The New York Times: Democrats Skip Votes, Delaying Confirmation Of Trump Nominees
Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee sought to stall the confirmations of Steven Mnuchin and Tom Price, President Trump’s picks for Treasury secretary and secretary of health and human services, by refusing to attend scheduled votes on Tuesday. (Rappeport and Lichtblau, 1/31)

USA Today: Senate Democrats Block Two Trump Cabinet Picks By Boycotting Vote
The Senate Finance Committee was scheduled to vote on both candidates Tuesday. But Democrats on that panel--in a boycott organized by Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Ron Wyden of Oregon--refused to attend the meeting, thus denying Republicans a quorum and preventing the votes from occurring. (Shesgreen, 1/31)

The New York Times: Senate Democrats Delay Confirmation Of Mnuchin And Price
Democrats ... said they had been misled by the nominees and wanted an opportunity to investigate unanswered questions about Mr. Price’s investments and Mr. Mnuchin’s role in a bank that has been criticized for aggressive foreclosure practices. (Pear and Lichtblau, 1/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Democrats Delay Votes For Donald Trump’s Cabinet Picks
The panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, said he was acting because of a Wall Street Journal article that contradicted testimony Mr. Price gave last week. The article, published Monday, said Mr. Price had participated in a private stock offering open to fewer than 20 individuals after hearing about the offering from Rep. Chris Collins, who sits on the board of the company. In a hearing last week and on several other occasions, Mr. Price said the stock offering was open to all investors in the company, Innate Immunotherapeutics, which is developing a drug for multiple sclerosis. (Timiraos, Hughes and Grimaldi, 1/31)

The Washington Post: Democrats Block Confirmation Votes For Sessions, Price And Mnuchin
Democrats alone lack the votes needed to block any of Trump’s nominees from taking office — and there are no signs of Republican opposition to any of his picks. In fact, Republicans lashed out at Democrats for what they described as partisan, obstructionist moves. “It is time to get over the fact that they lost the election,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. “The president is entitled to have his Cabinet appointments considered. None of this is going to lead to a different outcome.” That did nothing to tamp down enthusiasm among liberal activists and some Democratic lawmakers to mount a fierce resistance to Trump’s priorities. (O'Keefe, Sullivan and Snell, 1/31)

The Associated Press: Democrats Force Delays In Votes On 3 Cabinet Nominees
The tactic infuriated Republicans, even though the GOP boycotted a committee vote on Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency in 2013 when Democrats ran the Senate. "They ought to stop posturing and acting like idiots," said committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "Are they that bitter about Donald Trump? The answer has to be yes." (Fram, 1/31)

CQ Roll Call: Hatch Remains Intent On Moving HHS Nomination To Full Senate
Senate Finance committee rules require the presence of at least one member of the minority party in order to get a quorum to conduct business. When questioned later in the day by reporters about changing the committee rules to speed the process, Hatch allowed that this was possible. "We may have to,” said the Utah Republican. (Young, 1/31)

Politico: Senate Finance Democrats Boycott Mnuchin, Price Votes
Hatch said he planned to hold another vote on the nominees Wednesday. When asked whether he expected any Democrats to show up, he said, "I don't care if they do." (Warmbrodt, 1/31)

The Hill: White House Blasts 'Outrageous' Dem Boycott 
Press secretary Sean Spicer called the move an “outrageous” example of partisan obstruction. “The idea that these highly qualified nominees ... are being stalled because Democrats are boycotting the committee vote is outrageous,” he told reporters. “The mere idea that they are not even showing up for these meetings is outrageous.” (Fabian, 1/31)

Kaiser Health News: Democrats Say Cabinet Choice Tom Price ‘Misled’ The Public. Here’s What We Know.
A key committee vote on Health and Human Services cabinet nominee, Rep. Tom Price, stalled Tuesday amid charges from Senate Democrats that he has misled the public about issues in his financial background. Democrats are demanding fuller explanations, and Republicans are vowing to break the committee impasse.Here are some of the issues still swirling around Price. (Jewett, 2/1)

Meanwhile, ProPublica offers a look at Price's history with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force —

ProPublica: HHS Nominee Tom Price Targeted Panel That Urged Fewer Cancer Screenings 
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, a group of mostly physician and academics from top universities, reviews medical practices to see whether they are supported by research and evidence. Under the Affordable Care Act, the group’s recommendations have been used to guide private insurers. If the group gives a test high marks, insurers are required to cover it. If it doesn’t, they are free not to. But letters reviewed by ProPublica show that Price twice pushed HHS to quash the task force’s recommendations to limit widely used cancer screenings. The panel said that the screenings too often led to unnecessary biopsies and other harmful treatment. (Allen, 2/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Amid Political Rancor, ACA Sign-Up Deadline Arrives
Last-minute sign-ups for coverage under the Affordable Care Act continued across the country Tuesday as Senate Democrats stalled the confirmation of a new health and human services secretary expected to take a leading role in unwinding the 2010 law. ... The “open enrollment” season for 2017 coverage bookended the tumultuous presidential transition. It began a week before Election Day delivered sweeping victories to Republicans promising to overturn the health law they dub Obamacare, and it was set to finish 11 days after Democrats relinquished control of a government tasked with implementing the law. (Radnofsky, 1/31)

Politico: With Less Fanfare, Obamacare Sign-Ups Roll To A Finish
Obamacare enrollment efforts appear to be headed for a strong, if not overwhelming, finish on what is likely the last day to sign up for health law coverage in its present form. Several advocates working in states that use the federal site HealthCare.gov said they were swamped with enrollment appointments and phone calls from consumers, despite the Trump administration's decision to pull millions of dollars of advertising urging people to act before a midnight Tuesday deadline. But enrollment volunteers across the country said demand wasn’t as high as what they experienced around Dec. 15, the deadline to have health coverage at the start of the year. (Pradhan and Demko, 1/31)

