The Washington Post: Senate Leaders See Two-Year Budget Deal Within Their Grasp
Top Senate leaders were working Tuesday to finalize a sweeping long-term budget deal that would include a defense spending boost President Trump has long demanded alongside an increase in domestic programs championed by Democrats. (DeBonis and Werner, 2/6)

The Associated Press: House And Senate Pursue Spending Deals As Shutdown Looms
Democratic leaders have dropped their strategy of using the funding fight to extract concessions on immigration, specifically on seeking extended protections for the "Dreamer" immigrants who have lived in the country illegally since they were children. Instead, the Democrats prepared to cut a deal that would reap tens of billions of dollars for other priorities — including combatting opioids — while taking their chances on solving the immigration impasse later. Tuesday night's 245-182 House vote, mostly along party lines, set the machinery in motion. (Taylor, 2/7)

Modern Healthcare: Senate Eyes Changes To The House Stopgap Health Package 
The sizeable healthcare package unveiled Monday night by House GOP leaders may get a face lift in the Senate. The House assembled a packet of legislation that includes two-year funding of the community health centers, a two-year delay of the payment cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospitals, and two-year funding extensions for Medicare programs rural hospitals in particular depend on. The CHRONIC Care Act, which would, among other things, expand telemedicine and adapt Medicare Advantage plans for chronically ill enrollees, is also included. But all the programs came at a cost House Democrats don't like, most notably a $5 million chunk out of the Affordable Care Act's Prevention and Public Health Fund. (Luthi, 2/6)

The Hill: Senate Nears Two-Year Deal On Spending 
“I’m optimistic that very soon we’ll be able to reach an agreement,” McConnell told reporters, predicting that another shutdown this week is very unlikely. (Bolton and Zanoma, 2/7)

CQ: Lobbyists Monitor Health Care Provisions In Spending Bill
Community health center officials, safety-net hospital administrators and others say they are relieved that the stopgap spending bill released Monday night would keep money flowing to their institutions. But the proposals to pay for the new policies could be controversial and the underlying bill is mired in a broader partisan dispute. House Republicans hope to check several items off of Congress’ health policy to-do list this week as part of the proposed six-week stopgap spending bill. The continuing resolution filed Monday night by Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., would provide $3.6 billion for community health centers for each of the next two years and extend certain expired Medicare programs. (McIntire, 2/6)

The Hill: House Funding Bill Includes Bipartisan Medicare Reforms
The House’s short-term bill to fund the government also includes a range of bipartisan Medicare reforms aimed at making the program more efficient and saving money over the long term. The measure, known as the Chronic Care Act, has largely flown under the radar because it has been mainly free of political controversy. (Sullivan, 2/6)

The Hill: House Bill Cuts ObamaCare Public Health Fund By $2.85 Billion
The House’s short-term bill to fund the government cuts $2.85 billion over 10 years from an ObamaCare public health fund, using the money to help pay for a range of health-care programs. The cut is drawing criticism from public health groups who warn that it will harm work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in areas like vaccination and anti-smoking. (Sullivan, 2/6)

Pioneer Press: Mark Dayton Pushes For MN Community Health Center Funding
Gov. Mark Dayton wants Minnesota’s congressional delegation to fight for the renewal of funding for health centers that serve rural communities and the poor. In September, the $3.6 billion fund that supports Community Health Centers across the nation expired and Congress has not reauthorized it. That could mean 70 centers that serve 180,000 Minnesotans will lose out on $27 million in funding this year. (Magan, 2/6)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Community Health Centers Across Missouri Brace For Shortfall While Waiting For Federal Money
Funding uncertainty at both the state and federal levels has created significant worry for community health centers in Missouri. One of Missouri’s largest community health centers has cut staff and services as it waits for Congress to reauthorize funding for the more than 9,200 sites across the country that care for more than 24 million people. “We’ve vacated five positions, and I anticipate a few additional positions, through the end of March, to respond to these funding challenges,” Alan Freeman, CEO of Affinia Healthcare, told the Post-Dispatch. Threats to state Medicaid funding are also fueling these decisions to cut services and staff, Freeman said. (Liss, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: Oscar Health Drives Membership Growth Through Narrow Network Strategy 
Oscar Health, the 5-year-old tech-focused darling of the insurance industry, is starting to see a payoff from its refined approach to structuring its insurance networks. It still hasn't turned a profit, but its 2018 membership growth is off the charts, more than doubling over 2017. That growth wasn't unexpected—New York-based Oscar announced previously that is was expanding its individual market footprint this year to cities in six states from three in 2017. (Livingston, 2/6)

The Star Tribune: Andy Slavitt Launches Push For Affordable Health Care 
Andy Slavitt, the former UnitedHealth Group executive who led implementation of the federal health law during the Obama administration, has launched a nonprofit that aspires to break through the partisan logjam to find consensus on access to affordable health care. Called the United States of Care, the nonprofit won’t do any lobbying, Slavitt said, but will focus on policy and grass-roots work to promote solutions that can be backed by most Americans. (Snowbeck, 2/6)

