Politico: Inside The Collapse Of A Bipartisan Obamacare Deal
Everybody on Capitol Hill agreed: If anyone could break the deep-rooted partisan logjam over Obamacare in Congress, it was that deal-making duo Patty and Lamar. But in the end, it was Obamacare that broke their alliance. Just seven months after Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) heralded the beginning of a new bipartisan era on health care following the collapse of Obamacare repeal efforts, their lofty ambitions ended in much the same way as every Obamacare-related negotiation over the last eight years — with claims of betrayal, warnings of political fallout and no progress toward bridging the deep divide over the nation’s health care system. When Congress put its finishing touches on a $1.3 trillion spending bill late last week, there was one glaring omission: a proposal to head off huge premium spikes just before the November midterm elections. (Cancryn and Haberkorn, 3/26)

The Hill: Health Care Tops List Of Americans’ Worries: Poll
A majority of Americans say issues surrounding health care is a top concern for them, according to a new Gallup poll. Fifty-five percent of those polled said they worry "a great deal" about the cost and availability of health care in the U.S., while 23 percent said they worry about the issue "a fair amount."  (Manchester, 3/26)

In other health law news —

Nashville Tennessean: Health Insurance Market May Soon Split According To Healthy, Sick
For most consumers, 2019 feels pretty far away. But in the insurance world, it’s practically right around the corner. In just a few short months, carriers will have to decide if they intend to sell individual insurance next year. These decisions will be influenced by recent proposals by President Trump’s administration that would allow carriers to offer plans that don’t meet current ACA standards. This could result in more coverage options outside of the ACA, but it could also lead to fewer options and premium increases for ACA plans. (Tolbert, 3/26)

The Associated Press: White House: No Change 'At This Time' To Shulkin's VA Job
With his job status in danger, embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin sought to lower his public profile Monday as a White House spokesman insisted that President Donald Trump still had confidence in his leadership "at this point in time." Shulkin, the lone Obama administration official in Trump's Cabinet, abruptly backed out of a media availability Monday morning that had been scheduled at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Elsmere, Delaware, as part of an annual Veterans Summit hosted by Democratic Sen. Tom Carper. Shulkin told organizers he needed to "get back on the road to Washington." (Yen, 3/26)

Politico: White House: Trump Has Confidence In Shulkin ‘At This Point In Time’
“We all serve at the pleasure of the president. If he is not pleased, you‘ll know it,” Gidley said in an interview on Fox News. “At this point in time though, he does have confidence in Dr. Shulkin. He is a secretary and he has done some great things at the VA. As you know, the president wants to put the right people in the right place at the right time and that could change.“ (Morin, 3/26)

Stat: Prices For Common Medicare Drugs Rose 12 Percent Annually, With A Caveat
The latest report to chronicle the rising cost of prescription medicines comes from a U.S. Senate committee that found prices for the 20 drugs most widely prescribed through Medicare Part D in 2015, on average, increased 12 percent each year between 2012 and 2017. Moreover, a dozen of the medicines saw price hikes of 50 percent of more during that time and six of the drugs experienced price increases of more than 100 percent. In one case, the weighted wholesale cost for one medicine — Nitrostat, which is used to prevent chest pain — rose by 477 percent. (Silverman, 3/26)

The Hill: Report Shows Skyrocketing Costs For 20 Brand-Name Drugs 
Twelve of those drugs saw their prices increase by more than 50 percent in the five-year period. Six of the 20 had prices increases of over 100 percent. In one case, the cost for a single drug increased by 477 percent over a five-year period. In addition, the report found that while prescriptions for top brand-name drugs dropped by 48 million, revenue increased by $8.5 billion over the last five years. “This report demonstrates that the pricing decisions made by these drug companies are outrageous,” McCaskill said in a statement. (Weixel, 3/26)

In other pharmaceutical news, GlaxoSmithKline is buying Novartis' stake in a joint health care venture —

The Associated Press: Novartis Sells Joint Venture Stake To GSK For $13 Billion
Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis is selling its stake in a consumer health care joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline to the British company for $13 billion. The joint venture was formed in 2015 and Novartis holds a 36.5-percent stake. Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said in a statement Tuesday that it "is progressing well," but "the time is right for Novartis to divest a non-core asset at an attractive price." (3/27)

