The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Measles Cases Continue To Climb
As measles cases rose last week to a new high of 764 cases this year in 23 states, a battle is heating up in New York state over a proposal to tighten vaccination requirements for those attending schools. The new total is 60 cases more than a week ago, according to a weekly update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is the highest case count since 1994, driven largely by two outbreaks—in New York City and nearby Rockland County. N.Y. (McKay, West and Vielkind, 5/6)

The Hill: CDC Reports 60 New Measles Cases In The Past Week
Less than two weeks ago, the country broke the record of 667 cases reported in 2014, the most confirmed since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. The new numbers mean that a little over four months into the year, there have been almost 100 more cases than there were in all of 2014. Cases have been reported in 23 states, with Pennsylvania being the newest addition. Of the 60 new individual cases, 52 were reported in New York, where two large outbreaks are occurring in Rockland County and in New York City. (Weixel, 5/6)

The Associated Press: States Seek To Cut Off Religious Exemptions For Vaccination
Connecticut’s Attorney General gave state lawmakers the legal go-ahead Monday to pursue legislation that would prevent parents from exempting their children from vaccinations for religious reasons, a move that several states are considering amid a significant measles outbreak. The non-binding ruling from William Tong, a Democrat, was released the same day public health officials in neighboring New York called on state legislators there to pass similar legislation . Most of the cases in the current outbreak have been in New York state. (Haigh, 5/6)

NPR: Amid Measles Outbreaks, States Consider Revoking Religious Vaccine Exemptions
Oregon is one of more than 10 states considering tightening their vaccine laws this year. It's a reaction to what health officials say is the worst year for measles in 25 years — nearly two decades after the disease was labeled "eliminated" in the U.S. (VanderHart, 5/6)

The CT Mirror: Tong: No Constitutional Barrier To Removing State's Religious Exemption On Vaccines
A plan by a group of Democratic lawmakers to wipe out the state’s religious exemption on vaccines does not violate the constitution, Attorney General William Tong wrote in an opinion issued Monday. But whether the General Assembly will take up the hot-button issue of repealing the provision is still up in the air. (Carlesso, 5/6)

Los Angeles Times: How Stricter Vaccine Laws Spared California From A Major Measles Outbreak
More than 750 people have been diagnosed with measles in the United States this year, the most cases nationwide in more than 20 years. Health officials say that more than 500 of those people had not been vaccinated. (Krishnakumar and Karlamangla, 5/6)

The Hill: Oregon House Passes Bill To Eliminate Religious, Philosophical Vaccine Exemptions
Oregon lawmakers have advanced a bill that would eliminate religious and philosophical exemptions for mandatory vaccinations, according to the Oregonian. The bill, which would allow exemptions to vaccinations solely for medical reasons, passed the Oregon state House 35-25, largely along party lines but with two Republicans voting for it, including Rep. Cheri Helt, who introduced it, and four “nay” votes from Democrats. Gov. Kate Brown (D) has indicated she will sign the bill if it passes the state Senate. (Budryk, 5/6)

The Oregonian: Vaccination-Boosting Bill Passes Oregon House 
The highly controversial bill to eliminate loopholes in the state’s vaccination law passed the Oregon House on Monday and is on its way to the Senate. Gov. Kate Brown has already said she plans to sign House Bill 3063. The 35-25 vote fell largely along party lines, with two Republicans -- including Bend Rep. Cheri Helt, who introduced the bill -- voting in favor of its passage. Four Democratic representatives voted against it. (Harbarger, 5/6)

The Hill: Instagram Developing 'Pop-Up' Message To Crack Down On Vaccine Misinformation 
Instagram said it is taking further steps to crack down on the spread of medically inaccurate content by developing a "pop-up" that would appear on content containing vaccine-related misinformation. An Instagram spokesperson told The Hill that the company has been working on a message that would appear when people search for vaccine misinformation, adding that the feature is still in the works.  (Birnbaum, 5/6)

CNN: This Mom Wants You To Know What Measles Did To Her Baby
Like all people who believe in facts and science, Jilly Moss is incredulous when she hears anti-vaxers say that measles is no big deal. Moss has a particularly personal perspective: Her baby ended up in the hospital last month because of the virus. Alba, who was 11 months old at the time, had a fever that soared over 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Her eyes were swollen shut for days, and doctors had to give her medicine to prevent her from going blind. She couldn't eat or drink and had so much trouble breathing, doctors had to put her on oxygen. (Cohen, 5/6)

