The New York Times: House Republicans Unveil Long-Awaited Replacement For Health Law
After six years of vague talk about a conservative alternative to the Affordable Care Act, House Republicans on Tuesday finally laid out the replacement for a repealed health law — a package of proposals that they said would slow the growth of health spending and relax federal rules for health insurance. Opponents began the “repeal and replace” mantra almost as soon as the Affordable Care Act was signed in 2010, and while they have voted dozens of times to repeal the health law, the replacement has been elusive. (Pear, 6/22)

The Associated Press: House Republicans Offering Proposals For Health Care Changes
The plan, revealed Wednesday, relies on individual tax credits to allow people to buy coverage from private insurers, and includes other largely familiar GOP ideas such as medical liability reform and expanding access to health savings accounts. It proposes putting $25 billion behind high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions and for others, and transforming the federal-state Medicaid program for the poor by turning it into state block grants or individual per-capita allotments to hold down spending. (Werner, 6/22)

Kaiser Health News: House Republicans Unveil Long-Awaited Plan To Replace Health Law
The 37-page white paper, called “A Better Way,” includes virtually every idea on health care proposed by Republicans going back at least two decades. It would bring back “high risk pools” for people with very high medical expenses, end open-ended funding for the Medicaid program and encourage small businesses to band together to get better bargaining power in “Association Health Plans.” What the plan does not include, however, is any idea of how much it would cost, or how it would be financed. (Rovner, 6/22)

The Wall Street Journal: House Republicans To Unveil Health-Insurance Proposal
The plan leaves myriad details to be filled in, which Republicans say would occur next year, when the party hopes to install presumed nominee Donald Trump in the White House. But by rolling out a broad plan now, they aim to give voters a chance to weigh an alternative health-care system—and give the party an agenda on which to run—before the November elections. “Our proposal is like a health-care ‘backpack’ that provides every American access to financial support for an insurance plan chosen by the individual and can be taken with them job-to-job, home to start a small business or raise a family, and even into retirement years,” the House GOP wrote in summarizing the thrust of the plan. (Hughes and Radnofsky, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: Still No Obamacare Alternative From House Republicans, Five Years On
Like many previous Republican healthcare proposals -- including those put forward by presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump -- Ryan’s latest blueprint is missing key details and legislative language that would allow independent analysts such as the Congressional Budget Office to assess its cost and impact. Rather than showcasing the party’s seriousness about policy, Ryan’s plan may reinforce widespread skepticism about the GOP’s interest in tackling complex healthcare policy. (Levey, 6/22)

Politico: GOP Framework For Obamacare Replacement Is Short On Details
Ryan has framed the new paper as a starting point — a broad outline that the committees with jurisdiction would have to hammer out next year, if there is a GOP president who would sign off on a congressional repeal of Obamacare. There is some overlap with the vague plan laid out by presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump on his campaign website. The 37-page plan pledges to reduce consumers’ average health care premiums by double digits and bend the health care cost curve. But it does not lay out detailed answers about what it means to people who get coverage now. (Haberkorn, 6/22)

Bloomberg: Ryan Seeks To End Obamacare While Keeping Its Most Popular Parts
Philosophically, the Republican health-care plan has more in common with Obamacare than many party members might admit. It implicitly acknowledges that sick people should be able to obtain health insurance and that most Americans need assistance paying insurance premiums, either from their employers or from the government. The plan rejects a return to the U.S. health-care system prior to the Affordable Care Act, in which insurers could refuse coverage or charge sick people prohibitively high premiums and there was no guarantee of financial aid. (Litvan, 6/22)

The Associated Press: Feds Will Use Tax Penalty Data To Find Uninsured Millennials
With time running out for the Obama administration to prove the success of the Affordable Care Act, officials are aggressively targeting a group that could help turn things around: young people. Federal health officials announced Tuesday they will comb tax records to find 18-34 year-olds who paid the penalty stipulated under President Barack Obama's health act for not buying health insurance and reach out to them directly with emails to urge them to avoid even higher penalties scheduled for this year. They also plan to heavily advertise the enrollment campaign, including a promotion with trendy ride-sharing service Lyft to offer discounted rides to enrollment events. (Kennedy, 6/21)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Teams Up With IRS To Enroll Young Invincibles
HHS is teaming up with the Internal Revenue Service to reach out to young adults during the next marketplace open enrollment period. The agencies will contact individuals who paid a penalty or claimed an exemption in 2015.In 2014, 7.9 million people paid the penalty for not having coverage, and about 45% of them were under the age of 35, compared to about 30% of all taxpayers in 2014. (Dickson, 6/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Administration To Target Young Adults For Health-Plan Enrollment
The efforts aim to get younger individuals enrolled in exchanges during the 2017 open enrollment period because this group is generally healthier, meaning they may help hold down premium rates by balancing out the greater medical spending of older enrollees. (Armour, 6/21)

Kaiser Health News: HHS Targets Young Adults In 2017 Obamacare Enrollment Plan
About 7.9 million Americans paid a penalty for lack of coverage in 2014. The Internal Revenue Service has not disclosed how many paid the fine for lacking coverage last year. (Galewitz, 6/21)

