The Wall Street Journal: Health Premiums To Rise, Trump Administration Says
Dozens of insurers are leaving the Affordable Care Act’s federal insurance exchange, and consumers who don’t get premium help will see some rates for popular plans jump by more than 30% next year, according to a Trump administration report released Monday. The data, which come just before Wednesday’s launch of open enrollment under the ACA, is likely to add to debate over whether the Obama-era law is failing, or whether it is being sabotaged by congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump. (Armour, 10/30)

The Hill: HHS Report: ObamaCare Premiums Rise Significantly
Premiums for ObamaCare plans are rising significantly in many counties across the country according to a new government report, which experts have largely attributed to actions taken by the Trump administration. According to the report from the Department of Health and Human Services, premiums are increasing for the average "benchmark" plans by about 37 percent. But tax credit subsidies are also rising, meaning more people will be able to purchase insurance at lower rates. (Weixel, 10/30)

CNN: Premiums For Popular Obamacare Plans To Soar 37% For 2018
In the annual landscape report, the Trump administration highlighted many of the negative developments that will plague Obamacare next year. In prior reports, the Obama administration focused on how the premium subsidies make Affordable Care Act policies more affordable. "This data demonstrates just how rapidly Obamacare's exchanges are deteriorating with skyrocketing premiums year after year, more than half of Americans with no more than two insurers to choose from, and the taxpayer burden exploding," said Caitlin Oakley, press secretary for the Department of Health & Human Services. (Luhby, 10/30)

Marketplace: The Health Insurance Exchanges Were Meant To Lower Premiums Through Competition. So What Happened This Year?
It's sign up season for the Affordable Care Act. Open enrollment starts on Wednesday. Government numbers out today show that almost half of the population live in places where they can only choose from three or fewer insurers. Not much competition, so you’d expect premiums to be high. But in other places, there’s seven, eight or even 10 insurers in the market, and premiums have still gone up considerably. Why exactly? (Khrais, 10/30)

NPR: Increased Cost Of Health Policies Will Be Offset By Subsidies For Many
It's time to start shopping for health insurance if you're one of the millions who buys it on an Affordable Care Act exchange. Open enrollment for 2018 starts Wednesday, and new numbers released by the Trump Administration show that the average cost of a benchmark policy will be about 27 percent higher next year. But that's just the headline. The details suggest there's good news for lots of people who are willing to shop around a bit for insurance. (Kodjak, 10/30)

The CT Mirror: CT Businesses, Employees Face Hikes In Health Care Premiums
When the Affordable Care Act open enrollment period for health insurance begins on Wednesday, many individuals who buy their own policies will suffer sticker shock because of a sharp increase in premiums. But the state’s large and small businesses are girding for higher premiums to cover their workers in 2018 too. And they and their employees will face tough choices. (Radelat, 10/30)

The Washington Post: Fifth Year’s ACA Enrollment Season Opening With Daunting Obstacles
In Indianapolis, the director of the state’s largest organization helping people find Affordable Care Act insurance had to lay off nine of 13 staff members last month because the federal government had just taken away more than 80 percent of the grant that paid for their work. In Atlanta, festivalgoers at the annual Pride weekend in mid-October were mystified that members of Insure Georgia had a table set up, because they thought President Trump had gotten rid of the health-care law. (Goldstein and Eilperin, 10/30)

Los Angeles Times: Obamacare Insurance Markets Open This Week Amid Confusion And Uncertainty
Health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act begin accepting 2018 applications Wednesday amid mounting concern that the Trump administration’s repeated attacks on the law will dramatically depress enrollment. The marketplaces -- a centerpiece of the law commonly called Obamacare -- continue to provide coverage for some 10 million people. And they remain the only option for many low- and moderate-income Americans who don’t get health benefits through an employer or a government program such as Medicare or Medicaid. (Levey, 10/31)

Modern Healthcare: Marketplace Mayhem
Consumers interested in buying insurance coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges are confused, unprepared and misinformed. That’s according to designated navigators who help people sign up for coverage on the ACA’s insurance marketplace. They have their work cut out for them this year. Many consumers don’t know that open enrollment kicks off Nov. 1. Some aren’t even aware the exchanges exist any longer, having been inundated with messages from lawmakers that the marketplace is imploding. (Livingston, 10/30)

Kaiser Health News: 5 Things To Know About ACA At Year 5
Open enrollment for people who buy their own health insurance starts Wednesday and ends Dec. 15 this year. That’s 45 days, six weeks shorter than last year — and only one of the big changes consumers need to consider. The Trump administration has cut back on marketing and funding for navigators to help people through the process. Here are five important factors to keep in mind if you plan to sign up for 2018 coverage under the Affordable Care Act. (Rovner and Appleby, 10/31)