Politico Pro: Trump Administration To Allow More Flexibility On State ACA Waivers
HHS and the Treasury Department will soon release new guidance allowing states more flexibility to revamp their health insurance markets through an Affordable Care Act waiver program, according to four people familiar with the agencies' plans. Individuals who have seen the forthcoming guidance say that it preserves many elements of the Obama administration’s strict guidelines on state innovation waivers while eliminating some frustrations raised by states seeking federal permission for changes. (Diamond, 2/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Taxing This High Earner But Not That One: Hospital Nonprofits Wrestle With New Rules
Phoenix-based hospital system Banner Health employed 11 people who earned over $1 million in 2015—the kind of high nonprofit pay Congress targeted in the sweeping tax overhaul enacted in December. But a quirk of the law means Banner likely will owe tax on just five of these executives, while other large nonprofits, such as Michigan-based Trinity Health, could be taxed on more such employees. (Evans and Fuller, 2/6)

In other hospital news —

Georgia Health News: Hospitals Keep Up Swift Pace Of Mergers, Alliances
The new year is bringing a rash of big hospital deals in Georgia, as health systems look to bulk up in size and add to their medical territory. The first transaction came a week ago, with the completion of Tennessee-based HCA’s acquisition of Memorial Health in Savannah. (Miller, 2/6)

The Washington Post: FDA Ramps Up Warnings About Kratom, Calling Unregulated Herb An 'Opioid'
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday intensified its warnings about kratom, saying new research provides strong evidence that the unregulated botanical substance has “opioid properties” and is associated with 44 deaths. “We feel confident in calling compounds found in kratom, opioids,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb  said in a statement. The agency's conclusion is based on recent computational modeling and on scientific literature and reports of adverse effects in people, he said. The new data, he added, reinforced agency concerns about kratom’s “potential for abuse, addiction and serious health consequences, including death.” (McGinley, 2/6)

The Associated Press: Herbal Supplement Kratom Contains Opioids, Regulators Say
The Food and Drug Administration analysis, published Tuesday, makes it more likely that the supplement, kratom, could be banned by the federal government. The FDA also said it has identified 44 reports of death involving kratom since 2011, up from 36 reported in November. Sold in various capsules and powders, kratom has gained popularity in the U.S. as a treatment for pain, anxiety and drug dependence. Proponents argue that the substance is safer than opioid painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin, which have contributed to an epidemic of drug abuse. More than 63,000 Americans died in 2016 from drug overdoses, mostly from opioids. (Perrone, 2/6)

Stat: FDA Calls Kratom An 'Opioid' And Warns Against Using The Supplement
Some users have argued that kratom is a safe way to treat pain and wean oneself off opioids, but the agency concluded otherwise — based on case reports and a computer analysis of the molecular structure of kratom ingredients. “Kratom should not be used to treat medical conditions, nor should it be used as an alternative to prescription opioids,” Gottlieb said. “There is no evidence to indicate that kratom is safe or effective for any medical use.” (Boodman, 2/6)

The Hill: GOP Chairman Blasts DEA Over Reduced Opioid Enforcement 
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) on Tuesday blasted the Drug Enforcement Administration for failing to provide information requested by the panel on why it has cut back enforcement actions against opioid distributors. The committee had asked the DEA why it dramatically cut back on “immediate suspension orders” freezing suspicious shipments of opioids by drug distribution companies. (Sullivan, 2/6)

And in the states —

The Associated Press: Alabama Files Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturer
Alabama filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the manufacturer of OxyContin and other opioids, becoming the latest state seeking to hold drug companies accountable for an addiction epidemic. Alabama Attorney General Alabama Steve Marshall filed the lawsuit in Montgomery federal court against Purdue Pharma, L.P. and its branches. The lawsuit claims the manufacturer engaged in deceptive marketing practices that misled patients and doctors about the benefits of the drugs and the risks of addiction to the powerful painkillers. (Chandler, 2/6)

WBUR: Study Finds Simple Test Strips Are Effective In Testing For Fentanyl
A study from Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health and Brown University found that the off-label use of a fentanyl testing strip could accurately detect the presence of the opioid, which has been blamed for most of the overdose deaths in Massachusetts. The test strip, which is similar to urine or pregnancy test strips, was more accurate than two other drug testing devices that are often used by law enforcement. (Becker, 2/6)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Hamilton County Heroin New Anti-Heroin Efforts Touted
It won't be long before medically stable overdose patients in Hamilton County will be ushered into a center where they can stay short-term, be assessed and sent into treatment. The idea: Moving the addicted population directly into treatment before they relapse again or die. (DeMio, 2/6)

Sacramento Bee: California Lawmakers Take On Opiate Abuse With Technology
On Tuesday, the chairman of the Assembly Business and Professions Committee will hold a hearing to explore ways the state can leverage its status as the cradle of technology to take on the opioid addiction crisis. Democratic Assemblyman Evan Low and his colleagues have offered a slate of proposals to address physician over-prescribing and other culprits. (Cadelago, 2/6)

