The Wall Street Journal: UnitedHealth To Exit Key ACA Market
UnitedHealth Group Inc. told brokers that it has filed paperwork to offer plans in just six states’ health-law marketplaces next year, providing the most complete picture so far of its previously announced widespread withdrawal. The biggest U.S. health insurer said in April that it would pull out of all but a handful of the 34 states where it was selling the Affordable Care Act exchange plans, in the wake of mounting losses in that business. Since then, the insurer’s 2017 exchange decisions have been emerging piecemeal as various state regulators disclosed that UnitedHealth wouldn’t be in their exchanges next year. (Wilde Mathews, 5/31)

California Healthline/Kaiser Health News: UnitedHealth To Exit California’s Obamacare Market
Critics of the Affordable Care Act have seized on the company’s exit, state by state, as further evidence the health-law insurance exchanges aren’t sustainable financially and that premiums will rise even higher for consumers. The Obama administration has countered that the number of health plans offering exchange policies has increased since the 2014 launch, and that it expects the individual market will continue to stabilize as adjustments are made. (Terhune, 5/31)

Los Angeles Times: UnitedHealth To Stop Selling Obamacare Coverage In California
United’s move will have almost no effect on Covered California, as the insurer has only about 1,200 members this year, accounting for less than one tenth of 1% of the marketplace’s 1.4 million consumers. United’s current customers will continue to have coverage through the end of this year. But they will have to select new coverage for 2017 during the open enrollment period this fall. “We will learn in July whether any new plans will join Covered California or if any of our existing plans will expand their coverage areas, as they did in 2016,” said Covered California spokesman James Scullary. (Levey, 5/31)

The Star Tribune: UnitedHealthcare To Drop California's Exchange
Minnetonka-based United currently competes on exchanges in 34 states, but it announced in April that it would sell coverage next year in just a handful because of financial losses. UnitedHealthcare is the nation's largest health insurer, but the company was new to California's exchange in January. (Snowbeck, 5/31)

Chicago Tribune: UnitedHealthcare To Pull Out Of Illinois Insurance Exchange
UnitedHealthcare will stop offering Affordable Care Act plans in Illinois in 2017, the Tribune confirmed Tuesday. The departure of the insurance company will reduce the number of coverage options for consumers in 27 counties. (Sachdev, 5/31)

The Hill: GOP: Administration Ignoring ObamaCare Subpoenas
House Republicans say that the Obama administration is ignoring subpoenas for documents related to ObamaCare spending they call illegal. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tuesday calling on it to comply. (Sullivan, 5/31)

Morning Consult: Committee Leaders Push HHS To Respond To Subpoenas
The Basic Health Program is an option states can choose to launch aimed at helping low-income people who aren’t eligible for Medicaid afford health insurance. Congress has not appropriated funding for the program, although the Obama administration says the program is fully funded under the Affordable Care Act. The two say that HHS has produced one heavily-redacted document since the subpoena was issued. (McIntire, 5/31)

KQED: California Assembly OKs Asking Feds To Allow Undocumented Immigrants Access To Covered California
The California Assembly approved a bill on Tuesday that would permit undocumented immigrants access to Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace. ... Senate Bill 10 would direct California to ask the federal government for a waiver that would permit undocumented immigrants the option to buy insurance on Covered California — with their own money. It passed by a vote of 54-19. (Aliferis, 5/31)

The Sacramento Bee: California Nears Letting Undocumented Immigrants Buy Healthcare
Immigrants living in the country illegally would be allowed to buy health coverage on California’s insurance exchange under a bill that passed the state Assembly on Tuesday. (White, 5/31)

The Charlotte Observer: NC Health Insurers Propose ACA Rate Increases For 2017
As the Affordable Care Act lurches toward its fourth year in 2017, health insurers in North Carolina are proposing another round of big rate increases to pay for insuring people who for years couldn’t get health coverage. In filings made public Tuesday, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina said it wants to raise rates by an average of 18.8 percent, and Aetna is looking to increase premiums by 24.5 percent on average. (Murawski, 5/31)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Louisiana Begins Enrolling 375,000 People Into Medicaid
Department of Health and Hospitals will begin the massive task Wednesday (June 1) of enrolling 375,000 people into the state's expanded Medicaid program. The department's goal is to get Medicaid insurance cards into the hands of more than half of the people eligible for the program by July 1. (Litten, 5/31)

The Associated Press: Enrollment For Louisiana Medicaid Expansion Opens Wednesday
People interested in getting insurance coverage through Louisiana's new Medicaid expansion can begin signing up Wednesday. (Deslatte, 5/31)