The Wall Street Journal: GSK Buys Novartis’s Stake In Health-Care Unit For $13 Billion
The deal is the first significant strategic move for both companies’ young and newly installed chief executives, as they reposition their respective firms amid a series of other reviews and deal making across the industry. GSK Chief Executive Emma Walmsley, 48 years old, has moved to shake up the company’s drug-research efforts, reshuffling or letting go hundreds of executives and scientists since taking over about a year ago. That is part of an industry wide effort at several big pharmaceutical firms to refocus attention and resources on the high-risk, but high-reward business of discovering and bringing to market new drugs. (Allen, 3/27)

Bloomberg: Novartis To Sell Stake In Joint Venture To Glaxo For $13 Billion
The new bosses of two of Europe’s largest drugmakers are pivoting in different directions, with GlaxoSmithKline Plc doubling down on consumer health as Novartis AG focuses on finding new prescription medicines. Glaxo Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley’s $13 billion deal for Novartis’s stake in a joint venture that includes Panadol pain relievers and Theraflu cold medicine comes only days after the U.K. company abandoned its pursuit of Pfizer Inc.’s consumer unit. The deal gives Novartis’s Vas Narasimhan more firepower for the Swiss giant’s drug business and acquisitions. (Paton, 3/27)

The Hill: Senate Dems Request Health Panel Hearing On School Shootings 
Senate Democrats want the chamber's health committee to hold a hearing on the causes and remedies of mass shootings, including school shootings. Nine Democrats, as well as Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), sent a letter last week to Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the top members on the panel, requesting they schedule a hearing in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., shooting, in which 17 people were killed.  (Carney, 3/26)

The Hill: Doctors Rip Santorum For Saying Students Should Learn CPR Instead Of Protesting Gun Violence
Doctors and health-care professionals are criticizing former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) after he suggested Sunday that student activists should learn CPR instead of protesting for gun control. The day after thousands of students across the country took to the streets to protest gun violence during the March for Our Lives, Santorum made remarks about CPR while appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union.” (Gstalter, 3/26)

The Associated Press: New Jersey Lawmakers Advance Bills To Tighten Gun Laws
New Jersey's Democrat-led Assembly on Monday passed a half-dozen bills aimed at strengthening the state's already-strict gun laws, including a measure to permit the seizure of weapons upon a court order. The legislation comes just days after tens of thousands of students marched across the country to call for tightening gun laws and the same day as Second Amendment advocates in Trenton rallied against the legislation. (Catalini, 3/26)

The Wall Street Journal: New Jersey Assembly Approves Gun-Control Measures
One bill would require law-enforcement officials to seize weapons from someone considered a threat by a mental-health professional and another piece of legislation would establish a so-called “red-flag law” that would allow family members or others to ask a court to temporarily bar people deemed a risk from possessing or purchasing guns. “This isn’t about punitive. This is about being protective,” said New Jersey Assemblyman John McKeon, a Democrat, during the vote’s proceedings. (de Avila, 3/26)

St. Louis Public Radio: A Missouri Law Allows Armed Teachers. Schools Are Using Something Else
Missouri lawmakers passed a law in 2014 that creates a framework for how school districts can arm their employees to protect against school shootings by becoming “school protection officers.” ... Instead the handful of rural Missouri schools that have armed some of their staff members have contracted with a private security firm to train their employees. (Delaney, 3/27)

The Washington Post: CVS-Aetna Wants To Be In Your Neighborhood Because Zip Codes Powerfully Shape People’s Health
Aetna chief executive Mark Bertolini heads one of the biggest health insurers in the country and is on the cusp of a $69 billion megadeal to merge his company with pharmacy giant CVS. He says the future of health care is going to depend, mostly, on the time people spend outside the grasp of the traditional medical system. Health-policy experts increasingly talk about the effect of Zip codes on health — an acknowledgment of a growing body of research showing that where and how people live can have a bigger influence on their health than interactions with the medical system or even genetics. That means health insurance has to evolve, Bertolini said in an interview — away from acting only as a payment system for procedures and drugs when people are ill and toward interventions to help people stay healthy in their everyday lives. (Johnson, 3/26)

In other health industry news —

Bloomberg: As Flu Subsides, So Does Interest In Hospital Stocks
Investors may be rotating out of hospital stocks after a flu-fueled rally and moving back into insurers. Facilities were the lone underperformers among health-care stocks on Monday, with a Bloomberg gauge of hospitals shares falling as much as 2.2 percent intraday. Health insurers, on the other hand, rose as much as 2.7 percent along with a rebound in the broader market. CDC data shows that this year’s flu season peaked in early February and influenza activity continues to decline. (Darie, 3/26)