NPR: Federal Report Blames A Type Of Sleep Apnea For Train Crashes
The National Transportation Safety Board reported Tuesday that engineers falling asleep at the controls led to two recent New York City area commuter train crashes that killed one person and injured more than 200 others. The investigative agency has sharply criticized the Trump administration for scrapping a proposed regulation aimed at preventing such fatigue-related events. (Schaper, 2/6)

In other news —

CQ: Congress Seeks Fix To Hypoxia Issue For Pilots
Congress’ patience is wearing thin as the Air Force and Navy struggle to finds answers to – or even the causes of – physiological episodes in pilots that have grounded multiple kinds of aircraft in recent weeks. ... The purpose of Tuesday’s hearing was to get an update on the search for a solution to hypoxia-related incidents that continue to dog pilots in multiple aircraft, including the Air Force’s T-6 training aircraft; F/A-18s, the Navy’s signature fighter jet; and the F-35, the stealth fighter replacing older Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The issue continues to cause problems for military aviators, with dozens of A-10 Warthogs grounded last year at Davis-Monathan Air Force Base in Arizona. (Clevenger, 2/6)

Stat: Black Doctors Trying To Improve Their Ranks Share Their Own Experiences
To many in the medical profession, it’s a public health crisis in the making: While African Americans make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, only about 6 percent of doctors are black. And evidence shows that patients feel better about the quality of their health care when their doctors look like them. To address this workforce issue, a group of young doctors, dentists, and other health care professionals started a traveling program called Tour for Diversity that goes all over the U.S. to meet with young people of color who are interested in health career paths. (Durning and Satyanarayana, 2/7)

The New York Times: A Brain Implant Improved Memory, Scientists Report
Scientists have developed a brain implant that noticeably boosted memory in its first serious test run, perhaps offering a promising new strategy to treat dementia, traumatic brain injuries and other conditions that damage memory. The device works like a pacemaker, sending electrical pulses to aid the brain when it is struggling to store new information, but remaining quiet when it senses that the brain is functioning well. (Carey, 2/6)

NPR: Scientists Find That Memories Can Be Saved With Pulses Of Electricity
A little electrical brain stimulation can go a long way in boosting memory. The key is to deliver a tiny pulse of electricity to exactly the right place at exactly the right moment, a team reports in Tuesday's Nature Communications. "We saw a 15 percent improvement in memory," says Michael Kahana, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and an author of the study. (Hamilton, 2/6)

The New York Times: Far More U.S. Children Than Previously Thought May Have Fetal Alcohol Disorders
More American children than previously thought may be suffering from neurological damage because their mothers drank alcohol during pregnancy, according to a new study. The study, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA, estimates that fetal alcohol syndrome and other alcohol-related disorders among American children are at least as common as autism. The disorders can cause cognitive, behavioral and physical problems that hurt children’s development and learning ability. (Belluck, 2/6)

The Wall Street Journal: A Breakthrough Stroke Treatment Can Save Lives—If It’s Available
Minutes mattered to two Atlanta-area residents who showed severe-stroke symptoms last autumn. The right treatment done quickly can help prevent brain damage. An ambulance raced a 74-year-old man to a hospital nearby that wasn’t an institution capable of offering the most-advanced procedure. He arrived Oct. 30 at 9:30 a.m. with right-side weakness, unable to speak. (Burton, 2/6)

Stat: If You Drink Untreated Water, This Is What You’re Drinking
Just as some people extoll the so-called benefits of unpasteurized milk, a segment of the bottled water market is now embracing the idea of “raw” water. The argument: It tastes better. It’s more natural. It doesn’t contain additives like fluoride, which is often added to municipal water supplies to combat tooth decay.But while the notion of crystal clear water bubbling up from a pristine spring sounds enticing, in reality there can be risks. ... Think of them as nature’s additives. While these bugs — things like Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella and E. coli — can look lovely when captured by an electron micrograph, what they can do to your gastric track definitely isn’t. (Branswell, 2/7)

NPR: Black Lung Study Finds Biggest Cluster Ever Of Fatal Coal Miners' Disease
Epidemiologists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health say they've identified the largest cluster of advanced black lung disease ever reported, a cluster that was first uncovered by NPR 14 months ago. In a research letter published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, NIOSH confirms 416 cases of progressive massive fibrosis or complicated black lung in three clinics in central Appalachia from 2013 to 2017. (Berkes and Lancianese, 2/6)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: This Is How People Are Trying To Beat Death And Aging
In spite of that, there are thousands of people finding unique ways to potentially beat death − or at least beat aging. Some wealthy investors and renowned scientists are working very hard on trying to do just that. (Lemon, 2/6)

The Washington Post: Why Car Horns, Planes And Sirens Might Be Bad For Your Heart
The roar of a jet plane, the rumble of a big rig, that shrill scream from the siren of a speeding emergency vehicle: The common but loud noises that keep you awake at night and agitate you throughout the day may have a notable effect on your cardiovascular health, experts say. (Bever, 2/6)