New Orleans Advocate: Louisiana Approved For First-In-The-Nation Medicaid Enrollment Plan
Louisiana is the 31st state in the country to embrace Medicaid expansion, one of the key provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act, but it’s the first state to receive approval from the federal government to link enrollment and eligibility to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps. “Surprisingly, no other state has done this,” said Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Dr. Rebekah Gee. “We’re trying to be efficient in how we use state employees and state resources.” (Crisp, 5/31)

Morning Consult: HHS Aproves New Model For Louisiana Medicaid Expansion
Louisiana will be the first state to determine Medicaid eligibility using SNAP program information, using a process called a state plan amendment, HHS said Tuesday in a release announcing their approval. Tomorrow, the state will become the 31st state to begin enrolling people in a Medicaid expansion program. (McIntire, 5/31)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: John Bel Edwards To Visit New Orleans To Tout Medicaid Expansion
Gov. John Bel Edwards and Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Rebekah Gee will visit New Orleans on Wednesday (June 1) as part of an effort to promote the state's Medicaid expansion. The "Healthy Louisiana" tour, which draws its title from the renamed Bayou Health program, is aimed at getting information to people about what they need to do to sign up for Medicaid. (Litten, 5/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Nurses Seek Democratic Showdown
The 185,000-strong National Nurses United is the scrubs-wearing symbol of a split in the Democratic Party that threatens to inflict damage at the presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia. ... The nurses aren’t deterred by delegate math showing Mrs. Clinton with an all-but-insurmountable lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders. Nor are they much interested in smoothing over rifts. With at least 150 nurses set to attend the convention as pro-Sanders delegates, they will travel to Philadelphia for one last effort to land him the nomination. ... The nurses want the party to embrace a single-payer, government-run health plan that Mr. Sanders backs and Mrs. Clinton opposes. Nurses heading to the convention said they plan to join demonstrations there aimed at wringing a commitment from the party for such a sweeping overhaul. (Nicholas, 5/31)

The Washington Post: In Tough Reelection Fight, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman’s First TV Ads Focus On Efforts To Combat Heroin Epidemic
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), running for reelection in one of the most important contests in the battle for the Senate majority, is going up with his first TV ads of 2016, three commercials that seek to highlight his record fighting Ohio's severe prescription drug and heroin addiction problems. The commercials, shared with The Washington Post and slated to hit the airwaves Wednesday, are in line with a broader Senate Republican strategy to talk mostly about local issues this year, in order to create some distance from the top of the ticket. Senate GOP officials have instructed Republican senators to run as though they are running for sheriff. Many dodged and diverted when recently asked whether they would campaign with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. (Sullivan, 5/31)

The Hill: Portman Focuses On Heroin Fight In New Ads
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is pointing to his work fighting opioid addiction in new ads as he faces a tough reelection race this year. One ad focuses on Portman’s work on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which passed the Senate in March. (Sullivan, 5/31)

Morning Consult: Portman Is No Newcomer To Battling Drug Abuse
For two and a half weeks in February, Sen. Rob Portman worried that his opioid bill, the product of two decades of work fighting drug abuse, was going to become a political football in the Senate. He was determined to keep that from happening. ... Portman bristles at any suggestion that his work on CARA has anything to do with his campaign. He has been pushing the bill for three years along with his partner in the effort, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). He has been heavily invested in tackling drug addiction for the past 22 years. He has chosen to do so through what he calls “demand-side” policies, which focus on prevention and education rather than the war on drugs themselves. (Owens, 5/31)

In other news from the 2016 Senate campaigns —

Morning Consult: Outside Groups Target Wisconsin As Johnson Holds VA Hearing
A conservative group is doubling down, accusing Wisconsin Democratic Senate candidate Russ Feingold of ignoring problems at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Tomah, Wisc., when he was in the Senate. And on Tuesday – as Republican Sen. Ron Johnson planned to hold a field hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in Tomah – Senate Democrats attempted to turn it against the vulnerable Republican. ... [Feingold] aired an ad of his own claiming, “On Tomah, it was Ron Johnson who failed.” (Yokley, 5/31)

The Associated Press: Poll: People Unsure About Ability To Pay For Long-Term Care
Demand for long-term care is expected to increase as the nation ages, but the majority of Americans 40 and older lack confidence in their ability to pay for it. The annual cost of long-term care expenses range from $17,680 for adult day care to more than $92,000 for a private room in a nursing home, according to Genworth Financial. Yet an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds that a third of Americans 40 and older have done no planning for their own-long term care needs, such as setting aside money to pay for a home aide or to help with daily activities or a room in a nursing home. (Cancino, 6/1)