Modern Healthcare: Ascension To Hire Chief Digital Officer 
Ascension has created a new position for a chief digital officer who will start later this year, the health system told Modern Healthcare on Monday during the American College of Healthcare Executives' 2018 Congress on Healthcare Leadership. The new executive, who will join the St. Louis-based system from a major publicly traded technology company, signals Ascension's increasing investment in its digital platform and its enthusiasm to meet consumer needs. (Kacik, 3/26)

Modern Healthcare: Tenet And Its Largest Shareholder Glenview Sign Governance Agreement
Tenet Healthcare Corp., and its largest shareholder, Glenview Capital Management, reached an agreement on Tenet's bylaws, settling some simmering issues that otherwise would have been raised at the hospital chain's upcoming annual shareholder meeting.The two organizations had several disagreements on governance that emerged after New York City-based Glenview had given up its representation on Tenet's board. As part of the agreement, Tenet's board will change its bylaws to "further align" its governance with best practices, according to a news release from Dallas-based Tenet. (Barr, 3/26)

ProPublica: Here’s One Issue Blue and Red States Agree On: Preventing Deaths of Expectant and New Mothers
Alarmed that the U.S. is the most dangerous affluent country in which to give birth, state and local lawmakers around the country are adopting a flurry of bipartisan bills aimed at reforming how maternal deaths are identified and investigated. In Indiana earlier this month, Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill creating a maternal mortality review committee to scrutinize deaths and near-deaths among expectant and new mothers and make policy recommendations to improve maternal health. (Martin and Fields, 3/26)

The Wall Street Journal: A New Theory On Sudden Infant Deaths Divides Doctors
Doctors researching unexpected infant deaths have discovered a baffling trend: The rate of those deaths among newborns has remained unchanged even as the numbers in older infants have dropped over 20 years. The finding on sudden and unexpected infant deaths (SUID) is surprising, says Joel Bass, chair of the pediatrics department at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Mass., and first author of the study.“That’s more than one newborn baby dying of SUID a day,” says Dr. Bass, whose team’s research appeared in the Journal of Pediatrics in February. “A normal newborn is not supposed to die.” (Reddy, 3/26)

And in other news —

Kaiser Health News: Tele-Monitoring Can Reduce Medical Appointments For Low-Risk Pregnancies
When Allison Matthews was pregnant with her first child four years ago, her obstetrics clinic scheduled frequent appointments to make sure everything was proceeding normally. “I was taking time off work and it wasn’t doing a lot for me,” said Matthews, who was considered at low risk for complications like pregnancy-related high blood pressure, also known as preeclampsia. “I kind of felt like I was almost doing it more for the clinic’s benefit than for myself.” (Andrews, 3/27)

CNN: Children With Autism Less Likely To Be Fully Vaccinated, Study Finds
Children with autism spectrum disorder are significantly less likely to be fully vaccinated than children unaffected by autism, new research finds. And the same is true of their younger sisters and brothers. "This study is showing that children with autism and their younger siblings might be at greater risk of vaccine-preventable diseases," said Ousseny Zerbo, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. (Scutti, 3/26)

Crain's Chicago Business: In Withdrawal: Treating The Babies Of Illinois' Opioid Crisis
Zabian Halliburton was born across the southern Illinois border on New Year's Day, arriving into the world at 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 21 inches. By his second night, he was in withdrawal from the cocktail of meth and heroin his mother used while pregnant, as well as the methadone treatment she relied on to try to get clean. He spent the first week of his life weaning off drugs. “He just turned red,” his mother, LaTanya Halliburton, 34, recalls. She's sitting inside a playroom while Zabian sips a bottle at the West Loop's Haymarket Center, one of the few places in Illinois where mothers and their kids can stay together during addiction treatment. “He was screaming and sweating like crazy.” (Schorsch, 3/26)

Stat: Why Houston Wants Nothing To Do With The Massive National Opioid Lawsuit
Harris County is one of at least two dozen counties, cities, and towns pursuing cases in state court apart from the national litigation. They are drawn to the local judges and juries in their home courts, experts say, and fear getting lost in the crowd of plaintiffs in the national case, particularly if claims brought by states are eventually going to be considered in a global settlement. But there are risks, too, including a loss of influence in negotiating that potential settlement and a lack of resources to wage a legal battle against deep-pocketed defendants. (Joseph, 3/27)