Kansas City Star: New Drug From Missouri Company Addresses Waking Up To Pee
It’s become a running gag, along with aching joints and memory loss: One of the worst aspects of aging is having to get up in the middle of the night many times to pee. But for people who end up sleep-deprived, it’s no joke. Now a Missouri pharmaceutical company says it has a new medication that could help those who are 50 and older with the problem. (Marso, 2/6)

The New York Times: Acne Can Increase The Risk For Depression
People with acne are at substantially higher risk for depression in the first years after the condition appears, a new study reports. Researchers used a British database of 134,427 men and women with acne and 1,731,608 without and followed them for 15 years. Most were under 19 at the start of the study, though they ranged in age from 7 to 50. The study is in the British Journal of Dermatology. (Bakalar, 2/7)

Kaiser Health News: Listen: Why Don’t You Hear More About Sickle Cell Disease?
Jenny Gold, a Kaiser Health News senior correspondent, joined a panel of experts and patients to discuss sickle cell disease on “1A,” the national affairs radio show hosted by Joshua Johnson. The conversation on Feb. 5 tackled how discrimination may affect the level of attention sickle cell disease receives and why only two drugs exist to treat a problem that afflicts about 100,000 Americans. (2/7)

The Associated Press: Publix Reverses, Will Cover HIV Prevention Drug For Workers
The Southeast's largest supermarket chain announced Tuesday that it is changing its employee prescription plan to cover a drug that helps prevent HIV infections, remedying an omission that doctors and gay rights groups said was highly unusual. Publix announced its change in a Twitter reply to Florida state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando-area Democrat who had met with company officials Monday to discuss their refusal to cover Truvada for PrEP. The 6-year-old drug is more than 95 percent effective in preventing the contraction of human immunodeficiency virus, which can cause AIDS. It is usually prescribed to HIV-negative gay men and other people at higher risk of infection. (Spencer, 2/6)

The Associated Press: Justices Issue Legal Blows To 2 Ohio Abortion Clinics
A pair of abortion clinics claiming hardships related to Ohio's escalating restrictions on the procedure lost separate fights in the state's high court on Tuesday. The Ohio Supreme Court agreed with the state's decision to close the last abortion clinic in Toledo and end litigation initiated by a clinic in Cleveland challenging the constitutionality of abortion-related restrictions by the state. (2/6)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Lawmakers Lose Cheap Health Insurance But Avoid Large Increases
Iowa lawmakers’ cheap insurance premiums are gone, but most have avoided full-scale increases that would have cost them up to $184 more each month, a Des Moines Register review shows. The lawmakers escaped the steeper premium increases because the state is offering fewer health plan options to state employees. The state health plans were narrowed after lawmakers last year limited the powers of union employees to negotiate, including on issues involving their health care. (Clayworth, 2/6)

The Washington Post: Flu Kills Child In Maryland, Health Officials Say
The flu has killed a child in Maryland for the first time this season, health officials said Tuesday. In a news release, the Maryland Department of Health confirmed the first influenza-related pediatric death of the 2017-2018 season. Flu-related deaths must be reported to the department, the release said. The death comes during a particularly challenging flu season nationwide, with the disease causing the deaths of dozens of children. (Moyer, 2/6)

Sacramento Bee: More Than 40 Flu Absences Hit Sacramento Elementary School, Causing Closure
St. Mary School in East Sacramento closed Tuesday after 40 kids came into the office with fever or other flu symptoms, according to Diocese of Sacramento officials. Monday, 11 faculty and staff members were also absent because they weren’t feeling well, said Kevin Eckery, spokesman for the Diocese of Sacramento. (Sullivan, 2/6)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Wife Of N.H. Education Commissioner Urges Lawmakers To Kill Bill Banning Gay Conversion Therapy
The wife of state Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut is urging lawmakers to oppose a bill that would ban gay conversion therapy for minors. On Monday Kathy Edelblut sent an email to all state reps urging them to oppose the ban on gay conversion therapy. (Moon, 2/6)

Denver Post: At A Southeast Colorado Nursing Home, Federal Investigators Found Troubling Instances Of Violence — By The Residents 
At a nursing home in the southeast Colorado town of Rocky Ford, residents grabbed, kicked, bit and punched at staff members, who suffered cuts and bruises, according to a newly released federal investigation. As a result, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration this week issued a citation and slapped the nursing home, Pioneer Health Care Center, with a more than $9,000 fine for violating safety standards by failing to protect its workers better. (Ingold, 2/6)

The Associated Press: $500K Will Help Mental Health Agency Fund Telemedicine
New York state is getting a $500,000 federal grant to fund telemedicine projects. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand say the money granted to the state Office of Mental Health will help buy video conference equipment, tablets, and software. The two Democrats said the equipment will be used by clinics, schools, doctors' offices, nursing homes, and prison facilities to provide and expand mental health care. (2/7)