Baltimore Sun: Conspiracy Theories Muddy Zika Public Health Message
The Zika virus is not being spread by genetically engineered mosquitoes, nor is it transmitted through vaccines. It also is not part of a plan by pharmaceutical companies to boost sales of a future vaccine. The rumors, conspiracy theories and myths about the virus being shared on social media and by word of mouth are seemingly as contagious as the disease. (Cohn, 5/31)

Stat: First Baby With Zika-Linked Microcephaly Born In Continental US
A baby has been born in New Jersey with birth defects believed to be caused by the Zika virus, news outlets in the state reported Tuesday. If confirmed, it would be the first such case in the continental United States. (Branswell, 5/31)

ABC News: Baby Born With Microcephaly In US To Woman Who Contracted Zika Elsewhere
The 31-year-old woman is from Honduras, according to a source briefed on the case. The mother learned of the baby's diagnosis recently, while she was still pregnant, according to the source. (Julia Jacobo, 5/31)

CNN: Baby With Zika-Related Microcephaly Born At New Jersey Hospital
Doctors believe she was infected during the second trimester of her pregnancy. She experienced a fever and rash, both symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease, which is known to cause the devastating birth defect microcephaly and other neurological disorders. (Goldschmidt, 6/1)

And in other news about the virus —

Bloomberg: Only A Dozen Inspectors Stand Between Zika And Miami
Mosquito season starts in earnest this week in the 2,000 square miles of Florida’s Miami-Dade County, which has had the most Zika cases in the U.S. To stop the insects and the epidemic they threaten, Chalmers Vasquez has just 12 full-time inspectors. Five months ago, President Barack Obama asked Congress to allocate $1.9 billion to fight the virus, but lawmakers haven’t acted. (Newkirk, 6/1)

The Associated Press: UN: Sex Transmission Of Zika More Common Than First Thought
The U.N. health agency says sexual transmission of Zika is more common than first thought. It is updating its advice to women who have been in areas hit by the virus, telling them to wait even longer to conceive. The World Health Organization said Tuesday that couples or women planning pregnancy who live in or are returning from Zika-hit areas “are strongly recommended to wait at least eight weeks before trying to conceive” to ensure the virus has cleared their bodies. Previously, WHO recommended a four-week minimum period before trying to conceive in such circumstances. (5/31)

Meanwhile, there are no signs that Republicans lawmakers want to repay the money that was taken from Ebola crisis to use to fight Zika —

Stat: Millions In Ebola Funding, A Casualty Of Zika Virus, May Not Be Replenished
Lawmakers are getting closer to steering additional money toward the effort to cope with the Zika virus. What they do not appear ready to do is plug a gaping hole in funding for what was until recently another global health crisis, Ebola. (Scott, 6/1)

The New York Times: American Death Rate Rises For First Time In A Decade
The death rate in the United States rose last year for the first time in a decade, preliminary federal data show, a rare increase that was driven in part by more people dying from drug overdoses, suicide and Alzheimer’s disease. The death rate from heart disease, long in decline, edged up slightly. Death rates — measured as the number of deaths per 100,000 people — have been declining for years, an effect of improvements in health, disease management and medical technology. (Tavernise, 6/1)

The Washington Post: Reversing Long-Term Trend, Death Rate For Americans Ticks Upward
The long decline in Americans' death rates has reversed course, according to preliminary 2015 numbers for all causes of mortality as compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many factors are implicated in the turnaround, including a rise in deaths from firearms, drug overdoses, accidental injuries, suicides, Alzheimer's disease, hypertension and stroke. In a report released Wednesday, the CDC looked at changes in death rates per 100,000 people between 2014 and 2015, adjusting the findings to reflect an aging population as the baby boomers head into their retirement years. (Achenbach, 6/1)

NJ.com: N.J. Owes $37M To Counties For Medicaid Overpayments, U.S. Says
New Jersey owes its counties $37 million because they paid too much in Medicaid expenses as the nation recovered from the Great Recession, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. said Tuesday. President Barack Obama's stimulus package, which the Congressional Budget Office said created or saved millions of jobs, provided extra federal funding for Medicaid as the economic downturn forced more Americans into the health care program. For New Jersey, that meant an additional $2.7 billion. The counties' contributions to the state for Medicaid, however, were too high under the stimulus law. (Salant, 5/31)

Fiscal Times: Medicaid Spending Could Soar After New Ruling On Hepatitis Drugs
In a ruling with potentially huge adverse financial implications for state Medicaid programs across the country, a federal judge in Seattle held late last week that Washington state’s Medicaid system must end a year-old policy allowing only patients with the most severe cases of hepatitis C infections access to new but very expensive treatments. As many as three fifths of state Medicaid programs in the past year have imposed tough restrictions on millions of low-income patients and veterans seeking reimbursement for treatment of the often-deadly disease. (Pianin, 5/31)