The Hill: Tax Officials To Help With ObamaCare Outreach
The planned mailings will lay out options for coverage and include details about how to qualify for federal subsidies. HHS will also again partner with the ride-hailing service Lyft, which will offer discounts to customers who attend open enrollment sessions. ... The Obama administration’s new outreach to young people is the latest step intended to ease mounting concerns among insurers seeing higher-than-expected medical costs. Many have also seen disappointing profit margins, including healthcare giants like UnitedHealth Group. (Ferris, 6/21)

USA Today: Feds Target Young Adults For Health Insurance Coverage Outreach
"We’re at a time when there’s rapid change that will lead to better health care for everyone," Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a call with reporters. Making that coverage more affordable — and attractive — to young adults, however, requires a few changes, Burwell acknowledged. (O'Donnell, 6/21)

Detroit Free Press: U-M Study: Number Of Uninsured Hospital Patients Drops
The Medicaid expansion in Michigan has resulted in a significant drop in the number of uninsured patients seeking treatment at hospitals, according to a study by University of Michigan researchers that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association today. The report shows that the number of uninsured hospital patients dropped from 26,259 in 2012 to 9,093 in 2014. Meanwhile, the number of hospitalized patients with Medicaid insurance rose from 104,079 in 2012 to 132,991 in 2014. More than 610,000 people signed up for the expanded Medicaid coverage that is primarily paid for through the federal government’s Affordable Care Act. (Gray, 6/21)

Reuters: Expanded Medicaid May Translate Into Fewer Unpaid Hospital Bills
"What we found is that the overwhelming majority of hospitals experienced a decrease in the proportion of uninsured patients and an increase in Medicaid covered patients," said lead author Dr. Matthew Davis, deputy director of Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor. (Seaman, 6/21)

The Hill: Democrats File Discharge Petition On Zika Funding Bill
Top House Democrats are trying to force a vote on a nearly $2 billion spending package to fight the Zika virus this week, signaling a dim outlook for bipartisan talks already underway. Democrats said Tuesday they have filed a discharge petition to bring up a Zika funding bill from the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, New York Rep. Nita Lowey. (Ferris, 6/21)

Morning Consult: Top Democrats Filing Discharge Petition For Full Zika Funding
Top Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee are introducing a discharge petition in an attempt to force a floor vote on President Obama’s $1.9 billion request for Zika funding, signaling lawmakers are still far from a deal to fund a federal response to the virus. “If Speaker Ryan and Leader McCarthy put it on the floor today, we believe it would pass with broad bipartisan support,” Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee told reporters Tuesday. ... A discharge petition would bring a bill to the floor without a committee report and would require 218 signatures from House members, meaning Democrats would need more than two dozen Republicans to join their cause. (McIntire, 6/21)

The New York Times: C.D.C. And States Ponder Plans To Keep Ahead Of Zika
Daniel Markowski, a bug scientist in a cowboy hat, has a phone that will not stop ringing. Now that summer has arrived, and with it the mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus, the services of the Arkansas-based mosquito control contractor he works for, Vector Disease Control International, are in great demand. ...“I’ve had people from literally all over the country calling,” he said. “‘What should we do?’” The federal government is trying to provide some answers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week released a 58-page blueprint for what to do if a homegrown case of Zika surfaces. (Tavernise, 6/21)

The Associated Press: NIH Launches Massive Study Of Pregnant Women In Zika-Hit Regions
Researchers are beginning a study of up to 10,000 pregnant women in Puerto Rico, Brazil and other Zika-hit parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, to better understand the virus’ threat. The U.S. National Institutes of Health announced the study Tuesday, saying researchers will enroll participants starting in the first trimester and compare the birth outcomes of those who become infected with Zika and those who don’t. (6/21)

CNN Money: Microsoft Is Testing A New Mosquito Trap To Fight Zika
On the Gulf Coast of Texas, a new player is working to fight mosquitoes carrying Zika and other diseases. It's not a usual suspect from the world of health care, but Microsoft, a company best known for computer software and video games. (McFarland, 6/21)

The Dallas Morning News: 10 Pregnant Women In Dallas County Tested Positive For Zika, Health Director Says
Ten pregnant women in Dallas County have tested positive for the Zika virus, the county’s health director said Tuesday. The women had all traveled to other countries and contracted the virus from mosquitoes abroad, Zachary Thompson told the Dallas County Commissioners Court. (Martin, 6/21)

The CT Mirror: Aetna-Humana, Anthem-Cigna Facing Different Merger Obstacles
Although they both plan to merge with another major insurer, Aetna's and Anthem's paths to completing their deals have diverged. So far, Aetna appears to be clearing the regulatory and antitrust hurdles it faces to merge with Humana more easily, while Anthem's proposed marriage to Cigna has faced more troubles. Neither has yet cleared the hurdle of antitrust approval from the U.S. Justice Department. (Radelat, 6/22)

Modern Healthcare: Health Systems With Insurance Operations Stumble In 2015
Not-for-profit integrated health systems—or those that combine hospitals, doctors and health insurance operations—continued to churn out surpluses in 2015, but the margins were a lot tighter than the year before, according to new bondholder filings and a review of the Modern Healthcare hospital financial database. (Herman, 6/21)

USA Today: Study: Americans Spend Billions On Non-Conventional Health Approaches
Americans spend $30.2 billion out-of-pocket on complementary health approaches annually, a substantial percentage of the $328.8 billion spent in total out-of-pocket health care expenditures, a new study says. The study, released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), used data collected by the 2012 National Health Interview Survey that were then weighted to produce estimates representative of the entire U.S. population. (Shedrofsky, 6/22)