Marketplace: With Obamacare Ad Dollars Slashed, Expect Lower Enrollment
Want to know what happens when you cut ad spending for Obamacare? Just ask Kentucky. When the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges first went online, Kentucky had a Democratic governor. But a year later, Kentucky elected a Republican governor, who quickly slashed the ad budget. (Marshall-Genzer, 10/30)

Meanwhile, a look at what's going on in the states —

Boston Globe: A Health Connector Primer As Open-Enrollment Opens
Beginning Wednesday, Massachusetts residents will be able to start browsing 2018 coverage plans on the Massachusetts Health Connector, the state’s insurance exchange, which serves more than 253,000 residents. The open-enrollment period begins during a particularly tumultuous time. (Dayal McCluskey, 10/30)

San Jose Mercury News: Covered California Addresses 2018 Open Enrollment Confusion
The repeated, unsuccessful attempts by President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act have taken a toll. Rattled by the uncertainty, Anthem Blue Cross and other insurers have backed out of many Obamacare insurance exchanges around the country. (Seipel, 10/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: Rising Premiums, Consumer Confusion As Covered California Enters 5th Year
As Covered California enters its fifth year, the health insurance exchange is facing challenges both old and new, from rising health premiums to widespread confusion among consumers over how their health plans may change next year — all while the president proclaims that the health law that created the exchange is collapsing. (Ho, 10/30)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Affordable Care Act Open Enrollment Begins Amid Turmoil
The annual open-enrollment period for health plans sold on marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act begins Wednesday, and for people who don't get their insurance through an employer, it promises to be chaotic. (Boulton, 10/30)

Texas Tribune: Open Enrollment For Health Insurance Brings New Challenges In Texas
Open enrollment for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act begins Wednesday, and enrollees may see greater challenges this cycle following federal budget cuts. Two cuts in particular could have serious ramifications for Texans looking to register on the federal market. (Choi, 10/31)

The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com: The Five Most Important Things To Know About Obamacare Now
After so much talk of “repeal and replace,” even people who work in health care—like me—can feel confused about the Affordable Care Act, known to many as Obamacare. Fortunately, a few basic facts can help straighten things out. Are you one of about 400,000 Pennsylvanians who last year enrolled through healthcare.gov? Do you need to buy your own insurance this year? (Bussard, 10/30)

The Baltimore Sun: Panel Shares Advice On Navigating Maryland's Health Exchange
Two days before people can begin signing up for health insurance through the state exchange, state and city health officials gathered in Baltimore Monday to offer advice for navigating the open enrollment season. Marylanders face a shorter enrollment period this year, which comes after multiple Republican-led efforts in Congress to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — a central campaign promise of President Donald Trump. (Richman, 10/30)

Minnesota Public Radio: MNsure Backers Say Being Local Works In Health Care Sign-Up
Starting Wednesday, people can begin buying non-group health insurance for next year. For people in most states this open enrollment period will be entirely different than in past years. But not in Minnesota. (Zdechlik, 10/30)

Kaiser Health News: Past-Due Premiums, Missing Tax Forms May Hamstring Marketplace Customers
The 2018 annual open-enrollment period for coverage on the health insurance marketplaces starts Wednesday. But if you don’t take care of lingering issues from your past coverage, they may come back to haunt you when you try to sign up this fall. (Andrews, 10/31)

And why it's so hard to get people to buy coverage —

KQED: Human Psychology Makes Health Insurance A Hard Sell – Especially For Latino Consumers
Latinos represent 38 percent of the marketplace’s potential customer base, but about 30 percent of people who actually enroll, so Covered California sees marketing to the demographic as a good return on investment for the whole exchange. But the Trump administration has made the already difficult task of selling a product people don’t want to think about, even harder. (Dembosky, 10/30)

Modern Healthcare: 10 Ways The Trump Administration Proposes To Loosen ACA Market Rules
The CMS Friday issued a proposed rule to carry out President Donald Trump's January executive order to relax Affordable Care Act requirements on consumers, insurers and other healthcare industry groups. The agency said the goal is to give states greater flexibility to take steps to stabilize the individual and small-group insurance markets and increase health plan affordability. The rule would take effect in 2019. Public comments are due by Nov. 27. (Meyer, 10/30)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Proposed Rule Opens Door To Skimpier Health Plans, Higher Patient Costs
The CMS proposed a rule late Friday that would allow states to define the minimum essential health benefits that health insurers selling plans on the Affordable Care Act exchanges are required to offer. Health insurance experts say such a change would lead to skimpier health plans on the individual and small group insurance markets and higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers. The CMS proposed rule would give states greater latitude in choosing which benefits insurers must cover. It would allow states to choose a benchmark plan from wider pool of existing plans, including health plans from other states. The benchmark plan defines just what essential benefits other plans must cover. (Livingston, 10/30)