Winston-Salem Journal: State Set To Submit Medicaid Waiver
State health officials begin today the boldest legislative attempt at Medicaid reform with their submission of a waiver request with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The submission commences what could be a three- to five-year process that would place Medicaid oversight in the hands of three statewide managed care organizations, likely pre-paid health plans from insurers, and up to 12 provider-led entities, likely to involve not-for-profit health care systems. (Craver, 5/31)

The Columbus Dispatch: Two Companies Owe State $1.5 Million In Medicaid Money For Using Unqualified Employees, Report Finds
All nine ambulance drivers in a random check of a Columbus medical transportation company were not qualified for the job, including five who didn't even have driver's licenses, a state audit shows. At another company, 22 of the 32 personal-care aides tested lacked even basic First Aid certification. Those factors and others led state Auditor Dave Yost to seek more than $1.5 million from the two companies, mostly for putting unqualified employees in health-care positions. (Rowland, 5/31)

The Arizona Republic: Arizona Public-Health Officials Expect Measles Outbreak To Grow
Arizona public-health officials expect the number of confirmed measles cases linked to an Eloy immigration-detention facility to continue to grow as laboratories complete tests on possible cases and track down potential exposures at more than a dozen public places in Pinal and Maricopa counties. (Alltucker and Gonzalez, 5/31)

The Huffington Post: A Measles Outbreak Is Growing In Arizona
An outbreak of measles in Arizona may continue to spread, health officials warn. The infectious virus was first detected at a federal detention center for immigrants in Eloy, Arizona when a detainee with measles was brought in, Joe Pyritz, Pinal County public information officer told HuffPost. The virus soon spread to a detention center staffer, Pyritz said, even though the staffer had previously been vaccinated against measles. (Almendrala, 5/31)

The Arizona Republic: 11 Measles Cases Confirmed: What You Need To Know About The Outbreak
Arizona health officials Monday announced another case of measles — bringing the total to 11 cases — and warned of more than one dozen places in Pinal and Maricopa counties where the public may have been exposed to the disease. (Gomez, 5/31)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: St. Louis To Begin Prescription Drug Monitoring Program
Mayor Francis Slay signed a bill on Tuesday that would allow authorities to track the distribution of prescription drugs. The bill, spearheaded by Alderman Lyda Krewson, is tied to a similar program now in force in St. Louis County. (Pistor, 5/31)

The Associated Press: Feds: Woman Repeatedly Dislocated Shoulder To Get Pain Pills
A woman accused of purposely and repeatedly dislocated her shoulder so she could get painkillers pleaded guilty Tuesday to fraud charges. Kari Richards, of Latrobe, pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh to health care fraud and obtaining controlled substances by fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 7 following completion of a presentencing report. Federal prosecutors alleged last June that Richards defrauded Highmark Inc.'s Community Blue health insurance plan by traveling to more than 100 hospitals in 11 states to obtain prescriptions for shoulder dislocations she was causing herself. Authorities said that during a 16-month period, Richards sought treatment at hospitals more than 300 times. (5/31)

Kaiser Health News: How And Where To Dump Your Leftover Drugs — Responsibly
Opioids like Vicodin and Percocet are commonly prescribed to dull pain after medical procedures and to treat chronic pain. They also commonly languish in medicine cabinets, sometimes for years, making easy pickings for someone with an addiction. The consequences can be deadly: More than 165,000 people died in the U.S. from overdoses related to prescription opioids between 1999 and 2014, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ... What are consumers to do the rest of the year if they want a safe alternative to flushing unwanted drugs down the toilet or tossing them into the garbage? Drugs that are flushed can taint our rivers, lakes and water supplies. Drugs in the trash also may harm the environment, and can be found by children, pets — and even adults looking for a high. (Bazar, 6/1)

The Star Tribune: Allina, Nurses Deadlocked In Contract Talks
Allina Health has told the union representing 4,800 nurses at its Twin Cities hospitals that they need to abandon their costly union-backed health plans, leaving nurses with an impending vote on whether to sacrifice a treasured benefit or go on strike. Negotiations concluded early Tuesday — the final day before the current three-year contract expires — as the Twin Cities' largest health system presented the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) a final offer that would move the nurses to the plans its other employees receive. (Olson, 5/31)

Minnesota Public Radio: Allina Health's Nurses Contract To Expire At Midnight
Nurses at Allina Health's Twin Cities facilities are in their final day of scheduled contract talks with the health system. Their contract expires at midnight Tuesday. (Zdechlik, 5/31)