The Tennessean: The Link Between Your Salary And Health Insurance
The majority of Americans have employer-based health coverage, but not everyone understands the link between salary and benefits. As health care costs continue to rise, an increasing percentage of compensation is in health insurance rather than wages. (Tolbert, 6/21)

The Associated Press: New For-Profit Medical Schools Springing Up Across US
For-profit medical schools are starting to pop up around the country, promising to create new family doctors for underserved rural regions. Rural states like Idaho need more general practitioners, with the baby boom generation aging and expanded insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act making health care more accessible. But critics of the new schools question whether companies can properly train the nation's next crop of doctors. (Boone, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Federal Panel Approves First Test Of CRISPR Editing In Humans
A National Institutes of Health advisory panel on Tuesday approved the first human use of the gene-editing technology CRISPR, for a study designed to target three types of cancer and funded by tech billionaire Sean Parker's new cancer institute. The experiment, proposed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, would use CRISPR-Cas9 technology to modify patients' own T cells to make them more effective in attacking melanoma, multiple myeloma and sarcoma. (McGinley, 6/21)

Stat: Federal Panel Approves First Use Of CRISPR In Humans
Members of the committee were almost unanimously enthusiastic about the proposal. Dr. Michael Atkins, an oncologist at Georgetown University School of Medicine, called it “a really exciting first-in-human” study, adding that “we’ll learn a lot” from work that could “hopefully form the basis of new [cancer] therapies.” Biochemist Paula Cannon of the University of Southern California called it “innovative,” and said the Penn scientists had adequately addressed the questions she had about the safety of the procedure, including how they would tell whether CRISPR accidentally cuts the wrong genes, a problem called off-target effects. (Begley, 6/21)

The Washington Post: Google Aims To Stop Terrifying You With Its Responses When You Search Medical Symptoms
Even if you're not a hypochondriac by nature, jumping on Google to do some research when you have a mysterious headache or cough has been enough to make you one. For years both patients and doctors have complained about how hard it is to distinguish between real advice and the random ramblings of a complete quack. Google has finally come up with a solution. On Monday, the company unveiled symptom search, a new feature that offers you legitimate information curated by Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic experts. This includes basic information about common health problems related to your symptoms and whether you can treat the issue at home by yourself or whether you should be calling for help. (Cha, 6/21)

The Denver Post: Denver Health Center Study Shows Gun Injuries May Be Getting More Deadly
New research shows people are less likely to survive a gunshot wound today than they were nearly 15 years ago, according to a study based on data from the Denver Health Medical Center. (Cleveland, 6/21)

The Conversation: Why Stress Is More Likely To Cause Depression In Men Than In Women
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more women are affected by depression than men. This pattern is seen in countries around the world, including the United States. Cross-national and cross-cultural studies have indicated that the prevalence of depression among women is higher at any given time than among men. (Assari, 6/22)

Wyoming Public Radio: Bright, Bluish-White LED Streetlamps Disrupt Sleep Cycles, AMA Says
Bright, energy-efficient LED streetlamps can be bad for our health, according to the American Medical Association. Specifically, high-intensity LEDs that release mostly blue light — as opposed to the "warmer-looking" light of older streetlamps — create glare and mess with sleep cycles, the organization says. At its annual meeting last week, the AMA officially urged communities to be careful, if they choose to install such lighting, to avoid the most intense lights and choose the least-blue option available. (Domonoske, 6/21)

The Boston Globe: How Your Breath Could Help Doctors Diagnose Illness
As modern medicine evolved, reliance on breath diminished, and today there are only a few diagnostic breath tests that have FDA approval for clinical practice. But scientists are beginning to revisit the ancient methods with new tools, resulting in a swath of breath-related research that spans the gamut from measuring “cell breath” in bodily fluids to using breath biomarkers to create personalized patient treatment programs. Researchers believe that breath-related tests could someday help diagnose certain forms of cancer. (Nanos, 6/21)

Los Angeles Times: Obama's Health Advisors Reject 'Right Of Conscience' Challenge To California's Required Abortion Coverage
The Obama administration on Tuesday rejected a “right of conscience” complaint from anti-abortion groups in California who objected to the state’s requirement that health insurance plans include coverage for elective abortions. The civil rights office at the Department of Health and Human Services said it had completed an investigation and dismissed several complaints after concluding California’s policy did not violate a decade-old rule adopted by Congress, known as the Weldon Amendment. (Savage, 6/21)

The Associated Press: Federal Agency Upholds California Abortion Coverage Mandate
In a letter announcing her findings, Jocelyn Samuels, head of the HHS Office for Civil Rights, said the state acted within its rights because the Weldon Amendment applied to insurance companies, not the employers that have a moral objection to abortion. "At the time (California) sent the letter, all of the insurers offered plans that covered abortion, demonstrating that they have no religious or moral objection to that procedure," Samuels wrote. (6/22)

Health News Florida: State Asks Judge To Let Abortion Law Take Effect
Attorney General Pam Bondi's office on Monday asked a federal judge to reject Planned Parenthood's attempt to block parts of a controversial new abortion law, saying the organization offers "nothing to establish that the challenged legislation would negatively affect women seeking abortions." (6/22)