The New York Times: Talk Of Repeal Sends People Running To, And From, Affordable Care Act 
A flurry of actions by President Trump and Congress against the Affordable Care Act injected confusion and uncertainty into the final weeks of the annual period to sign up for coverage, and many, but not all, enrollment groups were reporting a drop in people seeking insurance as the deadline loomed on Tuesday. (Goodnough and Pear, 1/31)

CQ Roll Call: Supporters See Heavy Obamacare Sign-Up Traffic In Final Stretch
Americans scrambled to sign up for health insurance Tuesday, the last day of the open enrollment sign-up period for 2017 coverage, even as Hill Republicans continued to press forward with efforts to replace the law that created HealthCare.gov and the other marketplaces. The Trump administration, unlike former President Barack Obama's, didn't herald the heavy volume of calls to support centers or tout the outsized interest. Instead, those messages came from outside groups and state-based exchanges in pockets of the country that are still support the law. (Williams and Mershon, 1/31)

Meanwhile, in the states —

Pioneer Press: Extra Insurance Choice For Consumers In Final Week As Medica Re-Enters Market 
Minnesotans buying health insurance on the state’s individual market have endured a lot the past year, from delayed tax forms to skyrocketing premiums and shrinking networks to growing uncertainty about the future. In the past week, though, all the news has been good. Following the Thursday passage of a $300 million premium relief package and Saturday’s extension of the 2017 enrollment period by a week to Feb. 8, Tuesday brought another welcome surprise: a last-minute re-entry into the market by an insurer that dropped out months ago. (Montgomery, 1/31)

Denver Post: Colorado’s Health Insurance Exchange Extends Deadline To Enroll, Amid Surge In Sign-Ups – The Denver Post
Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace, is extending the deadline for people to sign up for coverage this year. If customers began the enrollment process by midnight Tuesday — the previous deadline — they will now have until 6 p.m. Friday to complete registration. Coverage will still kick in by March 1. Connect for Health Colorado is where people in the state buy health insurance plans and receive tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Even if the health insurance law is repealed, the plans will remain valid for the year. (Ingold, 1/31)

Houston Chronicle: Final Day Of ACA Enrollment Wrapped In Uncertainty 
Just after 4 p.m. Tuesday, Princess Osuchukwu didn't need to say a word as she headed for the door at the storefront enrollment center in a north Houston strip mall. The relief was in her eyes, the set of her shoulders, the smile that stretched wide. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all so much," the 48-year-old Nigerian-born green card holder, her health insurance in hand, called out merrily to no one in particular in what were the final hours of the final day of an enrollment period for a law that may soon be dismantled. (Deam, 1/31)

Sacramento Bee: Covered California Extends Jan. 31 Deadline For Health Insurance 
Anticipating a last-minute surge in enrollments, Covered California extended its Jan. 31 sign-up deadline, saying it would help more Californians “cross the finish line” to health care coverage. “We expect a surge in large numbers in these last hours,” said Covered California spokesman Roy Kennedy, “and we want to be sure that everyone can get the coverage they need and the benefits they deserve. ”To qualify for the extended paperwork deadline, Californians must start the enrollment process by midnight on Jan. 31, but have until Saturday to finish the paperwork. (Buck, 1/31)

NPR: Health Insurance Sales Across State Lines Are Easier Said Than Done
Tuesday is the last day of open enrollment for health coverage for 2017 under the Affordable Care Act. And while Republicans in Congress are working to repeal the law, it's not at all clear what might replace it. During the campaign, President Trump suggested a nationwide insurance market that would allow insurance plans to be sold across state lines. The idea has been kicking around for years, and some states have tried it, including Rhode Island, where it didn't work too well. (1/31)

Previous KHN coverage: Sounds Like A Good Idea? Selling Insurance Across State Lines

Bloomberg: Slow Pace Of Obamacare Repeal Leaves House Conservatives Fuming
Party members emerged from a closed-door retreat in Philadelphia last week frustrated at the lack of progress in uniting around a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Numerous health-care alternatives have been offered by Republicans, but none have won consensus in the party. GOP leaders and committee chairmen have yet to get behind a legislative alternative, although House Speaker Paul Ryan has put forward a series of broad ideas in a blueprint released last year, including refundable tax credits and high-risk pools. (Kapur, 1/31)

CQ HealthBeat: Groups Join Forces To Protect Job-Provided Health Insurance
Republicans are ramping up their consideration of a controversial policy to reduce tax breaks for employer-sponsored health insurance, drawing increasing ire from a diverse coalition of business and labor groups. The idea of scaling back the tax benefits for the more than 155 million people who get their coverage at work is generating so much concern that it has united those groups in staunch opposition. (Mershon, 1/31)

And in other news on the health law and its future —

Bloomberg: Health-Care Costs Remain High Despite Obamacare Coverage Gains 
Uninsured rates in low-income families have fallen under the Affordable Care Act, yet more than a third of Americans continued to face difficulties paying their medical bills in 2016, a survey found. Adults in poor families were among the greatest beneficiaries of the ACA, with uninsured rates falling as much as 17 percentage points since it became law in 2010, according to a study from the Commonwealth Fund, a private, New York-based research organization. Still, 34 percent of Americans said it’s difficult or impossible to find affordable health coverage. (Greifeld, 2/1)

The Associated Press: Hawaii Bills Aim To Save Best Parts Of Affordable Care Act
Concerned about the dissolution of the Affordable Care Act, Hawaii lawmakers are introducing bills to merge into state law the consumer protections they consider the best parts of the federal program. The bills seek to guarantee insurers don't deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, institute lifetime maximums for coverage or strip some of the benefits such as pregnancy care that were mandated by the federal act. (1/31)