The Associated Press: Dentist Group Puts Teeth In Push To Curb Opioid Painkillers
The American Dental Association wants dentists to drastically cut back on prescribing opioid painkillers. The association announced a new policy Monday that "essentially says eliminate opioids from your arsenal if at all possible," said Dr. Joseph Crowley, the group's president. The Chicago-based group represents around 161,000 dentists. (Tanner, 3/26)

Boston Globe: Despite Setback, Advocates For Addiction Treatment In Prison Press Ahead
A plan to give Massachusetts prisoners access to all medications that treat addiction was removed from the final version of the landmark criminal justice bill, but advocates intend to seek the Legislature’s approval via another route. The proposal would have made Massachusetts only the second state, after Rhode Island, to provide opioid-addicted inmates the full array of treatments, including methadone and buprenorphine (often known by the trade name Suboxone). (Freyer, 3/26)

The Hill: GOP Chairman Introduces Draft Bills To Curb Opioid Use
Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) released discussion drafts Monday of legislation aimed at curbing the overprescribing of opioids and stopping a powerful synthetic opioid from coming into the country illegally. The draft bills are aimed at bolstering the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) capacity to respond to the opioid crisis. They come as the Senate Health Committee is working to begin marking up legislation this spring to combat the opioid crisis, which is killing more people per year than vehicle crashes. (Roubein, 3/26)

CQ: Alexander Introduces Two Opioid Bills
The top Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee introduced two draft bills on Monday that would give the Food and Drug Administration more tools to combat the opioid crisis. The bills from Sen. Lamar Alexander would change how opioids are dispensed and grant new authorities for seizing drugs at the border. (Raman, 3/26)

The New York Times: They Push. They Protest. And Many Activists, Privately, Suffer As A Result.
She lay curled in bed for days, paralyzed by the stresses of a life that she felt had chosen her as much as she had chosen it. About three years earlier, the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., had spurred Ashley Yates into activism. She would evolve from street protester in her hometown of St. Louis to Black Lives Matter organizer in Oakland. But Ms. Yates would also feel the pressures of a job that seemed unrelenting: responding repeatedly to the deaths of black residents in communities across America, struggling to win policy reforms that would benefit black people and rallying others to support her causes. (Eligon, 3/26)

The New York Times: Grindr, Popular Gay Sex App, To Offer H.I.V. Test Reminders
In an effort to shrink the global AIDS epidemic, the world’s largest gay dating app is changing its software this week to urge millions of users to get frequent H.I.V. tests. Grindr, which claims to have 3.3 million daily users from every country in the world, will send men who opt into the service a reminder every three to six months, and simultaneously point them to the nearest testing site. It will also let clinics, gay community centers and other testing sites advertise for free. (McNeil, 3/26)

The New York Times: For Many Strokes, There’s An Effective Treatment. Why Aren’t Some Doctors Offering It?
It was one of those findings that would change medicine, Dr. Christopher Lewandowski thought. For years, doctors had tried — and failed — to find a treatment that would preserve the brains of stroke patients. The task was beginning to seem hopeless: Once a clot blocked a blood vessel supplying the brain, its cells quickly began to die. Patients and their families could only pray that the damage would not be too extensive. (Kolata, 3/26)

The Washington Post: Testing For Hepatitis C Lags With Baby Boomers Despite High Infection Rate
Testing for hepatitis C, a major cause of liver cancer, is lagging behind among the group of Americans with the highest rate of infection: baby boomers. A study published Tuesday showed that only about 13 percent of baby boomers were tested in 2015, up just slightly from 12 percent in 2013. U.S. public health authorities recommend all people in that demographic — those born between 1945 and 1965 — be screened for hepatitis C. (McGinley, 3/27)

The Washington Post: Brain Abnormalities Found In 4- And 5-Year-Olds With ADHD, Researchers Say
In the first comprehensive imaging study of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in preschoolers, researchers have found evidence that structural changes in the brain are already recognizable at the age of 4. “One of our big questions was thinking about an early-onset disorder and linking it to early-onset brain anomalies,” said Lisa Jacobson, one of the researchers involved in the study, which appeared Monday in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. The results “tell us that this is not just a behavioral disorder. It is a neurological disorder.” (Nutt, 3/26)