The Hill: House, Trump Admin Seek To Keep ObamaCare Payments On Hold
The House and the Trump administration are asking to keep a pause on a years-long court battle over the legality of crucial ObamaCare payments to insurers, while Democratic attorneys general are seeking for the case to proceed. In 2014, the House sued the Obama administration, arguing it was funding key payments to insurers illegally, alleging that there wasn’t a direct appropriation from Congress. The House won, and the Obama administration appealed the ruling. (Roubein, 10/30)

The Hill: Bipartisan Lawmakers Urge Health Center Funding Reauthorization
A bipartisan group of more than 150 lawmakers is calling for Congress to reauthorize critical funding for community health centers, which care for some of the nation’s most vulnerable patients. A noncontroversial part of ObamaCare was the creation of a special trust fund for community health centers, which serve more than 25 million people regardless of their ability to pay for their medical services. The money accounts for 70 percent of federal grant funding for community health centers, and the dollars — reauthorized in 2015 — expired at the end of September. (Roubein, 10/30)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

The Hill: Hatch Doesn't Rule Out ObamaCare Mandate Repeal In Tax Reform
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is not ruling out a push by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to repeal ObamaCare's individual mandate in tax-reform legislation. Asked if he is open to repealing the mandate as part of a tax-reform bill, Hatch said Monday: "Sure, I didn't think it should be there to begin with.” (Sullivan, 10/30)

The New York Times: Judge Blocks Trump’s Ban On Transgender Troops In Military
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked a White House policy barring military service by transgender troops, ruling that it was based on “disapproval of transgender people generally.” Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia found the administration’s justification for the ban, which was set to take effect in March 2018, to be suspect and likely unconstitutional. She ruled that the military’s current policy should remain in place. (Philipps, 10/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Judge Blocks Trump’s Transgender Military Ban For Now
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., ruled preliminarily that Mr. Trump’s ban, announced on Twitter in July and formalized in a presidential memorandum in August, is likely unconstitutional. She issued an injunction that bars its implementation for now while legal proceedings continue. The 76-page decision came in response to a lawsuit brought by current and aspiring members of the armed services. Judge Kollar-Kotelly, a Bill Clinton appointee, said the policy likely violated the Constitution’s guarantee of due process under the law. (Kendall and Lubold, 10/30)

Stat: Trump Opioid Commission Will Recommend Nationwide Drug Courts
President Trump’s commission on combating the opioid epidemic plans to encourage the federal government to establish drug courts in every federal judicial district, adjust reimbursement rates for addiction treatment, and streamline federal funding used by state and local governments to implement drug treatment and prevention programs, according to a draft of the panel’s final report. Those steps are among the 53 recommendations laid out in the draft, a copy of which was obtained by STAT. The final report is set to be released on Wednesday. (Facher, 10/30)

Stat: Investor Groups Pressure Drug Makers And Wholesalers Over Opioids
A coalition of 30 state treasurers, pension funds, and faith-based groups are filing shareholder proposals asking 10 drug makers and distributors to investigate how these companies are responding to the increased business risks caused by the opioid crisis. In announcing their plans, the coalition noted that drug makers are coming under increasing “legal and legislative scrutiny” for allegedly failing to disclose the addictive potential of opioid painkillers, and that distributors are being pressured to do a better job of reporting suspicious orders to state and federal authorities. (Silverman, 10/30)

Bloomberg: Opioid Makers Faces Heat From Investors With $1.3 Trillion
Drug companies that profit from opioids need to do more to limit the risks of the addictive products and protect shareholders against losses, according to a group of investors managing more than $1.3 trillion. Investors for Opioid Accountability plans to file shareholder proposals on board oversight of business risks at 10 manufacturers and distributors, the coalition of unions, public pension funds and state treasurers said Monday in an emailed statement. (Melin, 10/30)

Boston Globe: 10 Percent Revived By Narcan In Mass. Died Within Year, Study Says
One in 10 Massachusetts residents who were revived from an overdose by a fast-acting antidote went on to die within a year, according to research providing stark evidence that merely reversing overdoses will not end the opioid crisis. The study, presented Monday at a medical conference, tracked what happened to thousands of people who received the overdose rescue drug naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan. (Freyer, 10/30)

