The New York Times: Obama To State His Case For Health Law Before Justices Weigh In
President Obama will deliver a speech on Tuesday extolling his health care law as a moral and practical victory that was decades in the making. White House officials said that the speech’s timing was unrelated to the ruling, and that Mr. Obama was not seeking to sway the justices in a case that they probably decided shortly after it was argued in March. But the White House is clearly stating its case for the law before what could be a challenging period if the court invalidates subsidies for millions of people who signed up for coverage through HealthCare.gov. The justices will issue a ruling by the end of the month. If they strike down the subsidies, millions of people could lose their health insurance, and rates for millions more could rise if the insurance markets collapse in the more than 30 states that use the federal insurance exchange. (Shear, 6/9)

USA Today: Obama's Day: Defending The Health Care Law
Obama will attend the Catholic Hospital Association Conference to "discuss what health care reform has meant to millions of Americans," says the White House schedule. That includes "improved and affordable coverage options for individuals," as well as "new rights and protections for all consumers, rising quality of care, and the transformative impact on the economy as a whole," the White House says. (Jackson, 6/9)

The New York Times: Obama Is Optimistic Justices Will Let Health Care Law Stand
A decision by the Supreme Court to strike down health care subsidies in federally run marketplaces would be a “contorted reading” of the Affordable Care Act that would disrupt coverage for millions of people, President Obama said on Monday. But at a news conference at the end of a two-day trip to Germany, he expressed optimism that the justices, who are set to announce a decision on a challenge to the subsidies this month, will let his signature domestic achievement stand. (Shear, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Obama Confident Supreme Court Will Uphold Health-Insurance Subsidies
Speaking Monday at a news conference in Germany, at the Group of Seven summit, Mr. Obama said the case, which the Supreme Court is expected to decide near the end of the month “should be an easy case. Frankly, it probably shouldn’t even have been taken up.” Plaintiffs in the case, King v. Burwell, argue that four words in the health law mean subsidies under the 2010 Affordable Care Act can go only to residents of the dozen states that established their own health-insurance exchanges, rather than the rest of the country, which relies on the federal government HealthCare.gov website. (Tau, 6/8)

CBS News: Obama Warns Supreme Court Could Upend Obamacare
President Obama on Monday gave a stern warning that if the Supreme Court rules against the system of subsidies holding up Obamacare, it "would be hard to fix." In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court could rule that only customers in state-run Obamacare marketplaces are eligible for federal subsidies. If the court does agree with the plaintiffs in King v. Burwell, it could make the health care coverage unaffordable for millions. ... Even so, the White House has refused to put forward a "plan B" to lay out how it would respond to such a ruling. Asked why not, Mr. Obama effectively likened the health care law to Humpty Dumpty -- once it's broken, it's hard to put back together. (Condon, 6/9)

The Associated Press: Obama: Court Shouldn't Have Considered Health Law Challenge
With a crucial legal decision looming, President Barack Obama said Monday the Supreme Court should not even have considered the latest challenge to his signature health care law but he voiced confidence the justices "will play it straight" — and leave the law intact. ... Obama says it has been well-documented that Congress never intended to exclude people who went through the federal exchange. "You interpret a statute based on what the intent and meaning and the overall structure of the statute provides for," said Obama, a lawyer who once taught constitutional law. (Kuhnhenn and Pickler, 6/8)

Reuters: Obama: No Reason Supreme Court To Overturn Health Care Law
Even Republicans who worked on the legislation have agreed that they intended for people buying insurance on the federally-run exchange to be eligible for subsidies, Obama said. (Mason, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Obama: Congress Can Fix Health Law If Court Rules Against It
President Barack Obama says he has no alternate plan if the Supreme Court invalidates a key benefit of his health care law and he places the burden on the Republican-controlled Congress to fix the law if the high court wipes out insurance for millions of Americans. Voicing confidence he will prevail before the court. (Kuhnhenn, 6/9)

Politico: Obama: Supreme Court Shouldn't Have Heard Obamacare Challenge
Obama repeated the administration’s contention that there’s no contingency plan or fix to keep insurance markets from going into a tailspin, predicting that the justices would decide in his favor. And in any case, he added, Congress could fix the ambiguous phrasing of the health law “with a one-sentence provision.” Senate Republicans quickly shot down that possibility. “Let’s be clear: if the Supreme Court rules against the administration, Congress will not pass a so-called ‘one-sentence’ fake fix,” said Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.), the Senate’s No. 3 Republican. (Wheaton, 6/8)