The Washington Post: Losing Weight By Restricting Eating Times Seems To Work, At Least In Mice
This is a story about the importance of good timing. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. This excess weight contributes to a variety of health problems. Despite enormous effort over decades, the problem has proved extremely difficult to solve. Biologist Satchin Panda thinks we’re missing a key variable: Instead of focusing so much on what we eat, he says, we should pay more attention to when we eat. (Kohn, 3/26)

Los Angeles Times: By Going Vegan, America Could Feed An Additional 390 Million People, Study Suggests
More than 41 million Americans find themselves at risk of going hungry at some point during the year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.But it doesn't have to be this way. New research suggests the country could feed all 327 million Americans — plus roughly 390 million more — by focusing on plants. If U.S. farmers took all the land currently devoted to raising cattle, pigs and chickens and used it to grow plants instead, they could sustain more than twice as many people as they do now, according to a report published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Kaplan, 3/26)

WBUR: Scientists In Africa Wonder If There's Bias Against Their Research
Data supporting a Western bias against African research is scarce. That makes it a hard thing to demonstrate. But there are a number of reasons to take the issue seriously. (Jochem, 3/26)

Kaiser Health News: ‘Peanut Butter Cup’ Vape: Is This Dessert Or An E-Cigarette Flavor?
Advertising for traditional cigarettes is strictly regulated: No cowboys looking cool, no cartoons and no bright colors that play up candy-flavored cigarettes that might appeal to kids. Yet these bans don’t apply to e-cigarettes or vapes — increasingly a choice for experimentation by adolescents and young adults. These smoking products use chemical solutions with nicotine flavored with “juices” that have names like “Bubble Pop,” “Strawberry Cotton Candy” and “Peanut Butter Cup.” People inhale these as if they were smoking a traditional cigarette. (Bluth, 3/26)

The Clarion Ledger: Lawmakers Strike Medicaid Deal At Last Minute, Usher In Budget Passage
At the last moment, lawmakers struck a relatively tame deal to reauthorize the Mississippi Division of Medicaid by the Monday evening deadline. The House subsequently approved a $917.5 million corresponding budget for the division, which provides health insurance to roughly 750,000 Mississippians, or one-fourth of the state's population. (Wolfe, 3/26)

The Associated Press: Mississippi Lawmakers OK Budgets, File Medicaid Proposal
Hospital administrators have been lobbying lawmakers to let hospitals get a piece of Medicaid's managed care program that is now run by other companies. Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Brice Wiggins, a Republican from Pascagoula, said negotiators rejected that idea. The Medicaid plan is in Senate Bill 2836 , which governs who gets paid for providing health care and how. The plan includes provisions designed to give a financial boost to rural hospitals. It also gives Medicaid administrators more flexibility, within federal laws and regulations, to determine how many physicians' visits are allowed, and it allows flexibility for reimbursement for certain drugs, implantable drug system devices and medical supplies. (Amy and Pettus, 3/26)

The Associated Press: Idaho's Medicaid Gap Population Drops As Much As 35 Pct
The estimated number of Idahoans who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid has dropped at least 20 percent over the past four years and possibly as much as 35 percent, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare said Monday. There are currently between 51,000 and 62,000 low-income individuals who receive no health care benefits or assistance. A 2014 study by actuarial firm Milliman showed 78,000 Idahoans were in the so-called Medicaid gap based on the state's census and demographic data. (Kruesi, 3/26)

The Associated Press: Missouri Bill Expands Medicaid For Drug Abuse Treatment
The Missouri House has passed legislation that could allow women who give birth while undergoing substance abuse treatment to remain covered by the Medicaid health care program for a longer time. State law currently cuts off their Medicaid coverage 60 days after giving birth. (3/26)

The Associated Press: Company Sells Calif. Town It Planned To Make Marijuana Mecca
Could plans to turn an old California ghost town into a marijuana mecca be going up in smoke? Cannabis technology company American Green, which bought Nipton for $5 million last year, has sold it to another company for $7.7 million, acknowledging it struggled to raise the money needed to remake the old desert mining town into a pot paradise. (3/26)