Boston Globe: Anticipating The End Of Obamacare, Mass. Lawmakers Press For Contraceptive Mandate
Faced with the threatened repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which provided free birth control to women for the first time, Massachusetts lawmakers are scrambling to deliver a bill that would preserve — and even expand — free contraceptive coverage for all state residents. A bill introduced on Beacon Hill would expand the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which guarantees contraceptive coverage without co-payments or deductibles but does not currently cover every form of birth control. (Ebbert, 1/31)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Confusion For Georgians With Obamacare As Congress Kicks Off Debate 
These disparate, passionate opinions of two Georgians reflect an extraordinary divide among Americans over the fate of the law known as Obamacare. The fault line runs straight through Washington, where GOP leaders are eager to pull the trigger on Obamacare but don’t know precisely where to shoot. Indeed, after initial indications Republicans might push to have President Donald Trump sign a repeal plan his first day in office, it’s now clear that replacing some pieces of Obamacare will take weeks or months or even longer. (Hallerman, 1/31)

The Associated Press: Trump Taps Conservative Judge Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court
President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, a fast-rising conservative judge with a writer's flair, to the Supreme Court Tuesday night, setting up a fierce fight with Democrats over a jurist who could shape America's legal landscape for decades to come. (Pace and Sherman, 1/31)

Reuters: Trump's Supreme Court Nominee Questions Power Of Administrative Agencies
Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch is known for questioning how far courts should go in deferring to federal agencies on interpreting the law, a view that could be important for U.S. companies and, perhaps, for President Donald Trump. (Chung and Hurley, 1/31)

The Associated Press: Conservative Gorsuch Emulates Scalia Minus The Rough Edges
If confirmed by the Senate to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch would fill the seat of the man he seeks to emulate as a judge. He would be the first justice to serve alongside a colleague for whom he worked. Gorsuch described his former boss, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Tuesday as one of the judges who brought him up in the law. ... While abortion rights groups immediately criticized the nomination, Rosen said Gorsuch's record on the issue is sparse. In a book Gorsuch wrote laying out the case against assisted suicide and euthanasia, Rosen said, Gorsuch was careful to avoid making a religious case for his views, focusing instead on philosophy. "He has been careful not to say what he thinks about abortion or marriage equality," Rosen said. (Sherman, 2/1)

The Washington Post: Trump Picks Colo. Appeals Court Judge Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court
Gorsuch has not ruled on abortion. But activists on both sides of the issue believe they know where he stands. They point to language in his book “The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia,” in which he opines that “all human beings are intrinsically valuable and the intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong.” Additionally, his rulings on behalf of those who challenged the Obamacare mandate that employee insurance coverage provide all approved contraceptives seemed instructive. He noted the provision would require the objecting businesses to “underwrite payments for drugs or devices that can have the effect of destroying a fertilized human egg.” (Barnes, 1/31)

Los Angeles Times: Neil Gorsuch Could Fall Somewhere Between His Hero, Justice Scalia, And Former Boss, Centrist Justice Kennedy
If Gorsuch replaces Scalia, a fierce critic of Roe vs. Wade and a reliable conservative vote, it would likely preserve the court’s previous ideological balance, with Kennedy holding the deciding vote in the most divisive cases. The real tipping point on the court could come if Kennedy or Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer depart, giving conservatives, including the court’s conservatives, an opportunity to overturn the abortion right and other liberal precedents. (Savage, 1/31)

Politico: Gorsuch Pick Affirms Trump Vow To Pick 'Pro-Life' Justice
The choice of Gorsuch for the Supreme Court was immediately praised by anti-abortion groups and chastised by supporters of abortion rights. “President Trump has kept his promise to nominate only pro-life judges to the Supreme Court,” Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. “Judge Gorsuch is a distinguished jurist with a strong record of protecting life and religious liberty, as evidenced by his opinions in the Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor cases, and in his doctoral dissertation in which he wrote that ‘human life is fundamentally and inherently valuable.’” House Speaker Paul Ryan called him a "phenomenal nominee" in part because of his "strong commitment to life." (Haberkorn, 1/31)

Stat: Trump's Supreme Court Pick Neil Gorsuch Deeply Opposes Assisted Suicide
President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee is a constitutional originalist who opposes all forms of assisted suicide and ruled twice against the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate but has never ruled on abortion. Trump announced the nomination of Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday night, kicking off what Democrats have said will be a contentious confirmation process to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia. Gorsuch is currently serving on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which holds jurisdiction over six western states. (Facher, 1/31)

Stat: Has The Drug Industry Been Cowed Into Silence By The Tweeter-In-Chief?
Titans of the automotive, banking, and technology industries have spoken out in recent days against President Donald Trump’s move to block arrivals from seven Muslim-majority nations. But the pharmaceutical sector, which relies disproportionately on immigrant labor, has been almost universally silent — perhaps in a bid to avoid rousing Trump’s ire before a crucial meeting Tuesday morning at the White House. STAT reached out to the 15 biggest drug companies about the immigration ban; only Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Novartis responded with statements — and they simply expressed support for affected employees, without taking a stance on Trump’s action. (Garde, 1/31)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Feeling The Early Effects Of Trump Immigration Ban 
The ban has been a cause of uncertainty among many within the healthcare industry as providers attempt to figure out what a stricter immigration policy may mean for the thousands of non-US citizens who come and live in the US each year to train and work in the field. Some employees, including physicians, have been directly affected, while others fear that they will be. At least one hospital's human resources department is gearing up to address potential problems resulting from the policy. (Whitman and Johnson, 1/31)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Clinic Doctor Removed From U.S. Under Trump's Immigration Ban Says Feds Misled Her 
A Cleveland Clinic doctor from Sudan said in a lawsuit against President Donald Trump filed Tuesday that she was "misled and coerced" by immigration authorities into signing forms this weekend that canceled her work visa, which ultimately led to her removal from the United States. Dr. Suha Abushamma, an internal medicine resident at the Clinic since July, also said in the lawsuit that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents violated a stay issued by a New York federal judge barring officials from removing anyone who arrived in the U.S. with a green card or a work visa from countries named in Trump's executive order on immigration. (Heisig, 1/31)