The Associated Press: House Panel Rejects Suicide Prevention Resolution
A resolution urging Virginia schools to increase their suicide prevention efforts has failed as Republicans on a House Rules subcommittee defeated the proposal in a 3-4 vote.HJ 138, introduced by Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, would have asked all school boards to offer every employee resources or training on how to identify students at risk of committing suicide. Roem told the subcommittee she had two reasons for making the resolution a request instead of a requirement. “One, we don’t have to (have) concern for it being an unfunded mandate” - a state-imposed cost that Republicans frequently oppose on principle. (Barbieri, 2/6)

The Associated Press: Maryland Could Bar Kids’ Tackle Football On Public Fields
A bill proposed to the Maryland General Assembly would bar children from participating in tackle football and other contact sports on publicly funded fields until high school. Sen. William C. Smith Jr., D-Montgomery County, who filed the bill, tells the Baltimore Sun it’s not meant to undermine football. He says it’s meant to show the state doesn’t want to enable an activity that’s developmentally detrimental. (2/7)

Boston Globe: Ipswich Police Join Jail Diversion Program
Ipswich police will partner with five other North Shore departments to share a clinician who will respond to mental health and substance abuse calls, officials said Tuesday. The position is funded by a $90,000 grant awarded to the Beverly Police Department by the state Department of Public Health, Ipswich police said in a press release. (Sennott, 2/7)

The Baltimore Sun: Sheppard Pratt To Reopen Residential Treatment Facility For Adolescents 
Sheppard Pratt Health System plans to expand services to more young people by acquiring the beds from Good Shepherd, a Baltimore County residential treatment facility for adolescents that was shuttered last year after two state agencies stopped sending children there, officials said Tuesday. Services will be moved from Good Shepherd’s Halethorpe location to new space in Baltimore County that has not yet been identified, according to Sheppard Pratt, the state’s largest private provider of behavioral health services, which has a memorandum of understanding with the Sisters of Good Shepherd to purchase their 115 beds. (Cohn, 2/6)

Miami Herald: Florida Health Department Closes Miami Daycare Meningitis Case
For more than a month, the Florida Department of Health says it has been unable to obtain confirmation from Belize on the cause of death for a 2-year-old boy who attended a Miami daycare center, where one other child died of meningitis in December. Mara Gambineri, a spokeswoman for the health department, said the agency closed the investigation into the YWCA Carol Glassman Donaldson Childcare Center on Jan. 31. (Chang, 2/6)

Kaiser Health News: Nurse Calls Cops After New Mom Seeks Help For Depression. Right Call?
Four months after having her second baby, Jessica Porten started feeling really irritable. Little things would annoy her, like her glider chair.“It had started to squeak,” she said. “And so when I’m sitting there rocking the baby and it’s squeaking, I would just get so angry at that stupid chair. ”She read online that this could be a symptom of postpartum depression — a condition that affects up to 1 in 7 women during or after pregnancy, according to the American Psychological Association. In California, where Porten lives, those rates are even higher, spurring state lawmakers to introduce a package of bills to improve mental health screening and treatment for new moms. (Dembosky, 2/7)

Texas Tribune: Abbott Announces Sweeping Plan To Combat Sexual Misconduct, Human Trafficking
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday announced a sweeping proposal aimed at better protecting people from human trafficking as well as tackling sexual misconduct allegations at the Texas Capitol and throughout state government. Abbott's "Preventing Crime, Protecting Texans, Punishing Criminals" plan includes allocating $22 million to the Department of Public Safety for the creation of regional squads to investigate human trafficking cases and for training local law enforcement. (Greene, 2/6)

Bloomberg: Secret Discounts Kept Soaring Drug Bills Down, Says Middleman
Middlemen that negotiate drug discounts are under fire from drugmakers who say that secret rebates aren’t always shared with patients. But Express Scripts Holding Co., one of the biggest pharmacy-benefits managers, says the drug-price deals it cuts behind closed doors are saving consumers a lot of money. In a new report, the company said U.S. drug costs for its employer, union and other commercial plans rose just 1.5 percent last year, on a per-person basis, the smallest increase in the more than two decades the company has been measuring it. Costs declined for nearly half of its commercial clients, when rebates are included. (Langreth, 2/6)

CNBC: Group Will Make High Drug Prices Issue In 2018 Elections
A group launched Thursday plans to make rising drug prices an issue in the 2018 midterm elections. The group, Patients for Affordable Drugs NOW, will back federal and state candidates who support legislative efforts to reduce high prescription medication costs, and target candidates who don't share those goals. (Mangan, 2/1)

The Hill: Poll: Majority Of Voters Say Lowering Drug Prices Should Be Priority For Congress 
More than 80 percent of voters think lowering drug prices should be a priority for Congress, according to a new poll released Monday. The poll, completed by GS Strategy Group, shows 85.5 percent of registered voters surveyed think lowering the cost of prescription drugs should be a "top priority" or an "important priority" for Congress. (Hellmann, 2/5)