North Carolina Health News: No Shots, No Service: Pediatricians Take Tough Stands While Vaccination Rates For Young Children In N.C. Drop
More than 80 percent of North Carolina’s toddlers were up to date in 2014 on a series of seven vaccines recommended by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, a rate that exceeded national numbers by nine percentage points. But North Carolina’s coverage rate dropped to 70.9 percent just three years later in 2017, according to the most recent data collected for the CDC’s annual National Immunization Survey of toddlers 19 to 35 months old. The survey is conducted by telephone, with researchers later confirming reports about immunizations with medical providers. (Ovaska-Few, 5/7)

Politico: Bennet: Medicare For All Supporters 'Need To Level With The American People'
Sen. Michael Bennet suggested Monday that the “Medicare for All” proposals touted by many of his Democratic primary opponents may not be as popular as they seem, telling CNN that candidates should "be honest" with voters about the realities of such health care policies. “When you tell people the first thing about Medicare for All — either that it takes insurance away from 180 million Americans that have it through their employer or the taxes we would have to pay to afford that $30 trillion program — that 70 percent support falls to the mid-30s,” Bennet said on CNN's "New Day." “I think we need to level with the American people.” (Galioto, 5/6)

Des Moines Register: With Clean Bill Of Health, Michael Bennet Begins His Presidential Campaign In Iowa
On health care, he said that families without insurance would be hard-pressed to pay for the cost of his prostate operation, not to mention his youngest daughter’s appendectomy that soon followed it.  His solution is the “Medicare X” plan he wrote and is sponsoring in the Senate. It would provide an option for people to enroll in Medicare, but also allow people to keep using private insurance, unlike "Medicare for All."  (Cannon, 5/6)

Politico: Here's Where The Democratic Candidates Stand On The Biggest 2020 Issues
The Democratic primary field for 2020 is largely set, but with former Vice President Joe Biden finally jumping in, the most high-profile candidate has yet to weigh in on many of the policy fights that so far have defined the battle to beat Donald Trump. Voters, donors and political organizations are grilling candidates on whether they would support paying reparations to descendents of slaves, expanding the Supreme Court or abolishing the Electoral College. Biden, who has so far avoided many of these knotty questions, is sure to face inquiries about them soon. (Jin and Oprysko, 4/25)

In other 2020 election news, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) takes on gun control while Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) talks substance abuse —

Politico: Cheat Sheet: How Sen. Cory Booker Would Curb Gun Violence
Sen. Cory Booker on Monday rolled out a sweeping gun-control agenda that includes requiring licenses for all gun owners, one of the most aggressive gun-related proposals from a 2020 Democrat. The 14-part plan is part of what the New Jersey Democrat said is a “personal fight” to combat a gun violence "epidemic." It's sure to meet with fierce pushback from gun-rights groups like the National Rifle Association and faces an uncertain fate in Congress. (Oprysko, 5/6)

New Hampshire Public Radio: In Nashua, Klobuchar Says Stronger National Effort Needed On Opioid Epidemic
Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar visited a Nashua recovery center Monday to talk up her $100 billion plan to address mental health and addiction. Klobuchar says the country needs a president willing to lead on this issue. Klobuchar says her background -- as a prosecutor, and as the daughter of an alcoholic -- shapes her approach to addiction policy. She says the country is long overdue for a truly national approach to boosting treatment. (Rogers, 5/6)

The Wall Street Journal: A $2 Million Drug Is About To Hit The Market
A new treatment for an infant muscle-wasting disease is about to go on sale at a potential cost of $2 million, a record price tag likely to fuel the continuing scrutiny of how companies price their drugs and how insurers pay for them. Novartis AG has yet to set a price for the gene therapy called Zolgensma, but executives say the drug’s potential to cure spinal muscular atrophy, an inherited disease that typically kills babies before they turn two, justifies a seven-figure price. Gene therapies target diseases that result from a faulty gene by introducing a working version into the body. (Roland, 5/7)

Stat: FDA Approval May Dampen Controversy Over A High-Priced Drug
The Food and Drug Administration just added an unexpected twist to a simmering controversy over a rare disease drug that earlier this year briefly became a poster child for high-priced medicines. In a surprise move, the agency approved a medicine from Jacobus Pharmaceuticals, a small, family-run company, for treating a neuromuscular disorder called Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, or LEMS, for children ages 6 to 17. However, the approval potentially adds unforeseen competition for Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (CPRX), which only last December won an FDA endorsement to market its own treatment for adults. (Silverman, 5/6)

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump pushes importation strategy as solution to cut costs —