Boston Globe: Harvard Med Students, Doctors Urge Cancellation Of Dana-Farber Fundraiser At Mar-A-Lago
Hundreds of medical students, doctors, and other medical personnel opposed to President Trump’s immigration order are urging the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to cancel a lavish fund-raiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. But even as the number of signatures on a circulating petition grew — rising to 700 caregivers in Boston and across the United States by 5 p.m. Tuesday — Dana-Farber said it would not risk losing money earmarked for cancer research and treatment by canceling the fund-raiser. (Kowalczyk, 1/31)

The Hill: Harvard Medical Students Demand Cancer Center Cancel Fundraiser At Mar-A-Lago 
Harvard Medical School students and physicians are calling on a Boston cancer center to cancel a fundraiser scheduled to be held at President Trump’s club, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida. In an email, hundreds of students implored the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to relocate the fundraising event in light of Trump’s recent executive order that temporarily prohibits people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S., the Boston Globe reported. (Calfas, 1/ 31)

In other news on the president's executive orders —

CQ Roll Call: Trump Order Could Have Unintended Consequences For Health Rules
President Donald Trump’s executive order on Monday, which is designed to reduce the burdens of regulation on businesses, could result in some complicated maneuvering for health agencies, according to experts on health law and regulation. The executive order said that any new proposed regulation needs to be balanced by a repeal of two existing regulations. The order also instructed the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidelines specific to each executive agency for how it should determine what qualifies as a new regulation and how much it will cost. (Siddons, 1/31)

The Associated Press: Trump's Pick To Head VA Rejects Radical Change To Fix Agency
President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Veterans Affairs Department, David Shulkin, promises to meet the health care needs of millions of veterans and is rejecting a dismantling of the beleaguered agency or wide-scale firings as a way to do it. During the campaign, Trump described the VA as "the most corrupt" and "probably the most incompetently run" of all federal agencies. But as nominee David Shulkin, the VA's top health official, prepared for a Senate hearing Wednesday, the 57-year-old physician was suggesting more modest changes. (Yen, 2/1)

In other news —

KQED: Talking Is Easy For Therapists, Except When It’s About Guns. Veterans Want To Teach Them How.
[Jay] Zimmerman is a peer counselor at the Mountain Home VA Medical Center in Johnson City, Tennessee. He also travels to conferences all over the country, sharing his story with therapists and with other vets. He tries to set an example that it’s okay to ask for help. Even today, if he’s not doing well, he disassembles his guns and stores them separately from ammunition, so he can’t make any rash decisions. If things get really bad, Zimmerman has a special arrangement with a few friends. (Dembosky, 2/1)

The Associated Press: Aetna Offers No Guarantees About ACA Future Beyond 2017
The nation's third largest health insurer is painting a cloudy picture of its future on the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges. Aetna Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini said Tuesday that his company will announce by April 1 whether it plans to stay beyond this year in any of the four states where it currently sells coverage, and it's "really impossible to consider entering any new markets." "We have nothing but bad news in front of us right now," he told The Associated Press. (1/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Aetna Profit Slides, But Beats Forecasts
Bertolini said in an interview that the insurer wouldn’t expand its presence in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges for 2018 and was re-evaluating its current footprint for next year. He said that Aetna had spoken with Capitol Hill officials and Trump transition representatives and that it is “too soon to tell” what will result from the Republican overhaul of the ACA, which he said he thought would take effect “at the earliest” in 2019. He said that “everybody is very concerned about doing something rash that would blow the thing up and put people out of coverage.” (Wilde Mathews and Jamerson, 1/31)

Modern Healthcare: Aetna Won't Return To Exchanges It Left Despite Federal Judge's Scolding
National insurer Aetna has no plans to re-enter the ACA exchanges in any of the 11 states it exited earlier this year. That's despite the public scolding Aetna received earlier this month from a federal judge who concluded that Aetna pulled out of the exchanges to improve the chances of closing its merger with Humana, and that it wasn't a business decision related to financial losses. Instead, the Hartford, Conn.-based insurer will continue to evaluate its 2018 participation in the four states where it currently sells exchange plans. (Livingston, 1/31)

Bloomberg: Aetna May Quit More Obamacare Markets As Repeal Discussion Looms
His remarks are an early sign of how the debate over how to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act may affect the health law’s markets. The sales period for 2017 health plans ends today, and insurers are already crafting the plans they’ll begin selling in the fall for 2018. Congressional Republicans, who’ve been disagreeing on how to replace the law, have said they’re aiming to present plans for a replacement in March or April. (Tracer, 1/31)

The CT Mirror: Aetna’s Bertolini: ACA Has Not Met Its Goals
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., disputed Bertolini’s comments and said they make defense of the ACA more difficult. Hoyer said the Trump administration and Republicans are creating the uncertainty Bertolini says is hurting insurers. “In other words, the chaos and uncertainty that this administration has created over the last 10 days has led to the very thing that they say is the problem – and that is insurers are not confident in the ACA,” Hoyer said. (Radelat, 1/31)

Hartford Courant: Aetna CEO Optimistic Over Evolving Health Care Policy Landscape
Aetna had about 965,000 people covered by individual policies at year’s end, and this year, after withdrawing from most of the places it had been selling, it expects to have 240,000 individual customers, with 190,000 of them on the Obamacare exchanges. (Lee, 1/31)

The Washington Post: An Addict Wanted Her Story Told. So Her Mother Did — In An Obituary.
Casey Marie Schwartzmier was feisty. She was outspoken and smart. And, at age 20, she died, after a long struggle with addiction. That is the portrait painted in her frank and revealing obituary, which was penned by her mother, Michelle. The candid obit offers an affectionate description of the daughter that Schwartzmier lost this month, and speaks in clear and honest terms about the addiction that she faced. (Larimer, 1/31)