CNN: Naloxone Reverses 93% Of Overdoses, But Many Recipients Don't Survive A Year
As the opioid overdose epidemic continues to surge, public health officials and first responders have turned to naloxone, the drug that reverses overdose, to help combat the rising tide. New research from Brigham and Women's hospital in Boston shows its effectiveness. A review of emergency medical services data from Massachusetts found that when given naloxone, 93.5% of people survived their overdose. The research looked at more than 12,000 dosages administered between July 1, 2013 and December 31, 2015. A year after their overdose, 84.3% of those who had been given the reversal drug were still alive. (Kounang, 10/30)

The Baltimore Sun: Former President Bill Clinton Visits Johns Hopkins, Urges Action On Opioid Crisis
Former President Bill Clinton said in a speech Monday at the Johns Hopkins University that everyone can play a part in solving the killer opioid epidemic gripping the nation. Every person or group needs to pick something like stocking the overdose reversal drug naloxone, tackling stigma or calling for the expansion of treatment, Clinton said before directing the audience to a report released Monday with a list of recommendations compiled by the Clinton Foundation and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. (Cohn, 10/30)

The New York Times: What Experts Know About Men Who Rape
Over the past few weeks, women across the world have recounted tales of harassment and sexual assault by posting anecdotes to social media with the hashtag #MeToo. Even just focusing on the second category, the biographies of the accused are so varied that they seem to support Dr. Smithyman’s observation. But more recent research suggests that there are some commonalities. In the decades since his paper, scientists have been gradually filling out a picture of men who commit sexual assaults. (Murphy, 10/30)

The Washington Post: Medication Can Be Used To Treat People With Alcoholism But They Are Underprescribed
Excessive alcohol use is one of the most pressing public health issues in the United States. Some 88,000 Americans died of alcohol-related causes every year between 2006 and 2010, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s far higher than the latest numbers of annual deaths from drug overdoses (64,000), breast cancer (42,000) or prostate cancer (28,000). Surveys suggest that more than 15 million American adults suffer from alcohol dependence or abuse within a given year. (Morris, 10/30)

The Associated Press: Doctors Prepare For Deep Dive Into Las Vegas Shooter's Brain
Scientists are preparing to do a microscopic study of the Las Vegas gunman’s brain, but whatever they find, if anything, likely won’t be what led him to kill 58 people in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, experts said. Stephen Paddock’s brain is being sent to Stanford University for a months-long examination after a visual inspection during an autopsy found no abnormalities, Las Vegas authorities said. (10/30)

The New York Times: A Lesson From The Biggest Losers: Exercise Keeps Off The Weight
It is a question that plagues all who struggle with weight: Why do some of us manage to keep off lost pounds, while others regain them? Now, a study of 14 participants from the “Biggest Loser” television show provides an answer: physical activity — and much more of it than public health guidelines suggest. (Kolata, 10/31)

The Associated Press: FDA Moves To Ax Claim For Heart Benefits From Soy Foods
U.S. regulators want to remove a health claim about the heart benefits of soy from cartons of soy milk, tofu, and other foods, saying the latest scientific evidence no longer shows a clear connection. Monday’s announcement by the Food and Drug Administration marks the first time the agency has moved to revoke a health food claim since it began approving such statements in 1990. The claim that soy protein can reduce heart disease appears on about 200 to 300 products in the U.S., according to industry figures, including popular brands like Silk soy milk. (10/30)

The Washington Post: Eating A High-Protein Diet May Not Be Good For Good.
If there’s one claim that’s almost certain to boost sales of a food these days, it’s to say the item is high in protein. Consumers cannot seem to get enough protein — they often turn to it because they’ve shunned carbohydrates, and also associate it with increased muscle mass. While many nutritionists say eating extra is usually harmless — if it’s part of a balanced diet and doesn’t all come from animal sources — and small increases can indeed help with weight control by increasing satiety, others are not convinced, citing the lack of long-term research on high-protein diets. (Cernansky, 10/30)

Los Angeles Times: The 9 Worst Things You Can Do To Your Teeth
It’s that scary time of year — sugar season. You might know it as Halloween, when Americans are predicted to buy $2.7 billion worth of candy, according to the National Retail Federation. However, dentists and wary parents know the holiday is the unofficial launch of a sweets bacchanal that starts with trick-or-treat candy, and continues with Thanksgiving pie, Christmas cookies, Valentine’s chocolates and Easter jelly beans, and ends with an expensive trip to the dentist. (Herman, 10/30)