Also, the Los Angeles Times offers this reminder of what cases remain on the HIgh Court's list -

Los Angeles Times: Important Cases Pending Before The Supreme Court And The Decisions So Far
The Supreme Court is heading into the final month of its annual term. In a potentially historic ruling, the court will decide whether same-sex couples have a right to marry nationwide, culminating a two-decade legal and political fight for marriage equality. Another much-anticipated decision will be whether the Obama administration may continue to subsidize health insurance for low- and middle-income people who buy coverage in the 36 states that failed to establish an official insurance exchange of their own and instead use a federally run version. (Savage, 6/8)

Los Angeles Times: If Supreme Court Rules Against Obamacare, Few States Are Ready For The Fallout
Millions of Americans could soon lose health insurance when the Supreme Court decides the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act this month, but states have made few concrete plans to deal with the potential fallout, and they may get little help from Washington, President Obama warned Monday. “If somebody does something that doesn’t make any sense, then, it's hard … to fix,” the president said, suggesting his administration can’t do much if the justices side with the health law’s Republican critics. (Levey, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: Pa., Del. Move To Maintain Health Insurance Subsidy Access
The online marketplace is a central part of the Affordable Care Act. It’s where 27-year-old Kathryn Ryan, a restaurant server in Philadelphia, immediately turned for health insurance coverage. "I was excited because if it weren’t for Obamacare, I wouldn’t be insured at all. I wouldn’t have the ability to go to the doctor," she says. (Gordon, 6/9)

The Associated Press: Scott Asks Court To Force Mediation Over Medicaid Lawsuit
A federal court judge gave the Obama administration until Tuesday to say whether it will accept Gov. Rick Scott's request for mediation in a dispute over billions of dollars in federal health care funds. The Republican governor is suing the federal government for withholding hospital funds because Florida is not expanding Medicaid. (Kennedy, 6/8)

Tampa Bay Times: Judge Orders Federal Agency To File Answer To Scott's Call For LIP Mediation
Scott sued the federal agency in April, accusing it of trying to coerce Florida into expanding Medicaid by threatening to cut the Low Income Pool fund used to reimburse hospitals that provide uncompensated care for the uninsured. A month later, the agency confirmed that the state would receive only $1 billion of the $2.3 billion it received this year in federal LIP funds. Scott argues that the cutbacks were intended “to coerce the state into expanding Medicaid or to punish the state for failing ultimately to do so.” (Klas, 6/8)

Tampa Bay Times: Can't Keep Up With The Health Care Debate In Tallahassee? This Q&A Breaks It Down
It has been a head-spinning time in Tallahassee. Lawmakers adjourned the 2015 legislative session last month without finishing a state budget, then returned last week for a special session and finally reached some consensus over the weekend. At issue: how to compensate hospitals that provide health care for the state's low-income residents. For those who haven't followed every twist and turn, here's a look at the developments so far and where lawmakers stand on the budget. (McGrory, 6/8)

Modern Healthcare: Arkansas Cancels Cost-Sharing For Poorest In Medicaid Expansion
Arkansas will not, for the time being, impose cost-sharing for Medicaid expansion beneficiaries below the federal poverty level. ... Those making between 50% and 100% of the federal poverty level ($11,925 to $23,850 for a family of four) were expected to pay $5 a month. Those between 100% to 138% were to pay between $10 to $25, depending on income. ... Initially, the plan was to conduct a six-month outreach campaign in Arkansas to enrollees under the poverty level in the private option, and then begin to start collections of the $5 contributions starting in July. Newly elected Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson quietly altered the plan months ago, allowing cost-sharing for people above poverty to move forward, but canceling plans to impose it on the poorer enrollees. (Dickson, 6/8)

Connecticut Mirror: As Medicaid Cut Looms, Critics Warn Of More Uninsured
[Kim] Perez is trying to squeeze her family’s budget because she and her fiancé could be among an estimated 23,700 low-income parents slated to lose Medicaid coverage under the state budget legislators passed last week. The controversial cutback comes less than two years after a much-touted expansion of coverage under the federal health law. ... Gov. Dannel P. Malloy first proposed the cut, and administration officials have argued that, because of the Affordable Care Act, there’s now an alternative for those parents: private insurance sold through Connecticut’s health insurance exchange. (Levin Becker, 6/9)

Meanwhile, in Colorado, officials wrestle with financing issues for the state's online health marketplace.