Los Angeles Times: The Surprising Link Between Air Pollution And Alzheimer’s Disease
With environmental regulations expected to come under heavy fire from the Trump administration, new research offers powerful evidence of a link between air pollution and dementia risk. For older women, breathing air that is heavily polluted by vehicle exhaust and other sources of fine particulates nearly doubles the likelihood of developing dementia, finds a study published Tuesday. And the cognitive effects of air pollution are dramatically more pronounced in women who carry a genetic variant, known as APOE-e4, which puts them at higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. (Healy, 1/31)

Health News Florida: Study Starts For Vibrating Pill To Treat Constipation
Oviedo Medical Research begins screening patients Monday for a novel treatment for chronic constipation – a vibrating capsule. Patients will be given a pill that vibrates while moving through the intestines to simulate normal contractions. Israeli medical device company Vibrant Ltd. has been developing the vibrating capsule from a pill used to take photos as it travels through a patient’s guts. (Aboraya, 1/31)

Miami Herald: Simple Activities Like Card Games And Crafts Can Slow Brain Decline 
Like to play bridge? Enjoy a good game of chess or spending a couple of hours on a craft project? Looking forward to reading your favorite author?Now there’s encouraging news for you: A new study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic’s Scottsdale, Arizona, campus shows that such simple activities can hold off mental decline well into your 70s and beyond. (Veciana-Suarez, 1/31)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Patient Was Infected With Drug-Resistant E. Coli
Scientists were alarmed last year when they found that a woman in Pennsylvania had been infected with bacteria that was resistant to colistin, an antibiotic that is considered the last line of defense against particularly nasty illnesses. It was a scary reminder that bacteria are increasingly able to survive antibiotics, making some infections extremely difficult or even impossible to treat. Now California is on a list of six states where patients have been infected with bacteria that contains a gene known as mcr-1, which makes it resistant to colistin. (Karlamangla, 1/31)

California Healthline: Renewed Cleaning Efforts For Scopes Not Enough To Vanquish Bacteria
Rigorous cleaning practices don’t ensure that medical scopes are free of contamination, and many of these reusable devices have scratches and dents that could harbor blood, tissue and bacteria, a new study found. The seven-month study, published Tuesday in the American Journal of Infection Control, found that 12 of 20 gastroscopes and colonoscopes examined tested positive for bacterial growth, even after being disinfected using the current guidelines or additional measures. (Terhune, 1/31)

The Associated Press: GOP Lawmakers OK Bill To Defund Planned Parenthood In Iowa
Iowa will pass up millions in federal dollars in order to remove state funding for Planned Parenthood under a bill approved Tuesday by a group of Republican lawmakers, and the measure has strong support in the new GOP-majority Legislature. (1/31)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Louisiana Heart Hospital's Closure Seen As Part Of National Trend 
Louisiana Heart Hospital's bankruptcy and pending closure is part of a national trend toward more outpatient services, an industry expert said Tuesday (Jan. 30). It's one that is putting enormous financial pressure on specialty hospitals around the United States. Jack Finn, former president of the Metropolitan Hospital Council of New Orleans, said evolving medical technology has moved more big-ticket procedures from speciality medical centers, where they were performed over the course of several days, into physicians' offices or one-day clinics. Hospitals that focus on cardiovascular care and other specialties are feeling the brunt of the evolution, he said. (Chatelain, 1/31)

KCUR: Kansas City Health Care Foundation, HCA Settle Litigation For $160 Million
The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City has settled its long-running case against hospital giant HCA for $160 million. The settlement comes after a state appeals court earlier this month reduced a trial court judgment in favor of the foundation from $434 million to $188 million. Coupled with an earlier settlement in the case that netted the foundation $13.5 million, the foundation will end up getting about $173.5 million from HCA – bringing the foundation’s total assets to about $700 million. (Margolies, 1/31)

Denver Post: Denver Health Plans To Opt In To Medical Aid-In-Dying Law By July 
Denver Health Medical Center patients who are terminally ill will be able to receive life-ending prescriptions through Colorado’s new medical aid-in-dying law, but not until mid-year. Denver Health has decided to opt in to the new law, but is taking time to develop a policy before opening up the option to patients. The medical center is researching differences between state and federal laws and is “working diligently” to answer questions before putting its policy in place by July 1, the hospital said. Until then, patients who wish to use the law will receive referral assistance and Denver Health will transfer relevant records to another health care provider. (1/31)

New Hampshire Union Tribune: Independent Review Team Offers Suggestions For NH Hospital Following Patient's Suicide 
A team charged with conducting an independent review of the discharge of a New Hampshire Hospital patient who committed suicide hours after her release on July 27 issued a list of recommendations Tuesday, including augmented suicide risk training.     The sentinel review team submitted a confidential report to Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers, along with the recommendations, earlier this month. Only the recommendations were made public Tuesday. (Feely, 1/ 31)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Panel Backs Bill To Let Hygienists Give Dental Care To Poor, Elderly
A key Georgia House committee easily passed legislation Tuesday aimed at helping provide basic dental care to hundreds of thousands of poor children and elderly Georgians in nursing homes. The Health and Human Services Committee approved House Bill 154, sponsored by the panel’s chairwoman, state Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta, which would allow dental hygienists to provide basic treatment without a dentist being present. (Salzer, 1/31)

Georgia Health News: House Panel Begins Another Quest For A Dental Hygienist Law 
A House committee unanimously approved legislation Tuesday that would allow dental hygienists to practice in school clinics, nursing homes and safety-net locations without having a dentist present. The passage of House Bill 154 by the House Health and Human Services Committee comes a year after the sudden collapse of similar legislation in the 2016 General Assembly session. (Miller, 1/31)