Stateline: Why It’s Hard To Crack Down On Drowsy Driving
Whether it’s working the night shift, caring for a newborn, studying all night for exams, or simply living in a 24/7 society, Americans are sleep-deprived — and that can be deadly on the nation’s roads. To draw attention to the problem, some states have passed resolutions, posted messages on highways, and required information to be included in driver’s education courses and driver’s manuals. But few have stepped up enforcement, trained police officers to detect when a driver hasn’t gotten enough sleep, or enacted criminal penalties if drowsy driving results in a fatality. (Bergal, 10/31)

NPR: How A Person Responds To Certain Words May Predict Whether They Are Suicidal
People who are thinking about killing themselves appear to have distinctive brain activity that can now be measured by a computer. In these people, words like "death" and "trouble" produce a distinctive "neural signature" not found in others, scientists report in the journal Nature Human Behavior. More than 44,000 people commit suicide in the U.S. each year. (Hamilton, 10/30)

Stateline/Boston Globe: Bounce House Regulations, Enforcement Lacking As Injuries Soar
Inflatable attractions like bounce houses, obstacle courses and slides, which have increased in popularity in recent decades, may seem less ominous than roller coasters that flip riders upside down or carnival rides that send thrill-seekers whirling through the open air. But they can be just as dangerous and they are far less regulated. The estimated number of injuries on the attractions soared from 5,311 in 2003 to 17,377 in 2013, according to a Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) report analyzing U.S. hospital records. A Stateline analysis found that the trend continues, with an estimated 20,700 injuries last year. (Fifield, 10/30)

Stat: In Yale Basement, A 'Shop Of Horrors' Concealed Medical History
At some point, the brains in the basement were definitely going to become a draw. How could they not? There were hundreds of them, all floating in clear jars with peeling yellowed labels: a grim diagnosis; a person’s name. Plus, this wasn’t just any basement. It lay beneath Yale’s medical school dorm, and behind a locked door that could be breached with a screwdriver. (Tedeschi, 10/31)

The Baltimore Sun: New Assessment Ranks Maryland Hospitals Near Bottom In Safety Measurements
Maryland hospitals rank near the bottom nationwide when it comes to avoiding medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections, according to a new assessment by the Leapfrog Group. The assessment generally drew a reserved response from area hospital administrators, who say safety is a top priority and they are always working to do better. (Cohn, 10/31)

The Washington Post: ‘Simply Unacceptable’: D.C. Council Members Press Hospital Operator On Patient’s Death
D.C. Council members said they were “gravely” worried about patients’ safety at the District’s only public hospital in a tense hearing Monday, as the executives who run the troubled facility pledged to improve. The D.C. Council health committee hearing focused on the performance of Veritas of Washington, a firm led by campaign donors to Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), which has managed United Medical Center for a fee of $300,000 per month since 2016. The council must decide in the coming weeks whether to renew the contract. (Jamison, 10/30)

Nashville Tennessean: VUMC Hurdles Toward 'Big Bang' Switch To New Epic System
At midnight on Nov. 2, Vanderbilt University Medical Center will undergo a "Big Bang"-caliber changeover to a new Epic Systems software platform that costs more than $200 million and will impact interactions with every single patient. For a period of what executives hope is six to seven hours, VUMC staff will rely on its "downtime" procedures as its existing system is retired and the new system, eStar, is brought online in an orchestrated, step-by-step process. The old system will cease to operate at the end of Nov. 1. (Fletcher, 10/30)

NH Times Union: Elliot, So. New Hampshire Officials Announce Healthcare Merger
Administrators from Elliot Hospital and Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua signed an agreement Monday on an alliance to create a new regional healthcare system. Pending regulatory approval, Elliot and Southern New Hampshire Health intend to form “SOLUTIONHEALTH,” which officials from both agencies feel could improve medical care through sharing electronic records and other advancements in medical technology. (Alden, 10/30)

NPR: Clinics And Doctor's Offices In Puerto Rico Struggle To Operate
Forty days after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, most of the U.S. territory remains without power. Over the weekend, the island's power company fired a key contractor working to restore electrical service. The cancellation of the $300 million contract with Whitefish Energy, after the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies expressed significant concerns about the deal, is expected to further delay the return of power throughout Puerto Rico. (Baeubien, 10/30)

Dallas Morning News: ACLU To Feds: Release Disabled  10-Year-Old By Tuesday Or We'll Sue
The American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue Customs and Border Protection and the Office of Refugee Resettlement if they do not release a 10-year-old undocumented girl with cerebral palsy from a San Antonio detention center by Tuesday afternoon. Border Patrol agents under CBP apprehended Rosa Maria Hernandez of Laredo at a Border Patrol checkpoint in an ambulance on her way to Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi for gallbladder surgery last week. (Kelly, 10/30)