Health News Colorado: Exchange Board Approves Budget With Higher Fees, Big Sales Targets
Colorado’s health exchange board today approved a final budget for the next fiscal year that requires aggressive sales growth and higher fees, but still doesn’t bring in enough cash. The next open enrollment begins in November and Connect for Health Colorado managers will have to dramatically boost sales of private health insurance with fewer health guides. (Kerwin McCrimmon, 6/8)

The Denver Post: Colorado Health Insurance Exchange Board Approves Budget
The state health insurance exchange bumped up its fee levels for next year as expected on Monday, but the change won't add enough revenue to cover costs during fiscal 2016. Connect for Health Colorado's $53.7 million budget, approved without dissent Monday, will generate a cash operating deficit of $4.6 million and a total deficit, after IT and other capital investment, of $13.3 million. (Draper, 6/8)

Politico Pro: Study: States’ Attitudes About ACA Have Big Impact
The more a state’s policies embrace Obamacare, the better that state’s application and enrollment rates and its residents’ experiences with the law, according to a study published Monday in Health Affairs. (Villacorta, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: What Health Law? Many Poor People Still Unaware Of Obamacare Options
Even in Kentucky, which championed the 2010 health care law by expanding Medicaid and running its own insurance marketplace, about half of poor people say they have heard little about the Affordable Care Act, according to a Harvard University study published Monday in Health Affairs. (Galewitz, 6/8)

The Washington Post: 50 Hospitals Charge Uninsured More Than 10 Times Cost Of Care, Study Finds
Fifty hospitals in the United States are charging uninsured consumers more than 10 times the actual cost of patient care, according to research published Monday. All but one of the these facilities is owned by for-profit entities, and by far the largest number of hospitals — 20 — are in Florida. (Sun, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Study: Some For-Profit Hospitals Charging 10x Medicare Rates
U.S. hospitals charged on average more than three times the Medicare-allowable costs, according to a study in the June issue of the journal Health Affairs. The study uses 2012 Medicare data to examine hospitals that charge on average more than 10 times their costs. The study comes amid a national push to increase transparency in hopes of curbing rising health costs. (Kennedy, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: Study: Highest-Charging U.S. Hospitals Are For-Profits, Concentrated In Florida
That doesn’t mean all or even most patients end up paying those charges. Private insurers are able to negotiate the sticker price down significantly. Patients paying out of pocket can often negotiate discounts or get charity care if they are low-income. (Gold, 6/8)

Reuters: Many U.S. Hospitals Mark Up Prices 1,000 Percent
Even the astronomical price markups that consumers regularly pay for, say, wine in restaurants pale beside those in some U.S. hospitals: The price for procedures is often 10 times the cost, according to a study published on Monday in the journal Health Affairs. Of the 50 hospitals with the highest markups, 49 are for-profit, including 25 owned by Community Health Systems. (Begley, 6/8)

CBS News: At These Hospitals, Prepare To Pay Markups Of 900 Percent -- Or More
Americans pay higher prices for health care for a number of reasons. One is that some hospitals charge rates far higher than normal in the industry "because they can." That's according to Gerard Anderson, a professor in health policy and management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who co-authored a study that appeared Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs. (Sherman, 6/8)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Are Inflated Hospital Bills Affecting Your Cost Of Care?
In the great debate over why health care costs so much, some have pointed to inflated hospital charges, while others say those sticker prices don't really matter. What is clear, however, is that Southeastern Pennsylvania has a significant cluster of high-price-tag hospitals. (Sapatkin, 6/9)

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports on a separate study regarding hospitals -

The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Discharge Patients To Maximize Medicare Payments, Study Finds
The new study, which focuses on patients who were on ventilators, echoes findings in an analysis by The Wall Street Journal that broadly examined long-term-care hospital claims paid by Medicare and found the same pattern across all types of patients. In the new study, the researchers said their findings “confirm that…payment policy created a strong financial incentive for long-term-care hospitals to time patient discharges to maximize Medicare reimbursement.” (Wilde Mathews and Weaver, 6/8)