The Washington Post: Trump Vows To Lift Ban On Politicking, Appoint Antiabortion Judges
Donald Trump won a standing ovation from hundreds of Christian conservatives who came to New York City on Tuesday with a somewhat skeptical but willing attitude toward a man who has divided their group with comments on women, immigrants and Islam. In his comments, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee said he would end the decades-old ban on tax-exempt groups’ — including churches — politicking, called religious liberty “the No. 1 question,” and promised to appoint antiabortion Supreme Court justices. (Boorstein and Zauzmer, 6/21)

In other news, political pressure in Texas is affecting doctors' training —

Kaiser Health News: Politics Makes Abortion Training In Texas Difficult
Houston Public Media's Carrie Feibel, in partnership with KHN and NPR, reports: Every year, more than 100 new obstetrician-gynecologists graduate from a Texas residency program and enter the medical workforce. Theoretically, all have had the opportunity during their four years of residency to learn about what's called "induced abortion" — named that to distinguish it from a miscarriage. But the closure of abortion clinics in Texas — more than 20 since 2013 — has made that training increasingly difficult. Texas has 18 residency programs in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, but only one allowed me to observe how abortion is taught. (Feibel, 6/22)

Kaiser Health News: Can Doctors Learn To Perform Abortions Without Doing One?
Abortion is one of the more common procedures performed in the U.S., more common even than appendectomy. But as clinics in Texas close, finding a place in the state where medical residents training to be OB-GYNs can learn to do abortions is getting harder. (Feibel, 6/22)

The Boston Globe: Baker, Health Chief Detail Plans For Opioid Fight
Facing a deadly surge of opioid deaths — about 1,500 last year — and thousands more overdoses, Governor Charlie Baker and the Legislature have expanded funding for treatment beds. They’ve mandated new verbal drug risk screenings for schoolchildren. And the policy makers have limited initial opioid prescriptions, in an effort to stanch the supply of the addictive drugs. But one year after his administration’s task force released 65 recommendations for addressing the crisis — and began implementing most of them — Baker and his health and human services secretary, Marylou Sudders, said long-term challenges remain. In a rare joint interview, they described the persistent difficulties of bringing about a cultural shift to further reduce the stigma of addiction. (Miller, 6/22)

St. Louis Public Radio: Bill Expanding Use Of Overdose-Fighting Drug Signed Into Law In Missouri
Gov. Jay Nixon has signed into law legislation to expand access to medication to combat some drug overdoses. Naloxone hydrochloride, also known by the brand name Narcan, has been approved by the FDA for use to block overdoses from opioids, which include heroin and prescription drugs, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. (Griffin, 6/21)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Charles County Doctor Admits Pain Pill Fraud
A St. Charles County doctor pleaded guilty to federal health care fraud charge Tuesday and admitted writing fraudulent prescriptions so that he could obtain pain pills. (Patrick, 6/21)

The Associated Press: Justice Department: Nevada Discriminates Against HIV Inmates
Nevada’s prisons are discriminating against inmates with HIV under illegal segregation policies that deny them access to work programs where other prisoners earn credits to reduce the length of their sentences, the U.S. Justice Department has concluded. Justice Department lawyers warned Nevada’s attorney general this week they may sue the state under the Americans with Disabilities Act if it doesn’t change the policies based largely on unfounded fears about the transmission of HIV. (Sonner, 6/21)

In other news, a judge orders a Texas prison to provide clean drinking water to its inmates —

Houston Chronicle: Federal Judge: State Must Provide Water Without Arsenic To Inmates
In a ruling highly critical of how Texas prisons treat inmates, a federal judge in Houston ordered a Navasota facility to find an immediate alternative to arsenic-laden drinking water that "violates contemporary standards of decency." (Banks, 6/21)

Kansas Health Institute: State Contractor Oversight Criticized In Wake Of Medicaid Mistake
News of a mistake that dropped several thousand Kansans from state Medicaid backlog reports has advocates and Democratic lawmakers questioning the state’s oversight of the contractor blamed for the error. Susan Mosier, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, sent a letter to federal officials June 10 to let them know that the reports they had been receiving since February — which showed the state’s backlog of Medicaid applications steadily declining — were inaccurate. (Marso, 6/21)

The Columbus Dispatch: Kasich Signs Orders To Aid Low-Income Families, Speed Up Addiction Counseling
Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order today to fund after-school enrichment programs for poor children, help moms with low birth-weight babies, boost former prisoners, and provide winter coats for kids. Kasich also issued another executive order expanding access to addiction treatment by including licensed independent chemical dependency counselors in Medicaid coverage. (Johnson, 6/21)

Politico Pro: Kentucky Medicaid Changes Could Have Widespread Effects
Kentucky’s plan to change its Medicaid program may affect the Obamacare expansion population as well as traditional enrollees in Medicaid managed care and CHIP, a top health adviser to Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has suggested. Mark Birdwhistell discussed the state’s pending Medicaid waiver at a closed-door meeting of the Health Care Policy Council of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce on Monday, according to two sources who described his remarks as a pitch for why the waiver is needed. (Pradhan, 6/21)

California Healthline: Medi-Cal To Spend Nearly $1 Billion On Hepatitis C Drugs Next Year
High prices for new hepatitis C drugs have forced California health officials to budget nearly $1 billion next year in additional payments for managed care plans to treat Medi-Cal patients infected with the disease. The health insurance industry calls the arrangement a “patch on the problem” of unsustainable drug pricing. (Bartolone, 6/21)