Boston Globe: Senate Bill Would Shame Employers With Most Workers On MassHealth
Senators tucked a provision in the bill that would require an annual report identifying the 50 employers with the highest number of workers who get publicly subsidized health insurance. The measure received almost immediate pushback last week from Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which referred to it as a “Name and Shame” list in a memo to members. (Chesto, 10/30)

The Associated Press: Planned Parenthood Sues For Second Time Over Abortion Law
For the second time, Planned Parenthood is suing Missouri over a portion of its new abortion law, this time involving requirements for administering abortion pills. A woman undergoing a medication abortion takes one pill at an abortion clinic and generally takes a second pill at home. In a federal lawsuit filed Monday in Kansas City, Planned Parenthood seeks to block part of the law, known as complication plan regulation, which requires those who provide the medication to contract with an obstetrician-gynecologist with admitting privileges at a hospital. The ob-gyn must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to treat any complications from a medication abortion, KCUR reported . (10/30)

The Washington Post: Toddler Hospitalized After His Father’s Arrest Postponed Kidney Donation
A toddler who was prevented from receiving a kidney transplant from his father was reportedly rushed to an emergency room Sunday with an abdominal infection. Two-year-old A.J. Burgess was set to receive the transplant earlier this month when his father, who is a match, said he was told he had to wait to donate a kidney following a probation violation and stint in county jail. The incident has prompted questions and concerns in a case that one expert has called befuddling. (Bever, 10/30)

The Associated Press: Oklahoma Health Chief Resigns Over Fiscal Mismanagement
Oklahoma's state health commissioner resigned on Monday after the health board of directors accused him of mismanaging the department's finances. The health department said in a statement that its board voted at an emergency meeting Monday to accept Terry Cline's resignation and appoint finance secretary, Preston Doerflinger, as interim commissioner. (10/30)

Denver Post: Two Colorado Hepatitis A Cases Linked To California Outbreak That Has Killed 19 People
An outbreak of hepatitis A in Southern California raised concern among Colorado health officials after two homeless people who apparently contracted the disease in San Diego were treated here. After the cases were reported in late summer, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment began working with homeless shelters and health clinics to vaccinate people and warn them about the danger of contracting the viral disease. (McGhee, 10/30)

The Associated Press: New Mexico, Insurance Firm Reach $18.5M Deal On Unpaid Taxes
New Mexico's largest health insurance provider will pay $18.5 million to resolve unpaid taxes to the state dating back more than a decade under a legal settlement with state prosecutors, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Monday. Three state insurance regulators who came forward as whistleblowers and exposed the case will split $3.7 million of the settlement. (10/30)

Nashville Tennessean: Mental Health Crises In Nashville Grow, Prompting 'Psychiatric ER' Plans
A "psychiatric emergency room" is planned to open in Metro Center next year as a way to more efficiently treat people in crisis and ease pressure on police who are often the first-responders in mental health emergencies. The goal is to get people connected to help faster, especially when they come into contact with police. Police spend at least 5,000 hours a year — that's between two and three full-time police officers —  responding to someone in crisis. (Fletcher, 10/30)

The Washington Post: ‘Something Is Eating My Brain,’ An Inmate Said. A Lawsuit Claims He Was Left To Die.
Marques Davis kept moving the items on the floor next to his prison mattress — stacking toilet paper, books, a water pitcher and a cup and then disassembling the stack. He moved and stacked the items again. And then again.Then, he drank his own urine from a urinal. (Phillips, 10/30)

Texas Tribune: Texas Insurers To Cover Advanced Breast Cancer Screenings
Starting Jan. 1, Texas will become the eighth state to require commercial insurers to cover the cost of 3-D mammograms. The state already requires coverage of 2-D mammograms, and getting the advanced screening typically costs patients an extra $100. (Arraiga, 10/31)

Georgia Health News: ER Visits For Diabetes On The Rise In Georgia
Overall, more than 1 million Georgians have diabetes, with the state increase mirrored by national trends. Part of the surge in diabetes has been linked to the rise in the percentage of Americans being obese or overweight, said Jean O’Connor, chronic disease prevention director for the state Department of Public Health. (Miller, 10/30)

Denver Post: Listeria Concerns Idle Denver Food-Prep Company That Makes Meals For King Soopers, United Airlines At DIA
A food manufacturer that makes prepared meals for some King Soopers grocery stores and United Airlines flights out of Denver International Airport has suspended production after finding trace amounts of listeria in its food-prep area. The company, Denver-based Journey Cuisine, notified United of the possible contamination Monday, and said that its Denver catering facility was audited Friday, when the listeria was found. (10/30)