The Associated Press: Already Hurting For Doctors, Louisiana Could Lose Even More
Bahnsen Miller understands the challenges — and the damages — of Louisiana's budget woes firsthand. You can't ignore them if you've been in one of the state's doctor training programs, constantly at risk of calamity. The 31-year-old internal medicine doctor ran into questions about financial stability and watched Louisiana lose top talent to its neighbors as he recruited people to train at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in the state's capital. The general surgery program lost applicants who went out of state because of the uncertainty, he said. (Deslatte, 5/31)

Kansas Health Institute: Analysis: Hawkins Quietly Spearheaded Major Health Legislation
Kansas lawmakers will reconvene Wednesday at the Statehouse to officially end the 2016 session with the traditional “sine die” ceremony. Since the dust settled on the frantic few days of the veto session in early May, it’s easier to appreciate the job done by Rep. Dan Hawkins, the Wichita Republican who serves as chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee. (Marso, 5/31)

Denver Post: Poll: Most Colorado Voters Not Aware Of Health Insurance Mergers
Nearly eight in 10 Coloradans were unaware of moves by major national health insurers to merge, according to a poll done by a group that contends the mergers would harm health care statewide. The state Division of Insurance, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, must review the transactions for anti-trust violations. Colorado regulators approved a $37 billion move by Aetna to buy out Humana without a public hearing, which it has said was not required because of limited overlap in their business. (5/31)

Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Health Care Task Force Finalizing Work
After holding six meetings throughout the state that have focused on creating a pilot program that would provide increased access to health care coverage to uninsured Tennesseans, a House task force is hoping to zero in on its plan, which has yet to be formulated, in advance of a meeting with federal authorities before the end of June. (Ebert, 5/31)

Miami Herald: Inspection Finds Failures At Hialeah Cosmetic Surgery Clinic
The Hialeah clinic where a 29-year-old West Virginia woman suffered fatal complications from a fat transfer procedure failed to properly monitor patients under general anesthesia and in some instances neglected to perform preoperative medical screenings in violation of state safety standards, according to Florida Department of Health records from an inspection conducted in January. State inspection records list numerous failures at Encore Plastic Surgery at 1738 W. 49th St. in Hialeah, including shoddy record keeping and substandard equipment, in the months prior to the death of Heather Meadows, a mother of two who traveled to South Florida from West Virginia for an undisclosed surgical procedure that led to her death on May 12. (Chang, 5/31)

The Hill: Bills To Eliminate 'Tampon Tax' Pass In Illinois, New York
Illinois state lawmakers Tuesday approved a bill that would exempt feminine hygiene products from the state's sales tax, the Associated Press reported. The measure now awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. A similar bill passed in New York last week. (Jagoda, 5/31)

The Dallas Morning News: HCA Agrees To Buy Forest Park Hospital In Dallas For $135 Million
The flagship Dallas hospital of bankrupt Forest Park Medical Center has been sold to HCA North Texas for $135 million. Irving-based HCA announced the purchase this morning of the high-profile 190,000-square-foot hospital with 84 beds from FPMC Realty Partners III and BT Forest Park Realty Partners. (Ellen Meyers, 5/31)

Health News Florida: Meet The 11 Health Care Startups Incubating In Medical City
Lake Nona Medical City’s first class of health care tech startups is underway. The Health Box Studio program will help grow 11 companies through the end of June, when they will make a pitch for investor money. Products range from software to artificial intelligence to a smart pill box. (Aboraya, 5/31)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Water Contamination In N.H. Addressing PFOA
With new guidance from EPA on how much of the chemical is too much, and a lawsuit against the plastics plant that is its source, many Granite Staters are glad to see more action around the contamination. But others are still worried: both that the damage is already done, and that there's not enough assurance that it won't happen again. (5/31)

Houston Chronicle: Gunman Appeared In Midst Of A 'Mental Health Crisis'
His father told KPRC that [Dionisio] Garza III may have suffered from PTSD. A 2008 study by the RAND Corporation, a national think tank with headquarters in California, found that nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of PTSD or major depression. Only slightly more than half sought treatment. (Kriel and Axford, 5/31)

The New York Times: Valeant’s Former C.E.O. To Receive $9 Million Severance
J. Michael Pearson, the former chief executive of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International who departed in early May during a series of investigations into the company’s business practices, will receive a $9 million severance payment and continue working as a consultant through 2017, Valeant said Tuesday. The company, as well as a major investor, William A. Ackman, have taken steps to distance themselves from Mr. Pearson and signal that the company was making a fresh start. But under the agreement, Mr. Pearson will also receive more than $83,000 a month through the end of this year and $15,000 monthly in 2017, plus expenses and health insurance benefits, to help the company make the transition to a new chief executive and handle the host of legal investigations. (Thomas, 5/31)