And in other hospital news -

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Jumping Into Insurance Business Risk Rough Landing
Health systems that own an insurance plan—an increasingly popular gambit—have good reasons to be in that business, such as diversification and gaining market share. Indeed, some of those plans have done well for many years. But new entrants have cause to be wary. Operating performance “will be more volatile” as health systems buy or launch health insurance plans, analysts at Standard & Poor's conclude in a report. The rating agency said extraordinarily poor performance by health plans could drag down health system credit ratings, although that hasn't happened yet. (Evans, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal: Going Public With A Quiet Period
Shares of Humana Inc. rallied on Monday, as the health insurer took the rare step of making a securities filing to announce it is entering a so-called “quiet period.” The Louisville, Ky. company, which WSJ reported last month is exploring a possible sale, said in an 8-K filing Monday that it would go dark for almost two months, until it reports earnings on July 29. (Chasan, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Shares Of Humana Rally On Silence And A Withdrawal
Humana has pulled out of a major health care conference and said it will not comment on rumors of a merger, actions that will likely fuel Wall Street speculation that the insurer is part of a developing deal. Shares of the Medicare Advantage coverage provider, which hit an all-time high late last month, rose Monday while broader indexes slipped. (Murphy, 6/8)

Modern Healthcare: Humana Goes Quiet On Merger Speculation
Humana self-imposed a quiet period starting Monday until the end of July in an attempt to quell chatter that it'd an acquisition target. But the Louisville, Ky.-based health insurer stoked the flames further after it pulled out of a large industry conference. Reports surfaced last month that Humana hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group to explore a potential sale. Aetna and Cigna Corp. were reportedly among the interested buyers. Humana, a dominant Medicare Advantage insurer, has missed Wall Street estimates several times the past two years and is undergoing a federal probe related to its Medicare business. (Herman, 6/8)

In other marketplace news -

The Wall Street Journal: Health Diagnostic Laboratory Files For Bankruptcy
A cardiac biomarker laboratory that went from startup to industry giant in a few short years by paying doctors for blood samples has filed for bankruptcy protection. The filing by Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. comes two months after the company reached an agreement with the Justice Department to settle a civil investigation into whether its payments to doctors amounted to kickbacks to induce them to order its tests. Under the pact, HDL agreed to pay nearly $50 million but denied wrongdoing. (Carreyrou and Stech, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Could These New Cholesterol Drugs Save Many Americans From Heart Attacks?
A federal advisory committee this week will decide whether to recommend approval of the first in a new class of drugs many experts believe could significantly cut the risk of strokes and heart attacks, a leading cause of death for Americans. The highly-anticipated new drugs have been shown in clinical trials to sharply reduce levels of bad, or LDL cholesterol, representing the first major advance in the area since widely used statin drugs hit the market in the late 1980s. (Dennis and Bernstein, 6/8)

The Associated Press: FDA Weighs Target Population For Amgen Cholesterol Drug
Federal health regulators said Monday a highly-anticipated experimental drug from Amgen significantly lowers bad cholesterol. But officials have questions about who should take the drug and whether to approve it based on currently available data. The Food and Drug Administration posted its review of Amgen's Repatha ahead of a public meeting to consider its approval. Repatha is the part of a new class of injectable, cholesterol-lowing drugs that work differently than older statin drugs. The new drugs are considered the first major advance in lowering bad, or LDL, cholesterol in more than 20 years, and analysts expect them to generate billions in sales. (Perrone, 6/8)

Reuters: Amgen's Respatha Effective; Question Is For Which Patients: FDA
Amgen Inc's experimental drug Repatha lowered cholesterol in clinical trials and did not cause a marked disparity in deaths or serious adverse events but showed potential safety issues that should be explored, according to a preliminary review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The review was published on Monday on the FDA's website before a meeting on Wednesday of outside advisers to the agency who will discuss the drug and recommend whether it should be approved. (Clarke, 6/8)

Meanwhile, a large heart study appears to boost Merck's diabetes drug Januvia and a Gaithersburg-based biotech firm helps target antibiotic-resistant microbes -

Reuters: No Heart Safety Issues Seek With Merck Januvia Diabetes Drug: Study
Details of a large heart safety study presented on Monday appear to give Merck and Co's diabetes drug Januvia a clean bill of health, possibly setting the stage for a return to sales growth for the drugmaker's biggest product. Merck in April said the study, called Tecos, of 14,724 patients with type 2 diabetes and a history of heart disease demonstrated that adding Januvia to usual care did not increase major heart problems any more than adding a placebo, removing a cloud that has been holding back sales of the medicine and the company's share price. (Berkrot, 6/8)

Technically Balitmore: How OpGen Is Using Genetic Testing To Battle Superbugs
When antibiotics were created nearly 75 years ago, they were deemed a miracle drug. But over time, some microbes have built up a resistance. The current nemesis of antibiotics are known as multi-drug resistant organisms or MDROs. Or, superbugs. They can be especially threatening at hospitals, where patients who are infected could transmit the superbugs to others. (Babcock, 6/8)