Sacramento Bee: Untreated Toothache Suddenly Kills Sacramento Truck Driver, 26
A simple toothache turned deadly last week for a long-haul trucker from Sacramento, and now his family is trying to raise money to bring his body back home. Vadim Anatoliyevich Kondratyuk was just 26 and had two young children. He was driving a truck route from Truckee to New York last Tuesday when he started to feel pain in the lower left side of his mouth, said his wife, Nataliya Kondratyuk. He pulled over in Oklahoma to see a dentist, who diagnosed an infection and prescribed antibiotics. (Caiola, 1/31)

San Francisco Chronicle: Navigation Centers Offer A Path Off The Streets To Homeless 
Although people living on our streets and in encampments are literally in the public eye, the depth of the trauma and crisis that they face is often hidden. Neighborhoods share the consequences of the untreated trauma and crisis unfolding on our streets. To help people resolve their individual problems and support neighborhoods with these challenges, our department has been leading a coordinated citywide effort with two efforts — Navigation Centers and the new Encampment Resolution Team — at the core. It is important that San Franciscans understand these programs. (Kositsky, 1/31)

Orlando Sentinel: Doctor Opens GYN Practice Of Different Kind 
Frustrated by the pressures of the health-care system and cumbersome insurance paperwork, Lewis is among a small group of physicians who have taken a leap of faith and started solo direct primary-care practices, instead of joining a larger practice or a health system. Direct primary care doctors charge patients directly, bypassing the insurance companies. Most offer monthly memberships. And some, like Lewis, also help patients file their bills with the insurance companies to get reimbursed. (Miller, 1/31)

Tampa Bay Times: Tampa City Hall To Begin Offering Employees Paid Parental Leave
Tampa City Hall will begin providing paid parental leave to full-time employees after a baby's birth or the placement of a child for adoption or foster care with the employee, Mayor Bob Buckhorn announced Wednesday. The new policy will provide eight weeks of paid leave to primary caregivers. That's the person who has primary responsibility for the care of the new addition to the family and is typically also recovering from childbirth herself. (Danielson, 2/1)

Iowa Public Radio: No More Surprises For Parents: Bill Would Limit Teen Body Piercing 
Piercing your ears would be exempt, but advancing to the nose or lips or beyond should require parental consent. That’s according to a bill considered at the Iowa Statehouse today. Backers say the measure would bring body piercing into better alignment with tattooing, which is banned altogether in Iowa for people under age 18, with or without parental consent. (Russell, 1/31)

Stat: Americans Want Drug Price Controls, But Worry About Impeding Innovation
Although most Americans appear to favor price controls on medicines, a recent survey indicates there is also some hesitancy if such a move would limit innovation that produces new drugs. The findings suggest warnings issued by the pharmaceutical industry that price controls might impede the flow of needed salves have caught the attention of a growing swath of the public. Specifically, about 63 percent of adults do not want the government to control prices if that yields fewer innovative drugs, according to the survey of 1,240 adults released by Wells Fargo analyst David Maris. He noted there was little difference expressed regardless of the sex, age, or region of the country. In fact, 55 percent or more of each age bracket worried that innovation would suffer. (Silverman, 1/30)

CQ Roll Call: The Pharmaceutical Industry's Favorite Democrat: Patty Murray
Patty Murray of Washington was among 13 Democrats who voted against moving forward with a Senate amendment to the fiscal 2017 budget resolution that would have laid the groundwork for reimportation of cheaper brand name pharmaceuticals from Canada. That earned them plenty of criticism from their left flank. “Their betrayal crushed one of the few remaining rays of hope for the millions of Americans whose health and financial security are endangered by the new Republican Congress,” Richard Eskow, a senior fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future, a liberal group, argued in his blog. Eskow went on to suggest that Murray voted the way she did because she’s received a lot of money from the drug industry. (Zeller, 1/30)

Stat: Merck Provides Data On Drug Prices, But It's Only A Peek
In the latest bid to pull the curtain back on drug pricing, Merck posted assorted data on its web site on Friday, although the company stopped short of providing details on specific medicines. ... The disclosure is another attempt by a drug maker to argue that prices may be rising, but a growing chunk is eaten up by middlemen, which keep some portion as profits, although insurers maintain givebacks get passed on to patients. This was the same argument that Mylan Pharmaceuticals chief executive Heather Bresch tried to make before Congress last year during a hearing over EpiPen. (Silverman, 1/27)

WBUR: Concerns That Rosy Direct-To-Consumer Ads Hype Cancer Drugs To Vulnerable Patients 
A few weeks ago, I was watching veg-out TV, quietly wondering to myself how a show called "Pure Genius" could be so darned dumb. Then a commercial break added a new sort of mystification: A long, vivid ad touted the cancer drug Opdivo, a form of immunotherapy — an exciting new type of treatment that harnesses the body's own immune system — for lung cancer. Well, a little longer; the fine print cited a study in which patients lived about three months longer. But for desperately ill patients, even a day longer matters. So the appeal was clear. What I couldn't understand was the economics: How could it make sense to blast a whole network TV audience with an ad made for a sliver of people with cancer? (Goldberg, 1/31)

WBUR: As Cancer Drugs' Prices Skyrocket, Experts Worry About Burden On Patients, Health Systems 
Leaders in cancer research say the field has reached a pivotal moment, including the discovery of new treatments. But, these new treatments come with a price tag that many experts believe is unsustainable. (Knox, 1/30)

Stat: Price Hikes For Some Generic Cancer Drugs In The UK Skyrocketed
Price gouging appears to be a growing problem in the UK, where price tags for generic versions of more than a dozen cancer medicines rose between 100 percent and 1,100 percent from 2011 to 2016, even though the drugs can be made for very little, according to a new analysis by UK researchers. The researchers found there was often a lack of competition for 14 off-patent medicines and, as a result, the outlays are straining the UK’s National Health Service at a time when cancer drugs are being rationed. (Silverman, 1/30)