Stat: Valeant To Pay Former CEO Pearson $83,000 A Month For Consulting
How much is one month’s worth of advice from Michael Pearson’s worth? Valeant Pharmaceuticals is willing to pay more $83,000. Valeant stock may have tanked and its growth strategy imploded during his final months running the beleaguered drug maker, but Pearson was just awarded a consulting contract that will pay him more than $583,000 through the end of this year and as much as $180,000 next year, or $15,000 a month, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The fees will be pro-rated for partial months. (Silverman, 5/31)

Stat: Pharma’s Reputation Improved Slightly, But Still Has A Ways To Go
Despite blistering criticism over its pricing, the pharmaceutical industry managed to improve its reputation last year, albeit very slightly, according to a new survey released this week. Using a formula that relies on ranking several different attributes, the industry received a passing grade of 67.6, a modest two-point improvement. “These results show that the industry is not perceived as badly as many industry insiders think,” said Kasper Ulf Nielsen, an executive partner of The Reputation Institute, a consulting firm that conducted the ranking, in a statement. But he also noted perceptions are “very polarized,” since one-third of those asked said drug makers have an excellent reputation, but another third view their reputation as weak or poor. (Silverman, 5/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Cancer Drugs: A Long Road To Blockbuster Sales
Novel cancer treatments are the next big hope for the drug sector. But investors shouldn’t forget that reward goes hand in hand with risk. While enthusiasm for the sector has cooled from the euphoria of the past few years, potential treatments such as immunotherapy, which tries to leverage the body’s immune system to fight disease, remain a bright spot. Clinical data from such experimental therapies will be on display when the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting begins this week. (Grant, 5/30)

USA Today: Report: Federally Funded Institute Avoids Comparing Drugs, Other Treatments
An institute that pays researchers to compare medical treatments has spent only half of its more than $1.4 billion in available federal money on what is called comparative effectiveness research and has largely ignored prescription drugs, despite their role in driving up health care costs, according to a study released Tuesday by a Washington-based policy group. The research into the comparative effectiveness of treatments and pharmaceuticals is meant to determine if lower-cost options provide the same benefit as more expensive procedures and drugs. (O'Donnell, 5/31)

Bloomberg: Pfizer And Merck Join $500 Million California Ballot Stampede
As California voters prepare to consider the most ballot measures in almost two decades, companies such as Merck & Co. Inc. and Pfizer Inc. and other interests have already plowed $160 million to sway the outcomes, a sum that could more than triple before the Nov. 8 election. Proposals to cap prescription-drug costs, raise cigarette taxes, limit gun ammunition sales, legalize recreational marijuana and overturn a ban on plastic bags are among those likely to draw big-money donations. (Vekshin, 5/31)

Daily Beast: Heroin Overdose Antidote Now Costs Double
Over 28,600 people died due to opioid overdoses nationwide in 2014, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data that was released this month. That’s quadruple the number of opioid deaths from the year 2000. There is an antidote. It’s called Narcan, a drug that blocks the effects of drugs like heroin immediately after an overdose. It’s saved countless lives in states like New Hampshire, where opioid overdoses are up 73.5 percent year over year, and 2,800 doses were administered in the state from January to August alone. The makers of the drug know this, and they are starting to make victims—and states—pay. (Collins, 5/31)

Stat: Paycheck Envy? Check Out How Much Pharma And Health Care CEOs Made Last Year
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who are the top-earning CEOs of them all? A new report from the Associated Press and the research firm Equilar has some answers, and once again, many of the highest earners among execs running large companies are pharma and health care CEOs. Consider Dr. Leonard S. Schleifer, the head of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, based in Tarrytown, N.Y. His total compensation in 2015? More than $47 million. If he were working at New York state’s minimum wage — $9 an hour — it would have taken him well over 5 million hours to earn that much. That’s about 600 years of work without stopping to eat or sleep. (Boodman, 5/26)

STAT: Hepatitis C Drugs Remain Unaffordable In Many Countries, Says WHO Study
In the latest effort to quantify the burden of expensive medicines, a new study found that the cost of two widely used hepatitis C treatments remains out of reach for people in many poor countries and poses a “financial and ethical dilemma” for payers and doctors. (Silverman, 5/31)

The New York Times: Drug Prices Too High? Sometimes, They’re Not Costly Enough
You hear a lot about high drug prices. You hear politicians calling for lower drug prices. But you may not be hearing about how low prices contribute to drug shortages. The drugs most prone to shortage are generic injectable ones, administered to patients in the hospital or a doctor’s office. They include anticancer agents, heart attack medications and anesthetics, many used in life-threatening, emergency situations. When such drugs are in short supply, they cause dangerous delays in care as hospitals seek alternatives. (Austin Frakt, 5/30)