The Hill: Ten New Drugs Will Cost Government $50B, Report Says
Ten new medications are expected to cost the government almost $50 billion in drug spending, according to a new report. The report from the consulting firm Avalere Health, commissioned by an insurance company trade group, falls into a long-running campaign by insurers against what they call exorbitant prices that they and the government must pay for drugs. (Sullivan, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal's Pharmalot: New Breakthrough Drugs Will Cost The U.S. Government How Much Money?
As debate intensifies over the prices for prescription medicines, a new study suggests that 10 so-called breakthrough drugs – including some that have not yet been approved by the FDA – will cost the U.S. government nearly $50 billion over the next decade. Specifically, Medicare would absorb the largest expense at $31.3 billion, followed by an estimated $15.8 billion in Medicaid spending and another $2.1 billion in spending as a result of subsidies provided through health exchange plans created under the Affordable Care Act. (Silverman, 6/8)

Politico Pro: Health Care Costs Projected To Rise 6.5 Percent In 2016
Health care costs are expected to rise 6.5 percent next year, the lowest anticipated rate of growth in a decade but still well above that of inflation, according to a new report. The report by PwC’s Health Research Institute sees the higher spending pushed by the spiraling cost of specialty drugs, including breakthrough treatments for hepatitis C and efforts to counter the increasing prevalence of cyberattacks aimed at health care companies. (Demko, 6/9)

CNN: The Women On The Front Lines Of The Latest Abortion Battle
The U.S. House approved a bill in May that would establish such a standard and similar measures have passed in 14 states. The limit is becoming an issue on the 2016 campaign trail, with nearly all the GOP presidential hopefuls backing it and Democrat Hillary Clinton slamming it. Both sides of the abortion debate say the push for a ban after 20 weeks opens up a new legal debate over the procedure that may well find its way to the Supreme Court. (Holmes, 6/8)

CQ Healthbeat: Democrats Cite Medicare Cuts In Opposing Trade Bill
Fast-track trade legislation is facing a potential new roadblock as a group of House Democrats push back against a proposal tucked into the package that would cut Medicare in order to extend funding for a federal program that helps companies and workers directly hurt by trade deals. Language reauthorizing the Trade Adjustment Assistance program through June 30, 2021, was included in the Trade Promotion Authority package that could hit the House floor this week. It would grant the president fast-track trade authority. (Zanona, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: Insurer Uses Patients’ Personal Data To Predict Who Will Get Sick
And this point in patients’ recovery — when they’ve been discharged and have to sink or swim on their own — is the stage that everyone in the health system is paying special attention to right now. For too long, too many people like John Iovine would take a dive at this stage and end up back in the hospital again. The industry calls these returns to the hospital preventable readmissions, and they are a huge drain on finances, costing Medicare alone $15 billion annually. That’s why Medicare launched an initiative a few years ago that penalizes hospitals that see too many patients readmitted too soon. And in turn, that spurred many hospitals to pay more attention to the problem. (Bookman, 6/8)

NPR: Online Health Searches Aren't Always Confidential
In the privacy of a doctor's office, a patient can ask any question and have it be covered under doctor-patient confidentiality. But what happens when patients want to search possible symptoms of a disease or ailment online? It's common to search for treatments for a migraine or stomach pain on WebMD, or a flu strain on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. But there's no way to know who else may be privy to that search information. So where does that data go when a patient presses enter? (6/8)

The Hill: Researcher Warns Drug Pumps Could Be Hacked To Give Fatal Dose
A researcher says a line of IV drug pumps can be remotely hacked to deliver an incorrect, and possibly fatal, dosage of drugs to patients. Security researcher Billy Rios told Wired that a range of pumps from manufacturer Hospira, including one line that the company stopped selling in 2013, include a flaw that allows someone to alter the device’s software to change the dosage. (McCabe, 6/8)

Maine Public Broadcasting: Supreme Court Rebuffs LePage Effort To Throw Young Adults Off Medicaid
In declining to hear his appeal, the Supreme Court has ended the LePage administration's attempt to pull Medicaid coverage for about 6,500 19- and 20-year olds in Maine. It also marks the end of a long-running dispute between the Republican LePage and Maine Attorney General Janet Mills, a Democrat, who refused to represent the state because she believes the appeal had no merit. (Leary, 6/8)