Politico: Trump Directs Azar To Work On Florida Drug Import Plan
President Donald Trump on Monday directed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to work with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on the state’s drug import plan, according to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). Trump and Azar spoke at an Oval Office meeting — attended by DeSantis — that lasted for about 45 minutes Monday afternoon, said Gaetz, who also was at the gathering. (Glorioso, 5/6)

Modern Healthcare: Insurers, Providers Question CMS Push For Cross-Border Plans
Insurers and healthcare providers warned the CMS that federal regulations aren't the reason insurers steer clear of selling plans across state lines. The CMS issued a request for information in March on how to eliminate barriers on insurers' ability to sell cross-border plans, reviving an idea that was a pillar of President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. The agency also asked whether Farm Bureau insurance plans or short-term, limited duration plans could help facilitate the sale of individual market plans. (King, 5/6)

Modern Healthcare: ACOs Stick With Medicare Program When They Get Bonuses
Accountable care organizations are more likely to stay in the Medicare Shared Savings Program if they achieve bonuses, even if it's just once, according to a new study. The analysis, published Monday in Health Affairs, found that the risk of an ACO leaving the Medicare program is cut by more than three-quarters if they receive shared savings for at least one performance year. Overall, 30% of the 624 ACOs that participated at some point in the first five years of the program left. (Castellucci, 5/6)

The Hill: Republicans Troll Democrats With Proposals To Rename Upcoming Health Care Bill
Republicans on a key House committee are trolling Democrats with amendments to rename legislation aimed at blocking some of the Trump administration's moves on the Affordable Care Act. The Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act, slated for a vote later this week, would block the Trump administration's October guidance to loosen restrictions on states’ abilities to waive certain ObamaCare requirements. (Brufke, 5/6)

Richmond Times Dispatch: Enrollment In Obamacare Individual Marketplace Down As Premiums Climb
Fewer Virginians are buying health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplace for individuals as premiums have continued to increase, and even more people are expected to leave the marketplace as they have become eligible for Medicaid under the state’s expansion program, according to a report by the state Bureau of Insurance. Enrollment in the individual marketplace is projected to reach an all-time low in 2019, when 262,800 people are expected to buy health insurance individually compared with 317,866 in 2018 and a peak in 2016 of 418,013, according to the report given to the General Assembly’s Health Insurance Reform Commission on Monday. (Balch, 5/6)

The New York Times: For Nurses, Trauma Can Come With The Job
In 1945, Dorothy Still, a nurse in the United States Navy, met with a Navy psychiatrist to discuss disturbing symptoms she had been experiencing. Miss Still was one of 12 Navy nurses who had been held prisoner of war by the Japanese military in the occupied Philippines during World War II. For more than three years, Miss Still and the other nurses had provided care to diseased, starving and destitute civilian inmates in a makeshift infirmary at the P.O.W. camp. In the months after liberation, Miss Still found she often cried without provocation and had trouble stopping her tears. She most likely suffered from what today we could call post-traumatic stress disorder, but the Navy psychiatrist offered no support or solutions. Instead, he called her a “fake” and a “liar.” Nurses, he claimed could not suffer the kind of shell shock from war that sailors or soldiers could. (Lucchesi, 5/7)

CNN: National Nurses Week Recognizes The Professionals Americans Trust Most
Nurses consistently rank at the top of the country's most trusted professionals. And this week, America celebrates them. National Nurses Week begins on National Nurses Day, May 6, and concludes on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale. Here are some facts about the nurses that tend to you when you're sick -- and the week that celebrates them. (Novak, 5/7)

KCUR: As Nurse Practitioners Try To Shake Free Of Doctors, Kansas Physicians Resist 
Kansas makes advanced practice nurses ink deals with doctors that physicians say protect patients by ensuring those nurses will collaborate with their more educated colleagues. Nurses disagree. They insist the contracts do little more than limit patient options, allow doctors to fend off unwanted competition, and, in some cases, give them a cut of nurses’ earnings for little to no work. (Llopis-Jepsen, 5/6)

The Hill: FDA Asking Manufacturers To Study Safety Of Chemicals In Sunscreen 
Several ingredients commonly found in sunscreens may be absorbed into the bloodstream rather than remaining on the surface of the skin, suggesting the need for further study by manufacturers, according to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. FDA researchers found users of products with the active ingredient avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene or ecamsule absorb higher levels than the amount benign enough not to require safety testing, according to the study. In some cases, the levels were up to 40 times higher than that threshold. (Budryk, 5/6)