Health News Florida: Hospitals, AHCA Battle Over Care For Undocumented Immigrants
In what was dubbed an "inevitable sequel" in a long-running legal battle, a state appeals court Tuesday heard arguments in a dispute about Medicaid payments to hospitals that provide emergency care to undocumented immigrants. (6/21)

The Associated Press: 5 Indicted In $38 Million New York Health Care Fraud Scheme
Five people have been indicted in a $38 million health care fraud and money laundering scheme in New York City. An indictment filed Monday in Brooklyn charges the defendants of bilking Medicare and Medicaid by referring customers to medical clinics and taking illegal kickbacks in return. The alleged scheme had been operating in Brooklyn for nearly a decade. (6/21)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Man Sentenced For Filing Fraudulent Medicaid Claims
A Baltimore man was sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to one count of felony Medicaid fraud, the Maryland attorney general's office announced Tuesday. (Cohn, 6/21)

Minnesota Public Radio: Amid Strike, Nurses Union Asks Attorney General To Scrutinize Allina's Finances
Allina Health and union leaders for some 4,800 striking nurses are trading increasingly pointed barbs as the strike continues. The union said it figures Allina will spend some $25 million on replacements for striking nurses. Union attorney Mathew Keller questioned whether it's reasonable for Allina to spend that much money on a strike when it's demanding much smaller savings on union health benefits. (Moylan, 6/21)

The Dallas Morning News: Report: Texas Among Worst In Country For High Numbers Of Teen Moms, Uninsured Kids
Texas has some of the highest rates of uninsured kids and teen births in the country despite progress in recent years, according to a report released Tuesday. (Martin, 6/21)

Kansas Health Institute: Committee Seeks Broader View Of Behavioral Health Efforts
Funding limitations and a sometimes-narrow focus have kept Kansas mental health, substance abuse and suicide prevention groups from fully coordinating their efforts, according to a program director with the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. (Hart, 6/21)

Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming Department Of Health Cuts Will Impact Programs And Cost Private Sector Jobs
Due to declining revenues the Wyoming Department of Health has been told to cut $90 million from its budget, that’s a nine percent reduction, the largest cut faced by any state agency. It will impact the two year budget that begins July first. Director Tom Forslund said the loss of state funds also means the Department will lose an additional $43 million in federal matching money. (Beck, 6/21)

The Dallas Morning News: Texas Health Resources Buys Corinth Hospital, Plans $13 Million Makeover
Texas Health Resources is buying a 62,500-square-foot hospital in Corinth with plans to spend more than $13 million to convert it to a behavioral healthcare facility. (Baker, 6/21)

North Carolina Health News: Ending Solitary For Juveniles, Prison Commissioner Cites Use Of Evidence-Based Alternatives
Juveniles under the age of 18 who are incarcerated in North Carolina prisons will no longer be subjected to solitary confinement starting this fall, prison commissioner David Guice announced last week. (Hoban, 6/21)

The Baltimore Sun: Two Telehealth Projects Gain Funding Under Pilot To Show The Technology'S Value
Two private medical practices with offices around Maryland will receive grants from the Maryland Health Care Commission totaling more than $115,000 to demonstrate the value of telehealth technology. (Cohn, 6/22)

The Dallas Morning News: Harris County Man Loses Leg To Flesh-Eating Bacteria After Visiting Galveston Beach, Family Says
A Harris County man is battling a flesh-eating bacteria after visiting a Galveston beach, his family says. The bacteria prompted doctors to amputate 50-year-old Brian Parrott’s right leg, KHOU-TV reports. (Farmer, 6/21)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Ex-Richmond Blood-Testing Firm Settles $59M Suit Brought By Cigna
A settlement between former Richmond-based Health Diagnostic Laboratory and Connecticut-based insurance giant Cigna has put a $59 million lawsuit to rest. ... Cigna filed its lawsuit against HDL in October 2014. In its suit, the insurer alleged that in responding to insurance claims that HDL filed with Cigna, the insurer overpaid HDL. In May of the following year, HDL filed a counterclaim alleging that Cigna withheld reimbursement claims from HDL. (Demeria, 6/21)

California Healthline: Boeing Contracts Directly With California Health System For Employee Benefits
In another sign of growing frustration with rising health costs, aerospace giant Boeing Co. has agreed to contract directly for employee benefits with a major health system in Southern California, bypassing the conventional insurance model. The move, announced Tuesday, marks the expansion of Boeing’s direct-contracting approach, which it has already implemented in recent years in Seattle, St. Louis and Charleston, S.C. (Terhune, 6/21)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Nursing A New Generation Of Health Workers: A Union Program Provides A Pipeline
Last year, HHS's Office of Minority Health launched its National Workforce Diversity Pipeline Program in hopes of attracting more young people like [Amir] Showell, who is African American, into health and health-related tech professions. Of the 14 grants handed out, one, for $474,500, came to Philadelphia, to the District 1199C Training and Upgrading Fund and its partnership with Roxborough High (Von Bergen, 6/22)

California Health Report: Rising Rate Of STD Infection In California Troubles Public Health Officials
The rates of the most common sexually transmitted diseases – chlamydia and gonorrhea – have risen over the last five years in California, particularly among men and in the case of gonorrhea, and even in counties that have made a concerted effort to reduce the number of infections. (Stolz, 6/21)