Stat: Amazon's Health Move Has These Pharma, Health Care Companies Spooked
Amazon is not a health care company. It does not treat patients, sell insurance, or make prescription drugs. And although it has revolutionized modern commerce, it has not discovered a cure for cancer. And yet, when the company announced a partnership with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway to fix health care for employees last Tuesday, a $3.5 trillion industry began to tremble. Leading health stocks nosedived, losing $69 billion in value before the ink was dry on a 400-word press release that provided no detail on what Amazon will do in health care, or how it will do it. (Ross, 2/5)

The Hill: Coalition Of 44 Groups Calls For Passage Of Drug Pricing Bill
A coalition of 44 groups is calling on Congress to pass a measure aimed at fighting high drug prices that has gained support from across the political spectrum. The letter is signed by groups that are often directly opposed to each other, such as the conservative group FreedomWorks and the liberal group Families USA. The bill, called the CREATES Act, has bipartisan cosponsors and is designed to increase competition and bring prices down by preventing branded drug companies from using delay tactics to prevent generic competitors from getting onto the market. (Sullivan, 2/6)

CNBC: Pharma's Latest Defense: Drugs Lower Health-Care Costs
When the topic of drug prices comes up, as it so often does in this post-Martin Shkreli world, pharma is always prepared with a rebuttal. First, it was that drugs account for only 10 (or more recently, closer to 15) percent of overall health-care spending. Then, that it's the middlemen, like pharmacy benefit managers, who drive up drug prices. Now, the pharmaceutical industry's counter to criticisms of its prices: that use of medicines lowers other health-care spending. (Tirrell, 2/1)

Stat: Should Pharma Be Allowed To Give Insurers Data Before Drug Approvals?
Yet another legislative effort is underway to allow drug makers to provide health plans with key data about their medicines before regulatory approval. Specifically, a House subcommittee recently endorsed the notion, which would grant the pharmaceutical industry a long-standing wish, but has consumer advocates on edge. Here’s why: Drug makers have regularly argued they should be permitted to provide scientific and economic information to health plan committees that decide which medicines to cover. By conveying such data, health plans can get a jump on making budget decisions that can take weeks or months. And the sooner a drug is covered by insurance, the sooner a drug maker can ring the proverbial register. (Silverman, 2/2)

Stat: CMS Could Have Saved Billions If Generic Substitution Was Really Pursued
If Medicare pursued the same strategy that pharmacy benefit managers use to weed out certain medicines and offer alternatives for private health plans, the federal government could have saved nearly $3 billion from 2012 and 2015, according to a recent analysis. How so? Well, pharmacy benefit managers purportedly try to limit costs for private health plans by excluding certain medicines from their formularies, or lists of drugs for which reimbursement is available. But as the authors of the JAMA Internal Medicine research letter note, the extent to which such maneuvers are used by all Medicare Part D plan administrators is unknown. (Silverman, 2/1)

Stat: Biotech's Biggest Unicorn Is Now Worth $7.5 Billion
Moderna Therapeutics, a multibillion-dollar biotech startup, is raising $500 million in a round that values the company at $7.5 billion, according to the data provider Pitchbook. The financing, first reported by Bloomberg, comes as Moderna burns through about $450 million a year in an effort to craft medicines that can transform the body’s cells into drug factories. The company has raised more than $1.5 billion since its inception in 2010, repeatedly putting off a public offering as it worked through setbacks that delayed its most ambitious science. (Garde, 2/1)

CNBC: Express Scripts Plans See Lower Gains In Prescription Drug Spending
Prescription drug prices may still be high, but Express Scripts says the commercial insurance plans it works with saw the lowest increase in drug spending last year, in nearly a quarter of a century. For private employer and individual health plans, total drug spending rose 1.5 percent last year, according to the latest Express Scripts annual Drug Trend report. That was the smallest increase since the pharmacy benefits firm first began tracking spending in 1993. (Coombs, 2/6)

Healthline: Quicker Generic Drug Approvals Should Mean Lower Drug Prices
A record number of generic drugs were approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year. If President Trump has his way, that trend will continue — or even accelerate — in the coming years. This increase in generics, which are usually cheaper and more widely used than their brand name counterparts, is a boon for consumers, experts say. But, the experts add, even more can be done to get generics on pharmacy shelves and keep drug prices coming down. (Berger, 2/5)

Reuters: AmerisourceBergen Sees $60 Million Hit From Troubled Memphis Plant
U.S. drug distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp (ABC.N) said it expected to take a $60 million hit to its core profit in 2018 due to suspension of operations at its facility that produces around half of the compounded drugs it supplies. Operations at the automated facility in Memphis, its largest, were suspended in December following an inspection by the U.S. drug regulator. (Mathias and Mitra, 2/6)

Denver Post: Some Hospitals Are Sick Of The Cost Of Prescription Drugs. So They’ve Decided To Form Their Own Pharma Company.
Tired of paying high prices for common drugs and still facing shortages, a group of hospitals across the country say they are teaming up to do the unprecedented: form their own pharmaceutical company. The effort has attracted the support of five different health systems, representing more than 450 hospitals nationwide. No Colorado hospitals have announced that they are joining the plan, though some say they are watching its development with interest. (Ingold, 2/5)