Bangor Daily News: Supreme Court Denies LePage’s Effort To Cut Young Adults From MaineCare
Maine’s effort to cut more than 6,000 low-income young adults from the state’s Medicaid rolls suffered a death blow Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the state’s case. By declining to hear the case, the court left intact an appeals court ruling that upheld the federal government’s decision to reject the state’s plan to cut 19- and 20-year-olds from MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program. The state began covering that population in the early 1990s, but Republican Gov. Paul LePage sought to end the coverage during his first term as governor. However, the federal government said the Affordable Care Act required the state to continue offering coverage. (Moretto, 6/8)

Reuters: U.S. Justices Reject Maine Challenge To Medicaid Funding
The U.S Supreme Court on Monday rejected the state of Maine's bid to revive its plan to trim some young people from its Medicaid rolls. By declining to hear the case, the court left intact an appeals court ruling that upheld the federal government's decision to reject the state's plan to cut 19- and 20-year-olds from Medicaid. Medicaid is a government health insurance program for low-income and disabled people. (Hurley, 6/8)

The Associated Press: High Court Won't Hear Maine Appeal Over Medicaid Cuts
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would stay out of a dispute between Gov. Paul LePage and the federal government over whether Maine can eliminate Medicaid coverage for thousands of low-income young adults. The justices' refusal to hear the case means LePage's administration must adhere to a lower court's ruling to continue providing health coverage to about 6,500 19- and 20-year olds until at least 2019 in order to maintain federal funding for the program. (Durkin, 6/8)

The Associated Press: State Budget Gaps Force Longer Sessions In Some Legislatures
With budget deadlines looming for nearly all states, disagreements over closing deficits or expanding Medicaid are forcing several legislatures to extend their sessions. The number of states in which lawmakers and governors are at odds over budget problems pales in comparison to those dealing with red ink during the Great Recession. But it serves as a cautionary note during a year in which the national economy is at its healthiest since the recovery began. (Cassidy, 6/8)

Los Angeles Times: Blue Shield's Proposed Acquisition Of Care1st Faces Tough Scrutiny
A top California regulator vowed a "deep dive" into a $1.2-billion acquisition proposed by Blue Shield of California amid criticism that the nonprofit insurer is shortchanging the public. Shelley Rouillard, director of the state Department of Managed Health Care, signaled tough scrutiny ahead for Blue Shield's proposed purchase of Medicaid insurer Care1st Health Plan at a hearing she held Monday at the request of several consumer groups. (Terhune, 6/8)

Wyoming Public Radio: Committee Begins Work On Finding Health Care Solutions
Wyoming lawmakers are considering working with communities to allow them to determine their own health care needs. The Joint Labor and Health committee is trying to find ways to improve health care in the state and reduce costs to hospitals. Hospitals say the care they are required to provide to poor and uninsured patients is costing them millions. (Beck, 6/8)

The Seattle Times: Some State Workers To See New Option For Health Care Coverage
An approach to health care that supporters tout as better quality for a lower price will be offered to some Washington state employees beginning next year. The Washington state Health Care Authority, the agency that manages benefits for public workers through the Public Employee Benefits Board (PEBB), has signed deals with the UW Medicine Accountable Care Network and the Puget Sound High Value Network to provide coverage to PEBB members. The arrangements are similar to an accountable care organization or ACO. (Stiffler, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Kaiser Permanente, Workers Reach Tentative Contract Plan
Kaiser Permanente and unions representing 105,000 health care workers across the United States have reached a tentative labor agreement. A joint statement released Monday by Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions praised the three-year contract, which would cover registered nurses, pharmacists, and maintenance and service workers. They say the pact includes 2 percent to 4 percent wage increases each year depending on the region. (6/8)

Orlando Sentinel: Advocates Worry About Kids Being Removed From Program For Medically Fragile
The state [of Florida] last month removed about 2,000 children from a specialized program that provides services to medically fragile kids, finding that they were no longer "clinically eligible" under a new screening process. But the move by the Department of Health to re-evaluate children in the Children's Medical Services Network is drawing criticism from pediatricians and some children's advocates. (Menzel, 6/8)

The Raleigh News&Observer: State Owes Medical Providers For Caring For Poor, Elderly
The state Medicaid office owes medical providers nearly two years worth of back payments for poor, elderly patients, an expense that will increase past and future costs, according to the state budget office. The state has not been properly paying providers for patients who use both Medicare, the federal government health insurance for the elderly, and Medicaid, the government health insurance for the poor. Providers have been complaining since the state first started using a new Medicaid payment system called NCTracks in July 2013 that they were being underpaid, but the state did not start making those payments until March of this year. For people who use both forms of insurance, Medicaid pays deductibles and copayments. Both the state and federal governments pay Medicaid bills. (Bonner, 6/8)

The Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Joins National Debate On Assisted Suicide
Death isn't a choice. But there are options, and Marian Ziebell has a plan. She knows how she wants to die. Turning 82 in June, Ziebell lives in the Uplands Retirement Village in Pleasant Hill, about 90 miles east of Nashville. She suffers from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Ziebell doesn't want to see the late stages of the disease. If she goes through with the plan in Tennessee, there's a chance someone will have broken the law. Killing oneself isn't illegal, but the act of helping someone commit suicide is a felony. That could mean up to 12 years in prison, if convicted. (Boucher, 6/8)

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Poor Adults In Missouri May Get Better Access To Health Care
Dr. Heidi Miller still remembers the time a young patient came to her office a few years ago complaining about head pain. The patient had an abscess a swollen area of body tissue on his face, a complication of poor oral health. "It was so big that it looked like his face was stretched as big as a baseball," said Miller, who works at Family Care Health Centers. "It's very disheartening because it is totally preventable." Miller and other health workers are hopeful that such cases will soon become more rare. Starting in the fall, about 250,000 low-income Missourians may have access to dental care for the first time in a decade. (Shapiro, 6/8)

Orlando Sentinel: Medical Marijuana Group Expects Big Petition Drive Soon
United For Care, which last year put a failed constitutional amendment proposal on the November election ballot, expects to begin its main petition push in a matter of weeks to get a new proposal to voters in November 2016. The organization, chaired by Orlando lawyer Morgan, already has a few volunteers pushing petitions. Yet it has raised little money so far for what would have to be a multimillion-dollar effort to get the issue on the ballot. (Powers, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Maine Donor Says Kidney Transplant OK'd For Next Week
A Maine man who responded to a plea for a kidney donation that he saw painted on a car window is scheduled to have the surgery next week. Joshua Dall-Leighton responded to the plea for a donor on South Portland resident Christine Royles’ car. But the surgery was delayed by medical and legal hurdles, including crowdsourced donations to Dall-Leighton aimed at defraying his expenses. Hospital officials said in April they needed time to determine if the donation violated the National Organ Transplant Act, which forbids potential donors from profiting from a donation. A crowdfunding website set up for the donation has raised more than $49,000. Royles also organized fundraisers to pay bills and reimburse Dall-Leighton’s time away from work. (Whittle, 6/8)

Los Angeles Times: Opinion Poll Shocker: Voters Want Politicians To Save Obamacare
Members of Congress often take the view that inaction is less dangerous to their political futures than action, but the moment is approaching that doing nothing could cost millions of Americans a cumulative billions of dollars. Unsurprisingly, several recent polls show that the public wants the lawmakers to get off their duffs. The issue is the lawsuit known as King vs.Burwell, which is expected to yield a decision from the Supreme Court before the end of this month. The court could rule to invalidate Affordable Care Act premium subsidies for as many as 6.5 million people. If that happens, the polls show, a majority of respondents want Congress or the states to restore them. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/8)

Miami Herald: Legislature Made The Right Decision
Last week, the Florida House rejected the Senate’s FHIX Medicaid expansion bill. It changed tremendously over the past two months. As it evolved, the state cost increased, the coverage dropped and there was still no chance that the federal government would have approved the plan as written. Yet, every iteration was Medicaid expansion: an entitlement program to primarily serve able-bodied adults with no children. We should be proud that Florida provides a strong safety net for people who cannot provide for themselves. ... Since the federal government created Medicaid in 1965, Florida has never provided coverage for able-bodied adults with no children. Over the past 50 years, before Obamacare, Democratic and Republican administrations supported this decision. It makes sense. (Fla. House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, 6/8)

Bloomberg: Hospitals Price-Gouge, But It's Not Their Fault
U.S. hospitals are price-gouging the people who can least afford it, according to a new paper. But don't blame them. Blame Congress. The paper, written by Ge Bai at Washington and Lee University and Gerard F. Anderson at Johns Hopkins and published Monday in Health Affairs, compared the 2012 list price for services at 4,483 hospitals to what Medicare paid that year for the same services. ... But these data are better interpreted as evidence of policy failure. The Affordable Care Act took some steps to stop hospitals from price-gouging the uninsured, requiring they charge these patients no more than what commercial health plans will pay. But those protections only apply to nonprofit hospitals, which, as Bai and Anderson's data suggest, aren't the problem. (Christopher Flavelle, 6/8)