The Associated Press: Iowa Reports First Flu-Related Death Of 2017-18 Season
State officials say Iowa's first confirmed flu-related death of the 2017-18 flu season was that of an elderly man who lived in central Iowa. The Iowa Public Health Department says the man died this month and was 81 or older. Department medical director Patricia Quinlisk says the man's death "is an unfortunate reminder the flu virus does have the potential to cause severe illness and death, especially in the very young, very old or those who have underlying health conditions." (10/30)

Denver Post: Denver Approves A Smoking And Vaping Ban For The 16th Street Mall
Smokers and vapers on Denver’s 16th Street Mall are now on notice: Starting Dec. 1, they will need to walk at least 50 feet down a side street before lighting up or puffing. The Denver City Council approved the public smoking ban 9-0 on Monday night, ending a weeks-long debate about how best to ensure that police don’t use the new restrictions to single out the homeless or service workers on their smoke breaks. (Murray, 10/30)

Health News Florida: Orange County Will Consider Banning Marijuana Dispensers
Orange County leaders will meet Tuesday to discuss banning medical marijuana retail centers. The county commission will consider two ordinances: One bans all medical marijuana retail centers, and the other allows them with additional restrictions. (Aboaya, 10/30)

Boston Globe: The Health Care Crisis No One Is Talking About
Millions of Americans are at risk of losing their access to health care because Congress did not renew funding for the community health center program at the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30. Unless we renew funding immediately, 70 percent of funding will be cut, the doors of 2,800 community health centers will close, and 9 million patients will lose access to quality health care. (Sen. Bernie Sanders, 10/31)

Los Angeles Times: On Eve Of Obamacare Open Enrollment, More Evidence Of Impact Of Trump's Sabotage
Several important conclusions emerge from the latest statistics about Affordable Care Act premiums, issued Monday on the eve of open enrollment for 2018 plans, which begins Wednesday. First, gross premiums will rise substantially for next year and enrollment is likely to fall, mostly because of Trump administration efforts to sabotage the law. Second, millions of Americans will be insulated from those increases thanks to the administration’s profound ignorance about how the law works. Because government subsidies will be higher in 2018, many will pay less for equivalent coverage than they pay this year—in some cases, nothing. (Michael Hiltzik, 10/30)

The Wall Street Journal: About That ObamaCare ‘Sabotage’
Democrats are accusing the Trump Administration of “sabotaging” Obama Care by discontinuing illegal subsidies to insurers, but last week even an Obama-appointed judge in California said otherwise. The ruling deserves more public attention. (10/30)

The Wall Street Journal: House Republicans Can Improve The Bipartisan Health Bill
The Senate has a good chance of passing a sensible bill, put forward by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D., Wash.), to stabilize American health-insurance. But to get the bill through the House, Democrats will need to accept reasonable suggestions from Republicans. (Robert C. Pozen, 10/29)

The Huffington Post: An Iowa Teenager Didn’t Wreck His State’s Health Care Market. Here’s Who Did.
Lurking behind the parties’ different approaches to the Affordable Care Act’s problems is a deep philosophical divide about health care policy ― and, in particular, whether it’s fair to spread the burden for medical expenses across the broadest possible swath of the population, even though it means healthy people end up paying more than they would otherwise. Pretty much every conservative health care proposal seeks to divide the population between healthy and sick in a way that may leave the former better off, but only at the expense of the latter. (Jonathan Cohn, 10/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Game Of Health-Care Thrones
The Affordable Care Act seems here to stay, including its incentives for health-care industry consolidation. Big Government drives bigger business. The latest evidence is CVS Health Corp.’s mooted $66 billion bid for insurer Aetna Inc., as companies look for ways to make money beyond being regulated utilities. (10/29)

The Wall Street Journal: How Democrats Learned To Love Insurance Companies
Democrats used to denounce health insurers as greedy, but lately their mutual interest in propping up ObamaCare has made these former foes into something more like frenemies. The cost for the most popular ObamaCare silver plans will increase 37% on average next year. Democrats and insurers are both blaming soaring premiums on the Trump administration, which is purportedly trying to sabotage the law. (Allysia Finley, 10/30)

RealClear Policy: Private Health Care Would Be Less Expensive For All
Bernie Sanders recently declared that “health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege.” There are a number of problems with this idea — some philosophical and some economic. While Senator Sanders is right that in a society as wealthy as ours, a person should not be denied proper health care because of lack of income, his approach will not solve this dilemma. In fact, it is likely to result in a less efficient health care industry with lower health outcomes than if we moved to a market-based health care system. (Gary Wolfram, 10/30)