The Washington Post: Want To Win $2 Billion? Create The Next Antibiotic.
The E. coli found infecting a Pennsylvania woman that is resistant to colistin — the antibiotic of last resort — signals that a superbug is inevitable. Circulating among the bacteria in humans are all the antibiotic-resistance genes necessary to create a superbug; they just need to come together in one bacterium. This nightmare scenario highlights two urgent needs: to slow the development of resistant bugs and to spur development of new antibiotics. Why are we confronting a superbug? The prices of antibiotics are too low. Low prices reduce the barrier to prescribing antibiotics, while high patient demand fosters overprescribing. (Ezekiel Emanuel, 5/30)

Los Angeles Times: Why Are Drug Prices Soaring? Policymakers Aren't Sure. It's Time They Find Out
The growth in U.S. healthcare spending has slowed considerably in recent years, with one notable exception: prescription drugs. The amount spent on prescriptions has climbed sharply over the last 2 ½ years, driven in part by consecutive years of double-digit price increases. It’s not just a handful of blockbuster drugs that are draining wallets; it’s higher costs for all categories of drugs .... Before policymakers decide what to do, they need more information about how much is actually being spent on prescription drugs and why costs are rising. State Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) has proposed a modest step in that direction; his bill (SB 1010) would require health insurers, which already have to reveal to state regulators detailed projections of hospital and physician costs, to include in those annual reports more information about what they’re spending on prescription drugs. (6/1)

Stat: Money-Back Guarantee: The New Trend In Drug And Device Marketing
Imagine buying a new car only to learn that it doesn’t work as advertised and there’s nothing you can do about it. That’s essentially what happens when you take a pricey medication or need an expensive medical device like a heart valve or new knee — there’s no guarantee it will work and you won’t get your money back if it doesn’t. In most realms of commerce, if a product fails to deliver what’s been promised, consumers are financially covered through refunds and warranties. This has never been the case with pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Increasingly, however, that’s going to change. (Rita E. Numerof, 5/31)

Stat: To Get Over Sticker Shock, New Payment Models Are Needed For Gene Therapies
The first gene therapies could hit the US market next year, but with their arrival comes a painstaking conundrum: how to pay for single-dose medicines that promise a quick cure, but have sky-high price tags. (Ed Silverman, 5/31)

The Washington Post: Congressional Republicans Are Playing Games With A Public-Health Emergency
When members of Congress visit their districts over the Memorial Day recess, we hope they keep in mind a warning from Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Zika virus, for which there is no effective vaccine or therapy, can infect a person in a flash, he said during a visit to The Post on Thursday. ... The Republican congressional leaders, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), have vowed to end gridlock on Capitol Hill. But in response to Zika, they have inexcusably dithered. (5/30)

Bloomberg: An Obvious Fix For Medicare Drug Spending
It's hard to say which is more crazy: Washington's failed system for keeping drug costs under control, or the resistance to a modest attempt to change it. The problem is obvious: In addition to paying doctors for treating Medicare patients, the federal government also pays them 6 percent of the cost of any drug administered in their office. The financial incentive for doctors is to prescribe the most expensive drugs available. (5/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Macra: The Quiet Health-Care Takeover
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, known simply as Macra, was enacted to replace the outdated and dysfunctional system for paying doctors under Medicare. The old system, based on the universally despised sustainable-growth rate formula, perennially threatened to impose unsustainable cuts in physicians’ fees. Macra passed Congress with bipartisan support and President Obama quickly signed it. Unfortunately, the law empowers the federal bureaucracy at the expense of the doctor-patient relationship, putting the quality of American health care at risk. (James C. Capretta and Lanhee J. Chen, 5/31)

The New York Times: Why It’s Not Time To Panic About Cellphones And Cancer
Recently, I lost a day at work when my Upshot colleague Austin Frakt emailed me first thing in the morning to tell me that headlines were appearing declaring that an “explosive new cellphone-cancer” study was making the rounds. As I have long been interested in this topic, I started to read the headlines and news. “Cellphone-Cancer Link Seen in Rat Study,” said Time. “Cellphone Radiation Linked to Cancer in Major Rat Study,” said IEEE Spectrum, a magazine for engineers. I was dismayed to say the least. “Game-changing,” as a quotation in a Mother Jones headline put it, seemed like a bit of an overreach. (Aaron E. Carroll, 5/31)

The Washington Post: Here’s How Lawmakers Want To Fix Our Kidney Shortage
A little-discussed medical crisis in the United States finally seems to be getting a lot of attention: our massive shortage of living organ donations. Lawmakers introduced legislation last week that may make it easier to reward people who donate their organs, which would hopefully help close the gap. As of January, more than 121,000 people were on waiting lists to have failing organs replaced, with about 100,000 of those in need of new kidneys. And the problem is getting worse: A surge in kidney failure created a situation in which people being added to wait lists outnumber those receiving transplants 2-to-1. (Robert Gebelhoff, 5/31)