CNN: Sunscreen Enters Bloodstream After Just One Day Of Use, Study Says
It took just one day of use for several common sunscreen ingredients to enter the bloodstream at levels high enough to trigger a government safety investigation, according to a pilot study conducted by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, an arm of the US Food and Drug Administration. The study, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA, also found that the blood concentration of three of the ingredients continued to rise as daily use continued and then remained in the body for at least 24 hours after sunscreen use ended. (LaMotte, 5/6)

ProPublica: The Birth-Tissue Profiteers
Their shoulders and backs and knees were giving out. Pills and steroid injections hadn’t eased their pain. They were scared of surgery. So, one afternoon last October, two dozen men and women, many of them white-haired, some leaning on canes, shuffled into a meeting room at Robson Ranch, a luxury retirement community in Denton, Texas. Sipping iced tea and clutching brochures that promised a pain-free tomorrow, they checked off their ailments on a questionnaire. They were there to see a presentation by Dr. David Greene, who was introduced as a “retired orthopedic surgeon.” Atlas Medical Center, a local clinic that specializes in pain treatment, hosted the event. Greene, a short, trim man with his hair slicked up, ignored the stage and microphone and stood close to his audience. After warming up the crowd with a joke about his inept golf skills, Greene launched into his sales pitch. A tiny vial no larger than the palm of his hand, he told the group, contains roughly 10 million live stem cells, harvested from the placenta, amniotic fluid, umbilical cord or amnion, the membrane that surrounds the fetus in the womb. Injected into a joint or spine, or delivered intravenously into the bloodstream, Greene told his listeners, those cells could ease whatever ailed them. (Chen, 5/7)

Los Angeles Times: Luke Perry And John Singleton Remind Us That Strokes Can Strike Younger Adults Too
Sudden weakness on one side of the body. Slurred speech. Loss of vision. Trouble with balance. Severe headaches. These are signs of a stroke. If it happened to someone close to you, would you know what to do? After the age of 55, the risk of a stroke doubles every decade, but younger people can be at risk too. In recent weeks, both 52-year-old actor Luke Perry and 51-year-old director John Singleton died after suffering a stroke. (Miller, 5/6)

The New York Times: Is Conference Room Air Making You Dumber? 
You’re holed up with colleagues in a meeting room for two hours, hashing out a plan. Risks are weighed, decisions are made. Then, as you emerge, you realize it was much, much warmer and stuffier in there than in the rest of the office. Small rooms can build up heat and carbon dioxide from our breath — as well as other substances — to an extent that might surprise you. And as it happens, a small body of evidence suggests that when it comes to decision making, indoor air may matter more than we have realized. (Greenwood, 5/6)

CNN: Heart Failure Deaths Are On The Rise In Younger US Adults, Researchers Say
A recent decline in heart failure-related deaths in the United States has reversed, and those types of deaths are now climbing nationwide, especially among adults ages 35 to 64. The trend, which also revealed some racial disparities, was found in a research paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Monday. The paper points to an increase in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes as possibly driving a parallel rise in heart failure deaths. (Howard, 5/6)

NPR: Anesthesia Gases Add To Global Warming, But Some Much Less Than Others
It's early morning in an operating theater at Providence Hospital in Portland, Ore. A middle-aged woman lies on the operating table, wrapped in blankets. Surgeons are about to cut out a cancerous growth in her stomach. But first, anesthesiologist Brian Chesebro puts her under by placing a mask over her face. "Now I'm breathing for her with this mask," he says. "And I'm delivering sevoflurane to her through this breathing circuit." (Foden-Vencil, 5/6)

CNN: Tyson Chicken Recall: Almost 12 Million Pounds Of Chicken Strips Might Have Metal
Tyson Foods has significantly expanded a recall of its chicken strips over concerns that some might be contaminated with pieces of metal, federal food safety officials said Friday. The recall now affects more than 11.8 million pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strip products that were shipped nationwide, up from more than 69,000 pounds when the recall initially was issued in March, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement. (Hanna, 5/4)

The Washington Post: Rachel Evans Suffered From Brain Swelling Before She Died, Suggesting Encephalitis
The death of best-selling author Rachel Held Evans this past weekend came so quickly and mysteriously that it left many struggling to understand how such a young and vital person could come to her end after what seemed like such a routine diagnosis. Evans was widely admired for her willingness to wade into theological battles over the role of women, science, LGBT issues and politics, and her death has led to an outpouring of tributes and support for her family. The symptoms experienced by the 37-year-old writer do not fit into an easily explainable diagnosis, medical experts say. (Wan, 5/6)