Bloomberg: The Proper Care And Handling Of Anthrax
The U.S. military's Great Anthrax Giveaway of 2015 gets more worrisome by the day. At last count, Army researchers in Utah had sent out live anthrax samples to more than 50 labs in 17 states, Australia, Canada and South Korea. This mishap is all the more disturbing because it comes less than a year after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention accidentally shipped live anthrax to three labs not equipped to handle it. So it's worth repeating now the calls for reform that were made then: The government has to change the way it deals with deadly toxins and germ agents. (6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Misplaced Hopes For Curing Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s disease affects 5.3 million Americans and is this country’s sixth most deadly disease. It has existed for thousands of years and confounded scientists for more than a century. But that doesn’t stop the dreamers from dreaming. Last week an Ivy League-educated friend shared some big news. “Have you heard?” he asked: Marijuana might stop Alzheimer’s. While neuroscientists, geneticists and biochemists have mapped out the disease’s multi-causal nature and its immensely complex genetic-environmental interaction, the public seems determined to find an easy out. (David Shenk and Rudy Tanzi, 6/8)

Tampa Bay Times: Positive Changes To Improve Health Care Access
Too many of us know what it is like to have a sick family member or friend. Almost anyone you meet can tell you about a friend or family member who has been diagnosed with cancer, suffers from Alzheimer's, or is living with a rare disease (30 million Americans have a rare disease — rare diseases are not a rare problem). On a personal level, I have family members who have suffered with Parkinson's — I witness this debilitating disease through them. How can we get cures and treatments to these people who desperately need them? That is the question the 21st Century Cures Initiative was created to answer. (Gus Bilirakis, 6/8)

Orlando Sentinel: Changes In Health Care Kill Intimacy: My Word
The cost of medicine has increased significantly with recent changes in the health-care system. A procedure that previously cost out-of-pocket $25 plus an insurance payment now costs $250 plus an insurance payment. This large price increase is largely due to the fact that doctors' offices are now "owned" by the hospital, and procedures are coded as "outpatient hospital procedures," which pay significantly more. (Rosemarie Farina, 6/9)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Health Insurers Balance Long- And Short-Term Moves But Can Pharma?
Commercial success for a new drug brand increasingly depends on whether and, how much, third-party payers will reimburse for it. As more physicians work for large, hospital-based networks, their decision-making role in a drug's success passes to discriminating private insurers and those provider networks that are also offering insurance plans. For that reason it is worth looking at an important trend among health care insurers to see if it holds a message for pharma. Apparently health insurers find their best profit margins in what they call the commercial market, that is, employers. In the words of a strategic analyst at a Blue Cross/Blue Shield in New England, "Commercial is still king, so any insurer that doesn't have a solid book of fully-insured [employee] lives is probably struggling to make money." (Daniel R. Hoffman, 6/8)

The New York Times: What Doctors Say About Transgender Troops
The American Medical Association on Monday challenged the military’s policy barring transgender troops, stating in a resolution that there is “no medically valid reason” to disqualify them from serving. The association urged the Defense Department to offer medical care to transgender troops consistent with the type of treatment that is readily available to civilians. (6/9)

The Washington Post: I’m A Feminist. Here’s Why I Don’t Support The ‘Female Viagra.’
For the first time ever, a committee of scientific advisers has recommended the FDA approve a libido drug for women. “Female Viagra” could be on pharmacy shelves by early next year if the FDA follows that recommendation. Many women’s health advocates are calling this a victory, saying this little pink pill finally will bring gender equity to the field of sexual medicine. I disagree. I’m a pro-sex feminist, but I believe that advocating for women’s health means finding solutions for women’s sexual problems that are safe and effective. That hasn’t happened. Not yet. (Cindy Pearson, 6/8)

MinnPost: 'Faux-Advocacy,' Not Science, Prompted FDA Panel's OK Of 'Low Libido' Drug For Women, Critics Charge
Last Thursday, an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted 18-6 to recommend that the drug flibanserin be approved for the treatment of low libido in women. The FDA has said it will make a final decision about the drug by Aug. 18. Thursday’s vote stunned many observers, for the committee had previously rejected flibanserin’s approval — twice. And the scientific evidence regarding this drug has not changed significantly since those earlier votes. So what did change? (Susan Perry, 6/8)

The Statesman: Health Agency Is Still Too Big, Even With New Leadership
The new executive commissioner at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has his work cut out for him. Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that Chief Deputy Commissioner Chris Traylor will take over the top job from embattled Commissioner Kyle Janek. In fact, Traylor decided to forgo his intended retirement date of May 31 to take the job. (6/8)