Seattle Times: Innovation Is Needed In The Fight Against Rare Diseases
Lately, there has been a national uproar over the rising cost of medicine in the U.S. While this is an important public debate, it largely overlooks the critical importance of innovation, which is desperately needed for medical conditions that have no treatment. Welcome to the world of rare disease. There are 30 million Americans affected by 7,000 rare diseases, and, of those, only 5 percent have Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies. (Klane K. White and David Fajgenbaum, 5/31)

JAMA: Better Palliative Care For All
The recent announcement by Vice President Joseph Biden of a cancer cures “moonshot” has brought renewed attention to the goals of 21st-century cancer care. Not since the late President Nixon’s declaration of War on Cancer has so much focus been directed toward the experiences of the 1.66 million persons diagnosed with cancer annually in the United States. The framing of this initiative is focused on accelerating scientific progress against cancer as a disease, with little attention to equity or to the experience of those living with cancer and its consequences. As billions of dollars are invested in seeking the cure for cancer, attention to the quality of life of people living with cancer and the effect of cancer treatment are at least as important to address and far more achievable in the near term. (Arif H. Kamal, Thomas W. LeBlanc and Diane E. Meier, 5/31)

Forbes: Obamacare Gets Grade Of D+ From Blue Cross Blue Shield Of North Carolina CEO
In an interview with WRAL’s David Crabtree, BCBSNC CEO Brad Wilson conceded that he was a strict grader and that “on a good day” he might give the ACA a C+. He acknowledged that the health law had provided coverage to 500,000 previously uninsured North Carolinians (“a very good thing”), but also warned that after 2-1/2 years of operation, it was very clear that the financial underpinning of the Obamacare exchanges was not stable. (Chris Conover, 5/31)

Health Affairs: We’re Failing Adolescents And Families Coping With Behavioral Health Issues
During my twenty-five years as president and CEO of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF), I have learned how to help people navigate the health care system. But I have struck out miserably when it comes to helping people facing behavioral health issues. ... The consequences of not addressing the adolescent behavioral health crisis are severe and may span generations. Half of all mental illnesses begin by age fourteen, according to the World Health Organization. Yet, the average time between when teens presented behavioral health symptoms and when they received treatment was about a decade, according to research that was published in 2005 in the Archives of General Psychiatry and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. When left untreated or treated ineffectively, such problems can alter the course of a young person’s life. (Karen Wolk Feinstein, 5/31)

Morning Consult: The Importance Of Hearing Aid Coverage
Like vision and dental, hearing health care plays a vital role in one’s quality of life. If affordable hearing device expansion is the overall objective of opening up the regulatory framework, then the first step should be increasing coverage instead of deregulating cheaper, less reliable devices. (Cate McCanless, 6/1)

Stat: Money-Back Guarantee: The New Trend In Drug And Device Marketing
In most realms of commerce, if a product fails to deliver what’s been promised, consumers are financially covered through refunds and warranties. This has never been the case with pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Increasingly, however, that’s going to change. (Rita E. Numerof, 5/31)

The Boston Globe: Why Boston And Mass. Need More Walk-In Clinics
After nearly a decade of opposition, Boston may be on the verge of getting its first for-profit walk-in clinic. Although it’s not yet official, it appears the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals has approved an urgent-care center application in West Roxbury. Almost 3,000 “convenience” clinics in 41 states have served 10 million people. ... No community needs the clinics more than Boston. A recent survey of 15 metropolitan markets found that Boston patients experience the longest average wait to get a doctor’s appointment — 45.4 days. It took city residents an average of 66 days just to get an appointment with a family physician. Is it any wonder that they turn to emergency rooms for treatment? (Jim Stergios, 6/1)

Bloomberg: U.S. Food Safety
Every year, 1 in 6 Americans gets sick and 3,000 die from food they eat. To combat this, President Barack Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act in 2011, the most significant reform in more than 70 years. It’s taken a lawsuit and more than five years to finalize the rules, some of which will not be fully implemented until 2022. (5/31)

The Columbus Dispatch: Pediatric Research: Too Much Noise A Problem For Premature Babies
When I trained in pediatrics three decades ago, the neonatal intensive care unit was among the busiest areas in Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. ... Research in the intervening years has taught us that stress caused by bright lights, loud, continuous noise and painful stimuli such as blood tests hurts the fragile, still-developing brains of premature infants. Noise, especially, is a concern. (John Barnard, 5/29)