Bloomberg: Old Cancer Drug Gets 1,227% Price Hike In Frugal U.K.
The chemotherapy known as busulfan is more than six decades old, and part of doctors’ standard arsenal against leukemia. It’s not scarce, and by all accounts, it should be dirt cheap. Instead, its price has soared like that of a prized antique. Busulfan cost 1,227 percent more last year than in 2011 in the U.K. And it isn’t the only medicine whose price has unexpectedly surged in one of the world’s most tightly-controlled markets for health spending. Melphalan, a chemotherapy in use for ovarian cancer since the 1950s, had a 315 percent cost increase in the same period, according to researchers at the University of Liverpool, who reviewed 89 products. (Kresge, Paton and Langreth, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer Revenue Falls As Full-Year Sales Seen Below Wall Street Estimates
Pfizer Inc. revenue declined in the latest quarter as sales of its top-selling product dropped, while the company’s sales outlook for this year fell below Wall Street’s expectations. Worldwide sales of Pfizer’s pneumonia vaccine Prevnar fell 24% to $1.4 billion in the quarter, which the company attributed to many eligible patients already being vaccinated. Pfizer also cited the smaller and unfavorable timing of government purchases. (Rockoff and Hufford, 1/31)

Reuters: Japan's Takeda Committed To Single-Digit U.S. Drug Price Rises
Japan's largest drugmaker, Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co, on Wednesday said it would maintain its pricing model in the U.S. market, brushing off demands by U.S. President Donald Trump for drugmakers to offer cheaper drugs. "Takeda has for many years been reasonable in its price increases in the U.S. and we are very committed to single-digit price increase," Takeda Chief Executive Christophe Weber told reporters at a results briefing. (Tajitsu, 2/1)

Stat: For Allergan CEO, Immigration Ban Comes Down To 'Right Versus Wrong'
Once again, Brent Saunders is standing out from the pharma c-suite crowd. Over the weekend, the Allergan chief executive was the only head of a major drug maker to publicly say anything about the highly controversial Trump immigration ban. And what Saunders had to say was not supportive, at all, of the move: Allergan, he tweeted, “is strong & bold b/c of diversity. Oppose any policy that puts limitations on our ability to attract the best & diverse talent.” (Silverman, 1/30)

Los Angeles Times: The $2.5-Billion Mistake: A Gullible Trump Bought Into Big Pharma's Inflated Claim About Drug R&D Costs
President Trump’s meeting Tuesday with pharmaceutical executives was a theatrical display of chumminess in which all the parties seemed to share deep regret over high and soaring drug prices. It also was a one-stop shop of misconceptions and misinformation about the causes of high drug prices, and therefore a mishmash of solutions, most of which are a lot more complicated than Trump thinks, some of which won’t work, and some of which are disguised handouts to the drug industry. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/31)

Bloomberg: Liberals Can Join Trump On Drug Prices
Donald Trump has a chance to rally his core supporters as well as left-wing Democrats by wrapping himself in the populist flag to take on the powerful drug industry. He vows to keep a campaign pledge to push legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, a practice now prohibited by law. Proponents say this would reduce drug prices and Medicare costs for the federal government. Medicare pays for about 29 percent of prescription drugs in the U.S. and would have considerable leverage. (Albert R. Hunt, 1/31)

Vox: If Trump Wants To Lower Drug Prices, He’s Going About It All Wrong
The problem of rising drug costs is not lost on President Donald Trump. He has been aggressive about singling out pharmaceutical companies for “getting away with murder” with their “astronomical” prices. And he’s campaigned on a pledge to bring costs down. ... The problem with that last move, as experts have noted, is that it could actually make drugs more expensive, not less.Trump’s precise plans for pharma are more confusing than clarifying at this point. But as he moves forward, if he really wants to make medicines more affordable for Americans, he should focus on these three things. (Julia Belluz, 1/31)

Washington Examiner: President Trump Misunderstands What Government Drug Price Negotiations Entail
President Trump recently pledged to let federal officials negotiate the prices of drugs covered under Medicare. He claims this will save taxpayers billions of dollars. Nobody doubts that Trump and his team are shrewd negotiators. But the sorts of "negotiations" that Trump refers to have nothing in common with haggling over a real estate deal. Instead, the action that Trump has proposed — repealing the non-interference clause, originally drafted by Democratic Senators Ted Kennedy and Tom Daschle — would result in Medicare drug prices going up and patient choice going down. (Peter J. Pitts, 2/1)

Stat: Why We Should Listen To Martin Shkreli
Although industry lobbyists have tried to paint Shkreli as “not us,” some of his jabs, cringe-worthy though they may be, are on target. Shkreli has called attention to the hypocrisy in his vilification, calling out companies that pulled back from selling drugs to his company only to raise the price by 400 percent overnight, as well as companies whose entire annual increases in revenue came from boosting prices instead of launching new products. (Mike Rea, 1/25)

The New York Times: A Costly Drug, Missing A Dose Of Disclosure
Full and fair disclosure is at the heart of our nation’s securities laws. So red flags fly when a company is silent on facts of interest to investors. That investing truth came to mind a little over a week ago, when the pharmaceutical giant Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals settled a yearslong investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. In the Jan. 18 complaint, the commission contended that Mallinckrodt and its Questcor subsidiary had engaged in anti-competitive behavior by acquiring the rival drug to their costly H. P. Acthar Gel — which goes for $38,000 a vial — and keeping it off the market to protect their profits. (Morgenson, 1/27)

Bloomberg: Pfizer Needs To Keep Dealing
Pfizer Inc. did the second-biggest biotech deal of 2016, a $14 billion take-out Medivation, after the Treasury Department slapped it away from the biggest merger in pharma history. After all that, you might think Pfizer would be done with M&A for a bit. Unlikely. The company on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter earnings and 2017 revenue guidance that missed forecasts. With a weak late-stage pipeline and outsize dependence on older drugs, Pfizer has more buying to do if it wants its pharmaceutical sales to grow. (Max Nisen, 1/31)