Stat: Pharma Struggles To Ward Off Yet Another Drug Take-Back Program
The pharmaceutical industry is playing an intensifying game of whack-a-mole as its latest battle over a so-called drug take-back program is being fought in Washington state, which could become the third state in the nation to force drug makers to finance collections of unused or unwanted medicines. The Washington bill, which was first introduced a year ago, is now gaining momentum in the state House of Representatives, where a vote may occur this week, according to legislators and lobbyists. And the lawmaker who sponsored the bill believes the state Senate will be amenable to the legislation, as well. (Silverman, 1/30)

Reuters: Sanofi's Return To Profit Growth This Year Slower Than Hoped
Sanofi expects to return to profit growth this year on the back of two recently announced acquisitions and a revamped drugs pipeline, after fourth-quarter earnings were dented by a charge related to its troubled dengue vaccine. France's largest drugmaker forecast on Wednesday earnings per share (EPS) would grow 2-5 percent at constant exchange rates this year, after a 0.4 percent drop in 2017. (Blamont, 2/7)

Reuters: Brazil's EMS And India's Torrent Pharma Vying For Sanofi's Generic Drugs-Sources
Brazilian drugs firm EMS and Indian rival Torrent Pharma have emerged as the only industry bidders for Sanofi's generic drugs unit, battling a series of buyout funds for an asset worth as much as $2.4 billion, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. (Barbaglia, Schuetze and Afanasieva, 2/5)

The Hill: Seniors — Not Middlemen — Deserve The Medicare Part D Discounts
For more than a decade, Medicare Part D has successfully provided nearly 42 million seniors affordable access to vital prescription medications. This program is often held up as a model of a successful public-private partnership, consistently arriving under budget while maintaining a high satisfaction rate among enrollees. Despite the program’s many successes, there are always ways to improve. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently took their first steps toward enacting new policies that could help seniors save more money at the pharmacy counter. In a recently proposed rule updating the Part D program, CMS included a Request for Information (RFI) on ways to ensure that manufacturer-negotiated discounts and rebates are reflected at the point-of-sale for patients. The core of this idea is simple: accountability and more savings for seniors at the pharmacy. (Thair Phillips, 2/6)

Forbes: With Proposed Plan D Rule, CMS Seeks To Share More Savings With Beneficiaries
As we approach the 2018 midterm elections, health care will surely be one of the most important, discussed issues during the campaign cycle. While leaders from both parties will debate the necessary reforms, both sides must agree that one program in particular that has exceeded expectations in delivering healthy outcomes and tremendous cost savings—Medicare Part D. (Doug Schoen, 2/2)

The Florida Times Union: Hospitals, Big Businesses Attack High Health Care Costs
The first is the announcement that about 300 hospitals are joining to deal with shortages and high prices of some drugs. Among those is the Ascension system, which includes Jacksonville’s St. Vincent’s hospitals. The Veterans Administration has expressed interest in joining, as well.“This is a shot across the bow of the bad guys,” said Marc Harrrison, chief executive of Intermountain Healthcare, a nonprofit in Salt Lake City as quoted in The New York Times. (2/6)

Forbes: Drug Companies Need To Do Their Jobs
President Trump emphasized during his State of the Union address his determination to fulfill a campaign promise to lower prescription drug prices.His administration already is making progress: Food and Drugs Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is leading his agency to dramatically accelerate approval of generic drugs.  Competition in generic drugs – which make up 87% of drug consumption in the U.S. – will lower costs and improve the supply line.  It also will keep bad actors like Martin Shkreli from finding and exploiting production gaps that allowed him to increase the price of an old but vital drug, Daraprim, 56-fold from $13.50 to $750 per pill until a competitor showed up. (Grace-Marie Turner, 2/5)

Bloomberg: Allergan Earnings: Road To Recovery Isn't Smooth
After a year of share-price misery, Allergan PLC finally got a boost on Tuesday. Better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and positive trial data for a migraine drug helped Allergan shares rise in early trading -- a genuine achievement in the current market environment. But generic competition looms for its second-best-selling product Restasis, which will hurt sales this year. Allergan still needs to prove it knows where the sales floor is and that it can rapidly return to growth. (Max Nisen, 2/6)

Bloomberg: Bristol-Myers Squibb Opdivo Combo Data: A Meager Victory
Victories come in multiple sizes. And Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s latest isn't quite an Eagles Super Bowl win.Alongside solid fourth-quarter earnings on Monday, the company said early trial data showed its immune-boosting cancer drug Opdivo, in combination with its older drug Yervoy, slowed lung cancer relative to traditional chemotherapy. While investors should be thrilled this trial so far isn't a flop like AstraZeneca PLC's similar effort, they ought to wait to pop champagne.  (Max Nisen, 2/5)

USA Today: Amazon Health Care Experiment Shows Why We Need Medicare For All
Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase announced last week that they would be forming a new company aimed at reducing employee health care costs.. ...In announcing the new partnership, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett called the costs of healthcare “a hungry tapeworm on the American economy.” He’s right. But, combined, these three companies employ about 1.1 million people. Even accounting for dependents, this new company will, at best, serve 1% of the population. I’m looking for a solution that would help the other 99%: Medicare for All. (Richard Master, 2/7)