In other news —

The Washington Post: In The Murky World Of D.C. Marijuana Law, Pop-Up Markets Thrive
At the XO Lounge in downtown Washington one January night, people who paid a $10 cover charge were greeted with samples of caramel popcorn, brownies and crisped-rice treats — all infused with marijuana. Customers could browse three floors with tables featuring all manner of cannabis: edible candies, smokable flowers, wax, oils and more. All were available only after a suitable “donation” was given for a sticker, or a football card, for which the cannabis was billed as simply an added “gift.” The top floor featured a ­full-service bar, and music thumped throughout as a steady flow of customers entered the restaurant and nightclub. (Chappell and Jackman, 3/26)

KCUR: Cannabis Oil Advances In Kansas Legislature As Other Medical Marijuana Proposal Dies 
Lawmakers in the Kansas House rejected an effort Monday to allow medical marijuana in the state. But they advanced a plan to allow the sale of some products made from cannabis — if the high-producing compounds have been removed. The discussion over legalizing cannabis for medical purposes came as lawmakers considered regular updates to the state’s drug laws. (Koranda, 3/26)

The Associated Press: Florida Gov. Scott Signs Bills Mandating Backup Power
Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation Monday requiring backup power sources in Florida nursing homes and assisted living facilities, months after the deaths of several residents from a sweltering nursing home that lost power in a hurricane. The legislation require the facilities to have a generator capable of keeping nursing homes and assisted living facilities at 81 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) or lower for at least four days. (3/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: Health Care Costs 30% More In Northern California Than In Rest Of The State
People living in areas where there is greater consolidation among hospitals, physician groups and insurance companies pay more for health care, according to a study released Monday. The study analyzed consolidation in the hospital, insurance and physician markets in California between 2010 and 2016. (Ho, 3/26)

The Associated Press: Cisco Systems Gives $50M To Combat California Homelessness
Internet gear maker Cisco Systems Inc. announced Monday that it will donate $50 million over five years to address the growing problem of homelessness in California's Santa Clara County and is encouraging other Silicon Valley companies to make similar efforts. In a blog post, Chief Executive Chuck Robbins said people in the San Francisco Bay Area know homelessness has reached a crisis level, costing the county where many tech companies are based $520 million per year. (3/26)

The Baltimore Sun: Program Provides Uninsured Local Women Access To Preventive Cancer Services, Including In Towson
One Voice began in August 2011, when the hospital received an 18-month American Cancer Society grant that allowed participation in the 100 Free Screening Mammogram and Education Program: breast cancer screenings for 100 underserved, uninsured women in Baltimore City and County. To date, the program—no longer grant-funded—has provided more than 500 mammograms at no charge. Thanks to the generosity and partnership of individuals and programs within and outside of the hospital, One Voice continues to evolve and grow, offering diagnostic and referral services in a safe and comforting setting. (Heubeck, 3/27)

Orlando Sentinel: Florida Hospital Starts Art Therapy Program For Cancer Patients
A growing body of research shows that creative arts therapies reduce patients’ anxiety, depression and pain, and help improve their quality of life. More programs are embracing these alternative therapies as part of patients’ treatment plans, whether it’s for Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, PTSD or cancer. (Miller, 3/26)

Houston Chronicle: Memorial Hermann Opens League City Care Facility
Memorial Hermann recently opened its largest convenient care center in the region in League City. Equipped with a 24-hour emergency room, the facility at at 2555 S. Gulf Freeway is Memorial Hermann's sixth in the Houston area. ...The facility includes an imaging center for adult and pediatric patients, radiology and diagnostic labs and a primary care clinic offering services ranging from sick visits to chronic disease management. The facility also features a breast-care center providing medical services, cancer screenings and diagnostics and a sports medicine and rehabilitation center offering a range of orthopedic and athletic care. (Greenberg, 3/26)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Lawmakers Get More Questions Than Answers About Coakley Cleanup, Health Risks
Members of the New Hampshire legislature’s Seacoast Cancer Cluster Commission said they didn’t want to debate facts about Coakley Landfill and its effect on public health at their meeting Monday – but that’s mostly what they ended up doing. (Ropeik, 3/26)

Bloomberg: Amazon's Health Care Threat Is Already Reshaping The Industry 
Without having done much yet, Amazon.com Inc. is already transforming U.S. health care -- and not necessarily for the better. The mere threat of the online giant getting into the health business prompted the country's two largest pharmacy benefit managers -- CVS Health Corp. and Express Scripts Holding Co. -- to join forces with two of its largest insurers, Aetna Inc. and Cigna Corp. These deals will put more U.S. health care under the control of fewer companies. The merging companies say this will lower costs for consumers and the country. But the reality will likely be less rosy and more complicated. (Max Nisen, 3/26)