Forbes: Medicare Spends Far More On Older Adults Who Need Personal Assistance
Want to know if an older adult is likely to use lots of medical care? Just ask if she needs help with living activities such as bathing, dressing, or getting out of bed. In a new study with important implications for both caregivers and policymakers, researchers at the Long-Term Quality Alliance (LTQA) found that Medicare spends an average of three times as much on an older adult who has these functional limitations than on a senior who does not. ... This study is important because it highlights the consequences of the flawed way we care for older adults: Medicare does not pay for personal assistance yet those who need it are likely to be very high users of medical care, which Medicare does pay for. (Howard Gleckman, 10/30)

USA Today: We're Making Strides In Protecting Americans From Fentanyl
efore you finish reading this article, another American will probably die of a drug overdose. Every year since 2015, more Americans have died from drug overdoses than died in the entire Vietnam War. The annual toll soared from 36,450 in 2008 to 64,000 in 2016. On average, seven Americans die of a drug overdose every hour. As a result, drug overdose is now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50. (Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, 10/31)

Los Angeles Times: Do We Really Want To Stack Oxycontin Next To The Jim Beam?
One painful aspect of the public debates over the opioid-addiction crisis is how much they mirror the arguments that arise from personal addiction crises. If you’ve ever had a loved one struggle with drugs — in my case, my late brother, Josh — the national exercise in guilt-driven blame-shifting and finger-pointing combined with flights of sanctimony and ideological righteousness have a familiar echo. (Jonah Goldberg, 10/31)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Needs A Good Samaritan Law To Save More From Opioid Overdoses
Last month, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported in its Opioid Action Plan that more than two Arizonans die each day from opioid-related overdoses. ...As policymakers tackle this urgent issue, it’s important to not lose sight of the core principles of human dignity and individual liberty — and one proposal in the Action Plan that deserves applause for respecting these principles is the Good Samaritan Law for bystanders reporting an overdose. (Jeffrey Singer, 10/30)

WBUR: Code Blue Confusion: He'd Checked 'Do Not Resuscitate' But Wanted To Live
End-of-life care is a vastly complex topic. One particularly unsettling aspect is the “code status” discussion, in which patients decide whether or not to have invasive measures performed if they are needed during an emergency. (Abraar Karan, 10/30)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Legalizing Medical Marijuana Sales Could Boost Missouri's Bottom Line
The strongest argument for legalizing medical marijuana sales in Missouri is that anywhere from $9 million to $66 million in potential tax revenue is going up in smoke. Missouri is cash-strapped and lawmakers shouldn’t turn their backs on a significant way to raise money. (10/30)

The Des Moines Register: 'The Planets Are Aligning' On Iowa's Mental Health Needs
Susan Huppert of Des Moines University and Peggy Huppert of NAMI Iowa share more than a last name: They both have a passion for improving mental health care in Iowa. The two Hupperts look like they could be sisters, but they aren't related by blood. Susan Huppert's husband, Michael Huppert, is Peggy Huppert's ex-husband. The two women decided years ago, for the sake of Peggy’s and Michael’s children, to skip the drama and try to cooperate as friends. That collaboration has moved from the family into professional partnership between the university and the national mental health association. Now, Des Moines University is on the brink of becoming the first medical school in the country to provide National Alliance on Mental Illness-developed training in mental health care to all students. (Kathie Obradovich, 10/30)

The Columbus Dispatch: Spare People With Severe Mental Illness
American courts long have held that the death penalty is unjust for people who weren’t adults or were developmentally disabled when they committed their crimes. Execution is no fairer for people who commit crimes while they are severely mentally ill. House Bill 81 would give lawyers for a small subset of the most severely mentally ill defendants a chance to argue that their clients should be exempt from execution. This reasonable law has been parked in the House Criminal Justice Committee since May. It deserves consideration. (10/31)

The Washington Post: Victims Say VA Whistleblower Retaliation Is Growing Under Trump, Despite Rhetoric
When President Trump talked about the importance of protecting “our great, great people, our veterans,” during a White House meeting in March, he said, “No more games going to be played at the VA.” At a White House briefing on Trump’s executive order to improve whistleblower protection in April, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said, “The message is clear that we will not tolerate whistleblower retaliation in the Department of Veterans Affairs.” Well, nine months into the Trump administration, that message is not clear, and games continue to be played. (Joe Davidson, 10/30)