USA Today: Fix Broken Health Care Politics With Fresh Bipartisan Thinking
I traveled across the country last year to listen to Americans discuss their concerns  about health care and the politics in Washington, and I became struck by how much we all have in common. Whether they are Democrats, Republicans, independents or none of the above, no Americans want to live in fear that a job change, a prior illness, the cost of their medication, the generosity of their insurance company or who wins next election will determine whether they have their access to affordable health care. (Andy Slavitt, 2/6)

Axios: How Amazon & Co. Can Revolutionize The Health Care System
Out of the gate, the new health care venture from Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase seems to be headed in the right direction — using new technology to provide their employees better value and health outcomes. That’s where things will start, but this could be a laboratory for a more sweeping transformation. The big picture: To bring lower costs and better care to their employees and others, these companies will need to do more than deploy a modern technology overlay. They will have to better align payments and outcomes in health care across the board. If they accelerate this process, we will all benefit. (Dan Mendelson, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: Can New Bipartisan Group Break Through Divisions And Build Reform Consensus?
American health policy is stuck in a deep political rut. Now a bipartisan group of prominent healthcare, political and not-for-profit leaders have come together to try to build a public consensus for how to reform the system. (Harris Meyer, 2/6)

San Jose Mercury News: Single-Payer Best Cure For California Health Care
Only 39 percent of Americans can cover a $1,000 unexpected medical bill without incurring significant debt. Medical costs were the largest single contributor to increasing the number of people falling into poverty. With the Trump administration’s and Congress’ assaults on the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid, it’s about to get worse. (Malinda Markowitz, 2/6)

The Washington Post: These Skeptics Are Using Science To Fight A Wave Of Bad Nutrition Advice On The Internet
Finding health information online is easy. Cutting through the clutter and getting facts is very difficult. There’s a cacophony of voices, each saying something different. The confusion worsens when charlatans provide false hope and bad advice. But there is a glimmer of hope. Scientists and researchers are working to debunk the most egregious health myths and educate Americans with evidence-based, factual information. Let’s call them skeptics, myth-busters or debunkers. In any case, this group is collectively using science to fight back against the pseudoscience (like fad diets and quack cancer cures). What advice do they offer so we find better information online? I spoke to four myth-busters to find out. (Cara Rosenbloom, 2/6)

Time: Global Gag Rule: Impact Of Donald Trump Abortion Funding Ban
It has now been a little more than a year since President Donald Trump, on his first full day in office, reinstated the Mexico City Policy, also known as the “Global Gag Rule,” and a picture of its impact is beginning to emerge. The law prohibits allocation of U.S. funding to foreign non-governmental organizations that offer abortion services or information about the procedure. While the measure has been on and off the books for decades, typically enacted by Republican administrations and repealed by Democrats, its scope has expanded under Trump, which healthcare workers say has had a big impact on communities and care providers around the world. In just one year, health care workers say the policy has had disastrous effect; as expected, clinics are shutting down, unsafe abortions are predicted to rise sharply and families are losing critical services across the globe. (Casey Quackenbush, 2/4)

The Baltimore Sun: Hogan's Right To Focus On Addiction In Prison, But He Can Do More
The centerpiece of Gov. Larry Hogan’s new plan to combat opioid addiction and Maryland’s epidemic of overdoses is a recognition that treatment for those who are incarcerated is one of the crucial missing links in the state’s efforts. ..But the specific step the administration is taking, commissioning a study of the feasibility of creating a new treatment facility on the site of the now shuttered Baltimore City Detention Center, is drawing some questions from treatment advocates. They ask whether the money to build a new facility could better be spent on programs to keep addicts out of jail in the first place, and whether the corrections system could take other, more immediate steps to provide treatment not just for those awaiting trial or serving short sentences in the city jail but throughout the prison system more broadly. (2/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: SB562 Puts Newly Expanded Health Care In California At Risk
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, California has cut its uninsured rate by more than half. We have helped real patients receive quality, consistent health care and literally saved thousands of lives in the process. Lawmakers in California now have a tremendous responsibility before them: to figure out how to provide care for low-income people, and to keep medical care affordable for millions of middle-class families.The gains of the last several years are under attack, threatened by efforts in Washington, D.C., to repeal the Affordable Care Act and by those in Sacramento who are pushing SB562, a version of single-payer health care that is simply not practical and puts the health of millions of Californians at risk. (Theresa Ullrich, 2/5)

Lexington Herald Tribune: Aid Foster Children, Workers And Family Who Care For Them
The well-being of children in our state is of paramount importance to me. As I have said since my husband and I were first entrusted to serve the commonwealth, our hearts are with Kentucky families. That’s why I am so passionate about my initiatives to improve conditions for children in foster care and to make the adoption process easier and more affordable. (Glenna Bevin, 2/6)