Bloomberg: Medical Billing Bogs Down U.S. Health-Care System
The American health-care system has a unique problem with paperwork. The sheer number of participants -- doctors, hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, patients -- makes settling payments complicated, time-consuming and really expensive. The share of U.S. health-care spending devoted to administrative costs, including billing, is roughly three times what it is in other affluent countries, and it's a major reason the U.S. spends twice as much on health care. (3/26)

The Hill: Computers Are Amazing, But Electronic Health Records Are Not
We trust computer technology to solve problems, save time and money, and improve our lives. It has. Why didn’t it work with electronic health records? EHRs are costly, clunky, error prone failures we seem unable to fix. It’s as if we took off in a hastily designed rocket, realize we need to come back, but are stuck in orbit without a reentry plan. (Thomas W. Lagrelius, 3/26)

The Washington Post: The Truth About Medical Bankruptcies
Pop quiz: What percentage of bankruptcies in the United States are caused by medical bills? If you lived through the debate over passing Obamacare, you probably answered something like “half.” That was the figure in common currency among advocates of health-care reform; then-Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) were just two of the prominent advocates who used it. Other variants were also popular; Barack Obama, for example, was fond of saying that “the cost of health care now causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds.” (Megan McArdle, 3/26)

The New York Times: Repeal The Second Amendment
Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement school children and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country this past Saturday. These demonstrations demand our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of school children and others in our society. ...But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment. (John Paul Stevens, 3/27)

Chicago Tribune: A Cooling-Off Period On Handgun Purchases Nationwide Would Save Lives
How many times have we heard the advice to “count to three” before doing something impulsive — such as sending an angry text or responding to the president’s tweets? We often regret the things we do or say on the spur of the moment when driven by strong emotions. Many times, we could have saved ourselves from negative consequences if only we had taken a moment for reflection. This is the idea behind establishing a waiting period for handgun purchases. An October 2017 Harvard Business School study found that mandatory waiting periods between the sale of a gun and its arrival save lives. According to the study, states with mandatory waiting periods — regardless of their length — had an average of 17 percent fewer murders and 10 percent fewer suicides. (Raja Krishnamoorthi, 3/26)

Columbus Dispatch: Stop Soaking Taxpayers For Medicaid Drugs
Did you know that for every 60-mg caplet of duloxetine dispensed in Ohio through a Medicaid-contracted managed-care company, taxpayers pay a middleman $1.54, but the middleman passes only about 18 cents of that to the pharmacy that supplies the drug and pockets the $1.36 difference? Sen. Bill Coley, R-West Chester, didn’t know, and he’s on the Senate Medicaid Oversight Committee. “We thought there was some nominal fee to PBMs but had no idea (the fees were so large),” Coley said. “It’s ridiculous.” He’s talking about pharmacy benefit managers — private companies that contract with managed-care companies to handle prescriptions — deciding which drugs to cover and how much to reimburse pharmacies for them. (3/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Banning Transgender Troops Is Not The Answer
In a change from his earlier efforts to enact a ban, Trump’s new order allows the Pentagon to make exceptions allowing some transgender members to serve. The Pentagon hasn’t released official data about how many transgender people are currently serving, but a Rand Corp. study estimated that there are between 1,320 and 6,630 of transgender individuals out of a force of 1.3 million active-duty troops. (3/26)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: School Districts Open Health Clinics Just For Their Staff
It's not always easy for teachers and school staff to get to a doctor, some school leaders say. ...So the boards of the three school districts voted this month to team up to open their own employee health clinics, at least one for each district. School leaders expect the move will lower health care costs and make it easier for employees to use the health services they’re offered. (Kristen Taketa, 3/27)

Sacramento Bee: Piecemeal Bills Will Not Fix California's Health Care
Last June, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon unilaterally blocked public hearings, amendments and legislative votes on Senate Bill 562, a Medicare-for-all proposal that had passed the state Senate and that would guarantee health care for all Californians without ever-rising premiums, deductibles and other costs. ...But in a telling admission, lobbyists for the California Medical Association characterized these bills as giving cover to Democrats not to support single payer as proposed by the California Nurses Association. (Deborah Burger, 3/26)