Stat: Study Highlights Challenges Using AI To Personalize Cancer Therapy 
The top-line finding of the study by a team at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is that the system worked: It was able to scan pathology reports and pick out lung cancer patients with telltale genetic quirks, achieving an accuracy level of 95 percent on a Washington state data set. Automating that task is especially helpful for research, allowing doctors to track whether patients received appropriate treatment and determine how they fared. However, the system’s performance was spotty when it was asked to complete the same task on a group of patients in Kentucky. The study reported that the algorithm got tripped up by demographic and language variations, and differences in the way the tumor testing was recorded in the pathology reports. The accuracy varied widely, dipping as low as 20 percent on some tasks. (Ross, 5/6)

CQ: FDA Assessing Medical Devices With Artificial Intelligence
Imagine a not-too-distant future where medical devices powered by artificial intelligence continuously adapt to new symptoms presented by patients and learn how to make accurate diagnoses much like a well-trained physician would. The Food and Drug Administration is preparing for such a future and contemplating how to assess and certify such medical equipment, viewing them more like living things that cannot be regulated in the same manner as old fashioned devices. (Ratnam, 5/7)

Modern Healthcare: Touchstone Medical Imaging To Pay $3 Million HIPAA Fine
Touchstone Medical Imaging has agreed to pay $3 million to HHS' Office for Civil Rights to settle potential HIPAA violations associated with a data breach that exposed more than 300,000 patients' protected health information. The Franklin, Tenn.-based diagnostic medical imaging services company will also adopt a corrective action plan as part of the settlement, HHS announced Monday morning. (Cohen, 5/6)

Arizona Republic: Student's Fight For Medical Records Inspires New Arizona Law
An Arizona college student forced to delay life-saving surgery because a hospital would not turn over her medical records is optimistic no one else will have to go through a similar ordeal. Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday signed a new law inspired by Caitlin Secrist's story in The Arizona Republic. (Sanders, 5/6)

Modern Healthcare: Kaiser To Launch Social Care Network
Kaiser Permanente will soon launch a new care network that connects the system's more than 12 million members to community services that address their social needs. The Thrive Local initiative will be integrated into Kaiser's electronic health record, and will be rolled out regionally this summer, though the first location hasn't been announced yet. Over the next three years, the health system will make it available throughout the entire system. (Johnson, 5/6)

Modern Healthcare: Acadia To Pay West Virginia Medicaid $17M Over Opioid Test Fraud
A major investor-owned mental health and addiction treatment company will pay the federal government $17 million to settle allegations it defrauded Medicaid in West Virginia. The federal government alleged that a subsidiary of the publicly traded Acadia Healthcare Co., which owns seven drug addiction treatment centers in West Virginia, defrauded Medicaid over several years through false claims for laboratory tests related to the opioid epidemic. (Luthi, 5/6)

The Associated Press: Feds Announce $17M Settlement With Health Care Firm In W.Va.
U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart announced the civil settlement with Acadia on Monday, saying it’s the largest health care fraud settlement in state history. Stuart says Acadia, though its subsidiary CRC Health, billed Medicaid for $8.5 million in marked-up costs for blood and urine tests that weren’t done at its drug treatment centers and instead performed by a lab in California. (5/6)

In other news on opioids —

Kaiser Health News: Meth Vs. Opioids: America Has Two Drug Epidemics, But Focuses On One
Kim had been wine tasting with a friend in Sonoma, Calif. They got into an argument in the car that night and Kim thought someone was following them. She was utterly convinced. And she had to get away. “I jumped out of the car and started running, and I literally ran a mile. I went through water, went up a tree,” she said. “I was literally running for my life.” Kim was soaking wet when she walked into a woman’s house, woke her from bed and asked for help. When the woman went to call the police, Kim left and found another woman’s empty guesthouse to sleep in — Goldilocks-style. (Dembosky, 5/7)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Chronic Pain Patients In Ohio May Get Naloxone Prescriptions Along With Pain Meds
Doctors who regularly prescribe pain patients high doses of opioids are now required to talk to them about opioid safety, including the use of naloxone. The State Medical Board of Ohio made the rule that went into effect late in December. It's for patients receiving new, high-dose prescriptions for pain lasting more than six weeks. (DeMio, 5/6)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: Health Workers, Organizations Rally For Higher Health Care Spending
In 2006, New Hampshire approved an increase in the rates providers are paid by Medicaid. But after a recession, wild political swings and competing priorities, the rates have stayed the same, and clinics and community centers are feeling the pinch. Nursing homes have struggled to fill positions. Home health care recipients can hardly get the care workers to show up seven days week. Wages for lower-level nursing employees hover around $11 to $13 an hour. (DeWitt, 5/6)

