a situation where we have to back out.” (Buie, 2/5)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Adoption Bill Fight Is Now About Living Expenses For Birth Mothers
As posted this weekend, Gov. Nathan Deal and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle appeared to have come to agreement over a Senate initiative to give sanction to a church-based, private foster care system that would allow parents to hand off custody of their children for up to a year at a time. But also posted this weekend was a column by Robert White, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, and Mike Griffin, the lobbyist for Georgia Baptists at the state Capitol. (Galloway, Bluestein and Hallerman, 2/5)

Houston Chronicle: Suicide Attempts Have More Than Doubled In Texas Prisons 
The attempted suicide rate recorded inside the Texas prison system has doubled in four years, a trend that some experts call "concerning" and others see as a positive sign the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is getting more serious about tracking mental health issues. It's not entirely clear what's behind the shift. Some experts point to staff turnover and an increasingly mentally ill prison population. But according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the four-year increase all stems from a 2013 push for better suicide prevention training that could have broadened the understanding of what counts as an attempt. (Blakinger, 2/5)

KCUR: More Health Care Workers Want In On Kansas Telemedicine 
A proposed telemedicine bill has Kansas medical providers pushing for a new chance to make their services eligible for reimbursement. Under the House bill, introduced last month, licensed mental health care professionals and physicians can tend to faraway patients over phone or video calls. Insurers would have to cover their services as if they had seen patients in person. Groups representing chiropractors, occupational therapists, nurses and other health professionals made their case for inclusion before the House Health and Human Services Committee on Monday. (Fox, 2/5)

KQED: Richmond Launches Review Of Metal Yard That Went Up In Flames
Richmond city officials have begun to scrutinize the Sims Metal Management facility, where a smoky fire forced thousands of residents to stay indoors last week. The city’s Planning and Building Department will review whether Sims is complying with rules governing its work near the Port of Richmond, according to Richard Mitchell, the department’s director. (Goldberg, 2/5)

Texas Tribune: Medical Cannabis Dispensaries Are Opening In Texas, But The Newly Legal Oils Still Aren't Easy To Procure
But as dispensaries are opening, Texans like Campbell’s daughter might still have a hard time getting access to the oil from marijuana plants. Currently, fewer than 20 doctors across the state are registered with the Texas Department of Public Safety to prescribe it. (Samuels, 2/5)

Stat: The Medical Profession Needs To Do More To Stop Sexual Abuse Of Patients
Physicians, hospitals, and state medical boards can and should do more to protect patients from sexual assault. On a daily basis, patients allow doctors to invade their privacy, whether by placing a stethoscope on a naked chest, palpating a mass on a breast, or conducting a testicular exam. This should come with awareness of our privileged role and the incredible responsibility we have to uphold our pledge to “do no harm.” (Altaf Saadi, 2/5)

Huffington Post: Congress Left Health Care For Millions Of Poor People In The Lurch
The stakes here are substantial. If the [federal funding for community health centers] were to stop completely, as many as 9 million low-income people would lose their source of care, according to federal estimates. They’d have a hard time finding alternatives, even if they managed to hold onto their insurance, because they live in places that don’t have a lot of doctors and facilities with capacity ― or a willingness ― to see them. (Jonathan Cohn, 2/4)

The New York Times: What It’s Like To Be A Patient With The N.H.S.
Britain’s National Health Service turns 70 this year, amid warnings of an existential crisis. At the end of last year, we interviewed several staff members to ask them what they hoped and feared for the system’s future. Now, readers tell us about their and their families’ experiences with the N.H.S. Here are their stories, edited for length and clarity. (2/6)

The New York Times: Medicaid Work Requirements Are Yet Another Burden For Trans Workers
The overlapping issues of health care and employment discrimination remain pivotal ones for transgender communities. They became more so last month, when the Trump administration decided to allow states to institute work requirements for Medicaid. The unemployment rate for trans people is three times higher than the national average, according to a 2015 survey produced by the National Center for Transgender Equality — a rate that results, in many cases, from anti-trans job discrimination. (Cyree Jarelle Johnson, 2/5)

Lexington Herald Leader: Kentucky Medicaid Changes Will Worsen Opioid Catastrophe As Drug Abusers, Who Desperately Need Treatment And Preventive Care, Won't Be Able To Comply With Requirements
Since the Affordable Care Act, Kentucky has expanded Medicaid to include more Kentuckians and included provisions that required health insurance plans to cover substance abuse treatment. In April of 2017, Kentucky even received $10.5 million in federal funding for drug addiction treatment and support. So why would Kentucky lawmakers create new obstacles to Medicaid coverage that may make the drug addiction catastrophe in Kentucky much worse? (Karen Tran-Harding, 2/2)

Des Moines Register: GOP Helping Iowa Women Get Pregnant
When Republicans took control of the Iowa Legislature 13 months ago, they immediately embarked on a mission to "defund" Planned Parenthood. ...They have made it more difficult for Iowa women to obtain birth control and more likely women will seek abortions and give birth to unwanted children. They have helped Iowa become a contraceptive desert. (2/5)