KQED: San Francisco Voters Will Decide On Soda Tax In November
It was a circuitous route, but a ballot measure was submitted to the San Francisco Department of Elections Tuesday afternoon, and voters in November will decide whether to levy a penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The soda tax was supposed to be placed on the ballot last month, following a signature gathering campaign. Proponents were thrilled that they had collected twice the number of signatures needed. Just one problem: they turned those signatures in a day late. (Aliferis, 6/21)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Can Ohio Attorneys Use Medical Marijuana? Supreme Court Panel Will Weigh In
Ohio's new medical marijuana law prohibits disciplining professionals for working with marijuana businesses or patients, but it's not clear whether that applies to attorneys. Only the Ohio Supreme Court can discipline licensed attorneys. Lawyers have submitted at least two requests for formal opinions on the matter to the Ohio Supreme Court's Board of Professional Conduct. (Borchardt, 6/21)

St. Louis Public Radio: Life After A Stroke: Fontbonne Program Helps Patients With Speech Therapy
[John] Rush, of Manchester, is one of seven people who have experienced a stroke and are participating in a six-week long “Aphasia Boot Camp” at Fontbonne University in St. Louis. The group meets four times a week for one hour, and then breaks into individual therapy sessions with graduate students. (Bouscaren, 6/21)

Chicago Tribune: Misericordia Opens Home To Care For Elderly With Disabilities
At Quinlan Terrace, while some activities are similar to those offered at other senior facilities — playing bingo, flipping through scrapbooks and doing memory exercises — staff members keep in mind nuances that are especially important for people with disabilities. (Healy, 6/22)

FiercePharma: Pharmacists Join Physicians' Rallying Cry For A Ban On Pharma's DTC Advertising
The anti-DTC advertising train is getting crowded. This week a national pharmacist group, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, joined the physicians of the American Medical Association in a call to ban DTC ads. ASHP had been provisionally tolerant of DTC ads--that is, it was unopposed as long as the advertising met certain prerequisites. It had to be educational, using easy to understand language for benefits and risks; include directions for adverse event reporting; and promote safety and allow informed decisions. (Snyder Bulik, 6/20)

Stat: More Health Plans Want To Pay For Drugs Based On Patient Outcomes
As angst mounts over prescription drug costs, a survey finds that most health plans would like to pay for many of the highest-priced medicines based on patient outcomes. The findings suggest that insurers hope to get tougher with drug makers as prescription medicines, by some estimates, account for more than one-fifth of overall health care costs. In these arrangements, a health plan may get an extra discount from a drug maker if a medicine does not help patients as much as expected, or a drug maker may get a credit toward a rebate provided to a health plan. The survey, released last week, found interest was particularly strong for hepatitis C and oncology drugs, although plans have started to use these arrangements for other types of drugs, as well. (Silverman, 6/21)

FiercePharma: Most U.S. Payers Are Eyeing Outcomes-Based Drug Pricing: Report
Pharma may have pulled off only a few outcomes-based pricing deals with payers, but companies are likely to add more to that list soon--many more, if payers have their way. A majority of health plans want to ink outcomes-based contracts with biopharma drugmakers, particularly in the hepatitis C and oncology arena, according to a new report from Avalere. Other therapeutic areas are also up for grabs, though, with multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis among the areas payers would most like to target. Even drugs for widespread chronic conditions--such as cardiovascular meds--are also on payers’ radar. (Staton, 6/20)

Stat: Supreme Court Asks Obama Administration For Views On Biosimilar Rules
In a move with implications for health care expenses, the US Supreme Court has asked the Obama administration for its views on a heated dispute over a rule that will determine when lower-cost biosimilar medicines can be launched. At issue is the ability of brand-name drug makers to delay the introduction of biosimilars, which are highly identical versions of expensive biologics. And the court wants the US solicitor general to help determine whether it should hear about a contentious battle between two big drug makers — Amgen and Sandoz — that might settle the matter. (Silverman, 6/21)

Bloomberg: Lilly’s Older Drugs Face More Price Pressure Than Newer Ones
Eli Lilly & Co.’s older drugs are more prone to price pressure than its newest ones, a company executive said Friday on a call with investors. Drugmakers face raised scrutiny from patients, health insurers and politicians over the high cost of prescription medicine. Yet Indianapolis-based Lilly’s comments make clear that its customers are willing to pay up for the most innovative treatments even as the industry faces pushback on price increases on older therapies. (Hopkins, 6/17)

FiercePharma: PBM Hardball, Specialty Med Slowdown To Curb 2017 Healthcare Spending Jump
Blockbuster drug launches have strained health systems budgets in recent years by driving sizable spending hikes. But that trend may be nearing a lull. Specialty drugs are “loosening their grip” on health spending growth, a new PwC report says. Issued Tuesday, the report predicts steady healthcare spending expansion in 2017 at 6.5%, the same figure as 2016, and a number that PBM negotiations are helping to moderate, the analysts said. PwC's Health Research Institute suspects that political pricing pressure and their clients’ needs for narrow formularies will drive PBMs to negotiate even more, offsetting areas anticipated to drive growth such as greater access to behavioral health. (Sagonowsky, 6/21)