NH Times Union: Health Care Workers, Patients Press Lawmakers To Boost Medicaid Rates
Nearly 50 health care organizations and the people they serve were represented at a rally in front of the State House on Monday, calling for passage of a Senate bill that would invest an additional $80 million a year in New Hampshire’s health care workforce. The bill, SB 308, would increase the rates paid to Medicaid service providers by 5 percent in 2020 and 7 percent in 2021, while expanding the college loan repayment program for health care professionals. (Solomon, 5/6)

The Oregonian: Laid-Off Worker Admits Causing Oregon’s Medicaid System To Shut Down For Hours In 2016
A Maryland man who crashed Oregon’s Medicaid system for eight hours in 2016 because he was upset over losing his job pleaded guilty to fraud Monday in federal court. Hossein Heydari, 61, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, also agreed to pay about $76,000 in restitution. Heydari will be sentenced Aug. 12 in U.S. District Court in Portland. He faces up to 10 years in prison. (Bailey, 5/6)

San Jose Mercury News: California Rethinks Decision To Quit Providing Glasses To Needy Adults
Currently, Medi-Cal covers eye exams, evaluations, screenings and measurements for eyeglass prescriptions. It covers eyeglasses, lenses and other low-vision devices only for people under 21, seniors in nursing homes and pregnant women. Two years ago, the Legislature called for the eyeglasses benefit to be restored in 2020, contingent on legislative funding. Advocates saw this statement — in a budget “trailer bill” agreed upon by the Legislature and former Gov. Jerry Brown — as a commitment to bring the benefit back. (Aguilera, 5/6)

Georgia Health News: 6 Firms In Running For Georgia Health Care Waiver Contract
State officials are contacting six consulting firms to solicit proposals for a $2.6 million contract to develop health care waivers for Medicaid and the private insurance market in Georgia. This work is part of recently passed legislation that was pushed by Gov. Brian Kemp. Under the legislation, Georgia can request federal permission (i.e., a waiver) to enact changes to its Medicaid program, potentially adding more people to the rolls. (Miller, 5/6)

The Associated Press: Gun Rights Activists Fill State Capitol For Gun Rights Rally
Gun rights advocates packed the rotunda of the Pennsylvania Capitol on Monday for an annual Second Amendment rally, pushing their legislative priorities and cheering a call for the Pittsburgh mayor's impeachment. Gun owners roared when the event's organizer, Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, announced that he will ask fellow lawmakers to support his proposal to impeach Pittsburgh's "rogue mayor" over recently enacted gun regulations. (5/6)

Arizona Republic: Group Gathers In Remembrance Of Missing, Murdered Indigenous Women
Leanne Guy, executive director of the Southwest Indigenous Women's Coalition, spoke to the crowd of around 100 people and said the problem of Indigenous women and girls going missing or being murdered is a longstanding issue that goes as far back as colonization of North America by Europeans in the 15th century. Colonization brought with it other issues that Guy said have to be addressed in order to help support Indigenous women and girls. (Frank, 5/6)

Los Angeles Times: Homelessness Isn’t Huge In This Part Of L.A. — But It’s A Huge Campaign Issue
In Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley neighborhoods of Chatsworth, Porter Ranch and Granada Hills are about as far as you can get from skid row. Fewer people live without shelter in this suburban stretch of the city than in any other L.A. City Council district, according to the last available data from the homeless count. Yet homelessness has been a simmering topic here as more than a dozen candidates vie for a seat on the City Council, exposing stark divisions over how to address the needs of the destitute and the concerns of other residents. The June election, which will probably be followed by an August runoff, could decide how homelessness is confronted in the northwest Valley. (Reyes, 5/6)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Is Failing At Providing Adequate Health Care To Inmates
Months after an inmate sent a letter to the court shortly before his death accusing the Arizona prison system of poor medical treatment, a judge hit the Department of Corrections with an order that could cost taxpayers millions. U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver ordered the Arizona Department of Corrections to comply with several performance measures after noticing "unacceptable levels of noncompliance remain in three critical respects." (Castle, 5/6)

The Star Tribune: Hazelden Has Highest-Ever Patient Volumes As More Plans Provide Coverage 
Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation says its two largest adult-treatment facilities saw their highest-ever numbers of residential patients last year as more health plans covered services at the addiction-treatment provider. The strong demand for care stems from contracts Hazelden Betty Ford has negotiated with insurance companies, rather than changing patient needs, said James Blaha, the chief financial officer at Hazelden Betty Ford, a prominent addiction-treatment provider that operates in nine states. (Snowbeck, 5/6)