Bloomberg: Bristol-Myers Goes From Hunter To Target
Less than a year ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. was the fourth-largest biopharma company in the U.S. with a premier cancer drug asset and the potential to go out and buy just about anything. But after setbacks to its immune-boosting cancer drug Opdivo that have drastically limited its growth potential, the company on Thursday was forced to cut its 2017 earnings guidance and now expects sluggish growth in the year to come. Technical difficulties that interrupted the company's earnings call for several minutes were probably the most enjoyable part of the day for executives as analysts grilled them about the company's strategy. Shares dropped more than 5 percent to their lowest point since 2014. (Max Nisen, 1/26)

Bloomberg: Teva Is Losing Credibility
If you've got bad news to deliver, it's always better to do it all at once, rather than parcel it out. Earlier this year, for example, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. cut its 2017 revenue guidance by $1.5 billion due to underperformance of its flagship generics business. That guidance, however, did not include generic competition for the most important form of its best-selling multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone. (Max Nisen, 1/31)

The Kansas City Star: You Sure You Want To Repeal The Affordable Care Act, Republicans?
Tuesday was the last day to sign up for Obamacare in 2017. But it might or might not have been the last chance ever. Because predictably, now that we’re about to lose the Affordable Care Act, Republicans who have spent years swearing that there’s nothing good about the health care law are panicking. (Melinda Henneberger, 1/31)

RealClear Health: Replacing Obamacare Needs To Be Done Incrementally
Surgeon-author Atul Gawande recently penned an article underscoring the importance of “incremental care” in solving medical problems. The slow and steady, often trial-and-error, approach of family physicians or local clinics that are familiar with the patient, he wrote, often produces better results than the intensive interventions of specialists. There’s a parallel in how we should think about constructing a health system in America – or replacing one. (Stuart Butler, 2/1)

Louisville Courier-Journal: ACA Repeal Would Be Devastating In Ky.
Communities thrive when they have a strong foundation made up of things like good schools and quality healthcare. The Affordable Care Act empowered Kentucky to bring healthcare to half a million of our citizens, protect ourselves from harmful insurance practices and boost our economy. Repeal would undo all of that progress. (Dustin Pugel, 1/31)

Forbes: Beware Of False Claims That Obamacare Repeal Will Kill Thousands Of Americans: Part II
In my earlier piece, I exploded the DailyKos claim that Republican plans to repeal Obamacare will lead to an "annual death sentence" of 21,000 people as well as Nicholas Kristof's assertion that prior to Obamacare, 1 person died every 24 [hours] simply due to lack of health insurance. My critique was based on the various ways in which evidence from observational studies had been cherry-picked or mis-used to exaggerate the potential impact of Obamacare repeal on premature deaths in America. Today, I will focus on a different category of studies called "quasi-experimental" studies. (Chris Conover, 1/31)

The Huffington Post: ‘Heartbreaking’ — Obamacare Phone Counselor Talks About The Calls Coming In
The telephone operators who answer questions about Healthcare.gov, the website for buying Affordable Care Act insurance, have been busy lately. That’s not surprising, given that Tuesday is the last day to purchase coverage for the rest of 2017. But this year, something is different: Obamacare’s future is in doubt. And that’s made for some difficult moments. (Jonathan Cohn, 1/30)

Stat: Trump Should Unleash The FDA's Newest Weapon Against Beating Cancer
In December 2016, Congress overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century Cures Act. Implementing that bipartisan legislation now falls to Trump and the 115th Congress. Having spent decades fighting to improve treatment and safety for cancer patients, I was thrilled by the bill’s passage. It promises indispensable changes that will let the Food and Drug Administration take advantage of the most advanced science to tackle cancer without sacrificing safety. The bill’s first test is the implementation of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence. (Ellen V. Sigal, 1/31)

The Des Moines Register: The Misadventures Of Anti-Vaccine Lawmakers
State officials in Washington last week announced there were 278 confirmed and probable cases of mumps across five counties in recent months. The contagious disease can cause deafness and inflammation of the brain. The best prevention is the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, said Dave Johnson, a spokesman for the state’s health department. Meanwhile, back in Iowa, a few of our public officials had vaccines on their minds, too. But they were busy trying to ensure fewer children here are protected against communicable diseases, including mumps. The House Human Resources subcommittee passed a bill that would allow parents to cite a “personal conviction” as a reason to exempt their children from state-required immunizations to attend school. (1/31)

Stat: Why We Are Hoarding Our Opioid Pills
To curb the ongoing tidal wave of opioid addiction and overdose deaths, state and federal governments have put in place policies that restrict doctors’ ability to prescribe opioids such as OxyContin, Vicodin, and Percocet. Although well-meaning, these policies are unleashing several unintended — yet entirely predictable — consequences. One is an unprecedented spike in drug overdose deaths, quite rightly described as a nationwide epidemic. When opioid pills become difficult to obtain, some patients who depend on these prescription medications to get through the day relatively pain-free switch to heroin. ... Another consequence is the needless stress inflicted upon patients who legitimately and responsibly rely on opioids for various medical conditions but now find it far more difficult to access them. (Josh Bloom and Alex Berezow, 1/31)

The Kansas City Star: Missouri Must Stop Stalling And Combat Prescription Drug Abuse
Forty-nine other states aren’t wrong. Missouri is the sole outlier in a national effort to curtail the devastating impact of prescription drug abuse. Standing alone on this issue is an embarrassment with deadly consequences. Every other state in the country has enacted prescription drug monitoring systems. (1/31)

The Columbus Dispatch: Pro-Lifers' Compassion Extends Far Beyond Birth
Thanks to the Women's March on Washington, which predictably devolved into a pro-abortion rally, and the recent March for Life, the debate over "abortion rights" in the U.S. is beginning anew. So it's worth debunking one of the most persistent (and lazy) myths about pro-lifers that impede an honest and open discussion: the notion that the pro-life community is not really pro-life. (Cynthia Allen, 2/1)