U.S. News & World Report: 8 Ways To Get Help Paying (Or Cutting) Medical Bills And Drug Costs
Medical costs are rising across the U.S., and patients are left paying a bigger percentage of the bill. Most Americans, whether their health insurance is provided through an employer, the Affordable Care Act exchange or the open market, are paying a higher share of their medical care costs than ever before through increased copays and deductibles. Pharmaceutical costs are rising drastically as well, as consumer are paying a greater share of those costs and some insurers are providing no coverage for high-priced drugs. (Mears, 6/16)

Marketplace: Pharma: An Industry Shaped By Shareholder Value
There’s a new way of doing business for much of Big Pharma. Instead of relying on their own expensive laboratories, they also buy drugs or their makers and focus on getting treatments through the Food and Drug Administration and onto your TV screens. Then, raise prices every year. Move overseas for tax advantages. And reward shareholders by buying back billions' worth of shares. It wasn’t always like that. (Bobkoff, 6/15)

New York Post: Pricey Meds Are Jeopardizing Americans’ Retirement Plans
Nearly one-third of Americans were hit with price hikes for medications in the past year – and the pricey pills are jeopardizing retirement plans, family life, and overall health, according to a new report. People hit with price increases are more likely to tighten their budget by not taking their prescribed dosage, not bothering to fill their prescriptions, or not seeing a doctor at all, according to Consumer Reports. (Musumeci, 6/21)

FiercePharma: Pharma Rep Pay Scrapes The Bottom Of The Medical Sales Barrel
Pharma reps, we have some good news and some bad news. The good: Starting salaries in your field are among the top 10 for entry-level jobs this year. The not so good: Once again, your pay ranks lowest among U.S. medical sales folks. According to an annual report from MedReps, pharma sales reps did have a higher base pay than some in the business--at almost $91,000, on average--but adding bonuses brought totals to a tad more than $122,000. And that’s lower than the rest of the pack. (Staton, 6/20)

Los Angeles Times: A New Way To Cut Drug Prices? Make Big Pharma Show What It Spends To Bring Drugs To Market
At least 10 states are pondering a radical approach to putting a leash on soaring drug prices: force drug companies to explain how they arrived at the price of their costliest new drugs. The approach is radical not in the sense that it’s a new idea, but in the sense that it hasn’t been tried before. The idea is that the prices of some blockbuster new drugs—and some hard-to-get old drugs—are opaque. The only source for the cost of research and development or acquisition in the drug business is Big Pharma itself. The industry is anything but a reliable source, as we’ve reported before. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/20)

Sacramento Bee: Let’s Shed Some Light On The High Price Of Drugs
Total spending on prescription drugs in the United States rose more than 12 percent in 2015, to nearly $425 billion. Even with rebates and price breaks, the average patient share of a prescription filled through commercial insurance has risen more than 25 percent since 2010, to $44 per prescription last year, according to the research arm of the health care data provider IMS Health. In the public sector, the wake-up call came last year, after a breakthrough drug for hepatitis C was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (6/20)

Los Angeles Times: Cutting Through The Drug Manufacturers' Smokescreen On SB 1010
When the pharmaceutical industry feels threatened by lawmakers or regulators, it often plays what I call the “Miracle Cure card.” Here’s how that works. The industry trots out one or more gravely ill people whose lives have been prolonged or even saved by a drug the industry spent an enormous amount of money developing. Then it warns that the pipeline of such miraculous drugs will shut down if the industry is forced to do what lawmakers (or regulators) are proposing. Take this example from a recent op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News about a bill (SB 1010) aimed at prescription drug prices: “If government bureaucrats proceed with such shortsighted measures, severely-ill patients like Corey Wood will never reach the finish line in their battle against cancer and other deadly conditions.” (Jon Healey, 6/20)

Forbes: A Market-Based Proposal For Controlling Drug Prices
High prescription drug prices have become a big political issue. But what are politicians actually going to do about them? Sure, Congress is great at publicly shaming Martin Shkreli or former Valeant chief executive Mike Pearson for price gouging. But most solutions to slowing increases in drug prices are politically and practically difficult. Giving Medicare the ability to negotiate prices would mean tampering with one of America’s favorite laws, and would inevitably force the government to dictate what medicines seniors take. Outright laws against big price increases? Good luck with a free-market, GOP Congress. ObamaCare tried to institute systems to compare the effectiveness of different medicines. They’ve been ineffective. (Matthew Herper, 6/20)

Albuquerque Journal: Bring Medicare Drug Costs Down To Reasonable Levels
Many Americans are experiencing a new pain at the pharmacy cash register due to skyrocketing medication costs. For many seniors and others on fixed incomes, that financial pain level is 11 on a scale of 1 to 10. Spending for Medicare’s outpatient prescription program grew by nearly 60 percent from 2007 through 2014, from $46 billion to $73 billion, according to the nonpartisan Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC. The increase has prompted the commission to recommend major changes that may protect seniors from extremely high costs, though some may have to pay more. (6/20)

Bloomberg: Better Mental Health Care Is Worth The Expense
When more than half of people who need mental health care can’t or don’t get it -- as is true in the U.S. -- other problems arise. For sufferers, these include physical illness, lost earnings, substance abuse and suicide. For society, there is greater crime and homelessness. (6/21)