The Associated Press: Legislator Films Himself Berating Woman Abortion Protester
A Democratic Pennsylvania state lawmaker is drawing criticism for recording himself berating a woman demonstrator at length outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia, calling her an “old white lady” and her protest “grotesque.” State Rep. Brian Sims posted an eight-minute-plus video on social media that showed him peppering the woman with questions and criticism. (5/6)

Chicago Tribune: DuPage Medical Group 'Shocked And Saddened' By Death Of 46-Year-Old CEO 
Michael Kasper, the CEO of DuPage Medical Group — the largest independent doctors’ groups in Illinois — died Saturday at the age of 46, the group confirmed on Monday. DuPage Medical Group President Dr. Paul Merrick said Kasper died at home but declined Monday to reveal the cause of Kasper’s death, deferring to his family. Kasper’s wife declined to talk with a reporter Monday. (Schencker, 5/6)

MPR: Plaintiffs Want UnitedHealth To Review Denied Mental Health Claims
Attorneys for the plaintiffs in a major class-action lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group argue that the insurer needs to reprocess tens of thousands of claims. In February, a federal judge in California ruled the Minnetonka-based health insurer denied claims for behavioral health care based on overly restrictive guidelines that put profit over patients. Now, in a proposed remedy, the plaintiffs' attorneys want UnitedHealth to adopt new guidelines and take another look. (Roth, 5/6)

Modern Healthcare: Partners Healthcare Reports Strong Start To 2019
Partners HealthCare boasted a strong start to 2019, with operating income up nearly 89% thanks to strong performance in its provider segment. The Boston-based integrated health system drew $131.2 million in operating income during the second quarter of its fiscal 2019, which ended March 31, compared with $69.5 million in the prior-year period. The jump was entirely in the health system's provider segment, and offset slightly by a $5 million operating loss in its insurance division. (Bannow, 5/6)

Arizona Republic: Homelessness Is On The Rise In Phoenix. So Are Encampments.
According to Maricopa Association of Governments, which released its annual point-in-time count this week, there were 6,614 people experiencing homelessness on the night of Jan. 21 — 316 more than during last year's count. For the sixth straight year, unsheltered homelessness — people living on the streets, in desert washes, vehicles or another place not meant for habitation — increased. (Boehm, 5/6)

KCUR: Why Some States May Open Their Minds To Using Psychedelic Mushrooms As Medicine 
The notion that state laws around mushrooms could be loosened up, much like they have been for cannabis, is not without controversy. Matthew Johnson has spent the last 15 years researching psychedelics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He said decriminalization of illegal drugs is generally a good thing, but he wouldn't support policy that encourages people to use psilocybin.  “(This therapy) needs to be done by appropriately trained and credentialed medical and psychological professionals,” he said. (Honig, 5/6)

KQED: County Temporarily Closes Milpitas Gun Range And Neighboring Kids’ Gym After Detection Of Lead Dust
Our investigation has revealed that lead from the gun range contaminated the inside of the gymnastics center. The county health department closed the youth facility Friday until further notice. And the sensitive process of figuring out if vulnerable children have been poisoned from lead exposure is underway. (Rubin, 5/6)

The Hill: Chronic Opioid Therapy Needs To Be Individualized, But Most People Aren't Getting That
We agree that pain management and chronic opioid therapy needs to be individualized. But right now most people are not having their needs adequately assessed or met. Many people are not receiving adequate evidence-based treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy or effective reactivation focused on functional improvement. (Virginia Weir, Gary Franklin and Andy Saxon, 5/6)

Los Angeles Times: Misguided Doctors And Bad Information Are Fueling The Return Of Measles 
Some of the blame rests with unethical doctors, who are willing to take patients’ money and grant inappropriate medical exemptions to misinformed families, thereby putting other children at risk. A Voice of San Diego investigation of medical exemptions at San Diego Unified School District showed that almost a third were issued by one doctor who advertised medical exemptions. Two other physicians who issued large numbers of medical exemptions are on probation with the Medical Board of California. (Richard Pan, 5/7)