USA Today: Our GOP Plan To Replace Obamacare
Decisions about our health care — what type of insurance to have, which doctor to see or what kind of medicine to take — are some of the most personal choices we make throughout our lives. The way I answered those questions when I graduated from college is not necessarily the way I answer them as a husband and father today, nor is that the way I will answer them in the future. As we grow older, our situations and our needs change. We switch jobs, we have kids, we move across state lines and, at some point if we are lucky, we retire. (Kevin Brady, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: Obamacare Update: Still Succeeding, Repeal Fading
The graphic above embodies the latest good-news story connected with the Affordable Care Act. It shows how projections of U.S. healthcare spending growth have come sharply down since Obamacare’s enactment in 2010. The latest projections are $2.6 trillion lower than the original post-ACA baseline forecast through 2020 — a reduction in projected spending of almost 13%. This is known as “bending the cost curve”: Americans will be spending more in 2020 than they are now, but the rate of increase looks to be significantly slower than anyone expected. In raw numbers, the new expectation is that 2020 spending will come to about $4 trillion, compared to the $4.6 trillion projected at the time of the act’s enactment. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/21)

Bloomberg: Obamacare Premiums Are Going Up. Again. Now What?
If you haven’t been following the Obamacare news recently -- and given how much else has been going on, there’s a good chance you haven’t -- then you may have missed the news that insurers' rate-increase requests for 2017 are quite large. A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation says the cost of the “benchmark” plan (the second-lowest-cost silver plan in a market, which is the price used to calculate subsidies) will go up 10 percent this year, double the rate at which prices increased last year. The lowest-cost silver plans are also seeing substantial hikes. This matters because these are the most frequently purchased plans. (Megan McArdle, 6/21)

Fortune: Here's Why You'll Likely Pay More For Your Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
Health care costs are expected to grow 6.5% through next year. While costs have finally reached a point of equilibrium after years of double-digit growth, they are still expanding far faster than overall inflation, leaving employers and insurers trying to figure out how to stomach the new increases. The answer may not please many consumers. (Laura Lorenzetti, 6/21)

Miami Herald: Congress, Stop Dithering And Fund Zika Fight
Back in February, when President Obama first asked Congress for $1.8 billion to fight the Zika virus, the country was still in the grip of winter, with spring one month away. Now, here we are in the first week of summer . . . and Congress is still refusing to come up with funds to fight this increasingly harmful menace. Lawmakers in Washington appear to be in no hurry to help, but here at Ground Zero, Zika looms as a very real threat to the health and welfare of our residents, and the need for help is urgent. (6/21)

Stat: How Can Hospitals Improve Patient Satisfaction? By Engaging Their Employees
During a hospital stay, you need comfort, support, compassion, and kindness. No matter how skilled the clinical care you receive or how successful the treatments, if these human elements are missing, you’re likely to give the hospital low marks. A 2013 study done at two large Baltimore hospitals showed that the average time a doctor spends with each of his or her patients in the hospital is only eight minutes. (Jim Hemmer, 6/21)

Bloomberg: Maybe Pharmaceutical Reps Actually Aren't Bribing Doctors
Is your doctor willing to sell you out for the price of a sandwich? That’s the implication a lot of people seem to have taken from a new study published by JAMA Internal Medicine. It looked at the prescribing behavior of physicians for whom pharmaceutical reps bought meals, and found that those who got even a meal worth less than $20 -- think Olive Garden or Potbelly, not Le Bernardin -- were significantly more likely to prescribe brand-name medications that had a cheaper alternative. (Megan McArdle, 6/21)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: The Irrefutable Logic Behind Medicaid Expansion Sinks In
Sure, out of sheer cussedness at this point, the state still refuses to accept billions of dollars in federal health-care assistance readily available through Obamacare. Even as other Republican-led states find a means to accept the assistance, Georgia has not, and the impact has been substantial. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Georgia has the second-highest rate of uninsured in the country, at 18 percent of the nonelderly population. (Jay Bookman, 6/21)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: It Killed Prince. Don't Let Fentanyl Get A Foothold Here
America’s opioid-addiction epidemic could be entering a new and catastrophically dangerous phase. The opioids circulating widely today — drugs like Oxy Contin and hydrocodone — pale in comparison to the dangers posed by another drug spreading in street markets: fentanyl. (6/21)

Stat: Hospital’s New Opioid Policy Addresses Gap Highlighted By Ex-Addict’s Harrowing Odyssey
Addiction is a chronic, treatable disease, like diabetes and high blood pressure. Unlike most other chronic diseases, though, addiction comes with the burden of stigma. This stigma presents enormous problems. (Sarah E. Wakeman and Eric M. Weil, 6/21)

San Jose Mercury News: Surprise Medical Bills Need To Stop
California should join New York and Florida in shielding patients from surprise out-of-network medical bills experienced by more than 20 percent of patients who have ER visits, surgeries or hospitalizations. The practice can cost patients thousands of dollars and has sent some into bankruptcy. If you've experienced the shock, you'll agree this has to stop. Out-of-network bills occur when hospitals or treating physicians use medical professionals not in the patient's network for special services, sometimes without patients' knowledge. (6/21)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Is New Centene Headquarters Worth $147 Million In Taxpayer Money?
The irony is that all of Centene’s money already comes from taxpayers. It manages health care programs, most of them Medicaid programs, some of them created by the Affordable Care Act. It scrutinizes health care spending and figures out ways to save states money. (6/21)