Boston Globe: What’s So Special About Science?
Earlier this year, the governor of the state of Washington declared a state of emergency, due to an outbreak of measles in Clark County, where anti-vaxx ideology has led to nearly a quarter of children showing up to school without their MMR shots. In November, 600 true believers showed up at the Flat Earth International Conference in Denver. Science denial seems to be getting worse. In some ways this isn’t surprising. Fifty years of science denial over issues like the link between cigarette smoking and cancer, and the reality of climate change, have arguably made a large contribution to the creation of our current “post-truth” era. Does this mean that we should turn to scientists to learn how to fight back? Not necessarily. (Lee McIntyre, 5/6)

USA Today: 'Medicare For All': Sen. Bernie Sanders Proposes Political Pipe Dream
Sanders’ plan, dubbed “Medicare for All,” would eliminate private insurers and have all Americans covered through Medicare. It would be far more generous than most current plans — covering dental, vision and mental health, among other things — and would be financed largely by taxes on the wealthy. Would it be an improvement? Hypothetically yes, particularly if the nation were starting from scratch. The current system is hugely expensive for individuals and companies, generates mountains of paperwork, and keeps people tied to their jobs for fear of losing employer-subsidized coverage. But Sanders’ plan has intrinsic drawbacks, most notably its soak-the-rich approach and its lack of cost controls such as copays. What stands out is the utter impracticality of getting from where things stand today to what he proposes. (5/6)

USA Today: Bernie Sanders: Medicare For All Will Save Us From Health Care Crisis
Today in America, we have more than 27 million people without any health insurance. Millions more who have employer-based insurance are being fleeced by skyrocketing premiums and prescription drug prices, and they are often thrown off those private plans when they change or lose jobs. This is great for the 64 health care CEOs who were paid $1.7 billion in 2017. But this is an economic and medical emergency for millions of Americans. The good news is that we have a very straightforward solution that draws from our own country’s past success: We can guarantee health care as a right to all by expanding Medicare, the most popular and successful program in American history. (U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, 5/6)

The Washington Post: A U.N. Report Finds That A Million Species Are At Risk Of Extinction. I Hope We Still Have Time. 
If there are intelligent observers 66 million years from now, their scientists may conclude that the sixth mass extinction was caused by us — and that we saw what we were doing but lacked the wisdom and courage to stop ourselves.The next species to go extinct may be some scruffy weedlike plant or weird little insect you’ve never heard of. But that weed may synthesize a chemical that acts as a magic bullet against certain deadly cancers, or that insect may control the population of some other insect that harbors a plaguelike virus. We’ll never know. They’ll be gone. (Eugene Robinson, 5/6)

USA Today: 'Heartbeat' Bills Are Just An Excuse To Attack Roe V. Wade Protections
A bizarre competition to enact the most extreme abortion restrictions is taking place in states across the country from Ohio to Iowa to Kentucky. With new conservative justices on the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, this groundswell of activity has one ultimate goal: to restore the direct and dangerous controls placed on women's bodies before Roe v. Wade. The fact is, so-called heartbeat legislation, which bans abortion at the moment a fetal heartbeat can be detected, sometimes as early as six weeks, places undue hardships on women who might not even know they are pregnant yet. (Toni Van Pelt, 5/6)

The CT Mirror: Pregnant Women Deserve Honest, Complete Information
The goal of this national strategy is to block patients from accessing abortion once they walk through the doors of the CPC. Sometimes CPCs try to run out the clock on patients by telling them they have plenty of time to make a decision about having an abortion. (Sophie Wheelock, 5/7)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio’s Nuclear Bailout Bill Will Hurt Children’s Health
As pediatricians, we have a responsibility to alert parents, our community, and policymakers about threats to the health of our children, so we can take steps to protect our state’s most vulnerable citizens. State lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would endanger the health of all Ohioans, especially the health and well-being of our children. Babies and children cannot advocate for themselves, so it is important that we speak for them. House Bill 6 is misleadingly called a “clean air resource” bill. However, it would effectively repeal Ohio’s Renewable Portfolio Standard and Energy Efficiency Resource Standard, which provide Ohioans essential protections from toxic air pollution. (Aparna Bole and Kristie Ross, 5/5)

Miami Herald: Teachers With Guns Will Make Schools Even Less Safe. Veto This Dangerous Legislation, Gov. DeSantis
With any luck — and training, and an aim that’s true — an armed teacher might, might, take down an active shooter in the classroom or corridor.But luck should play no role when it comes allowing teachers bring guns to school. Too many Republicans in the Florida Legislature are convinced that this is the best way to prevent mass shootings like the horror last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, in which 17 people died — 14 students and three adults.We vehemently disagree. So do law-enforcement organizations, teachers groups, advocates for sensible gun laws and students who survived the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas. (5/4)