Los Angeles Times: Amid Slower Growth, California's Obamacare Exchange Cuts Proposed Spending
After using most of $1 billion in federal start-up money, California's Obamacare exchange is preparing to go on a diet. That financial reality is reflected in Covered California's proposed budget, to be released Wednesday, as well as a reduced forecast calling for 2016 enrollment of fewer than 1.5 million people. (Terhune, 5/13)

The CT Mirror: Access Health CT Sees Fiscal Stability While Other Exchanges Struggle
Though the state’s health exchange soon will consider boosting insurance assessments, Access Health CT officials said Tuesday Connecticut’s program is on sound financial footing — unlike many other state exchanges. The finance subcommittee of Access Health’s Board of Directors unanimously recommended that the full board consider two options to increase modestly its assessments on all individual and small-group insurance plans sold in the state. (Phaneuf and Levin Becker, 5/12)

The Des Moines Register: Wellmark Spurns Obamacare Exchange, But Two Competitors Don't
Moderate-income Iowans who want to use Affordable Care Act subsidies to purchase health insurance still won't be able to choose policies from Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield next year. But they should be offered policies from at least two competitors. UnitedHealthcare, the nation's largest health-insurer, confirmed Monday evening that it plans to start selling policies to Iowans this fall on the online public marketplace, known as HealthCare.gov. Coventry Health Care, which this year is most Iowans' sole choice on the system, said it will continue marketing plans on the public marketplace. The online system, also known as an exchange, is the only place where Americans can buy policies that qualify for the Obamacare subsidies. (Leys, 5/11)

And appellate judges appeared skeptical to another challenge to the health law -

Politico: Latest ACA Challenge Gets Skeptical Review
Federal appellate court justices on Tuesday appeared skeptical about a challenge to an Obama administration regulatory fix that allowed some people to keep their health insurance plans following public uproar over the wave of cancellations nearly two years ago. The case, heard before a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, partly focuses on a rule allowing health plans not meeting Affordable Care Act requirements to temporarily be renewed beyond 2013. The administration’s policy, crafted amid negative press attention and a faltering enrollment website in fall 2013, let state regulators decide whether to allow these plans to continue. (Mershon, 5/12)

The Associated Press: Gov. Scott Back In DC Seeking Support In Health Care Fight
Just days after flying to Washington in hopes of convincing the Obama administration to extend federal hospital funds, Gov. Rick Scott was back in the nation's capital Tuesday slamming federal health officials for denying his request. The administration wants the Florida governor to expand Medicaid to more than 800,000 Floridians, which it says is a more efficient use of federal funds than paying hospitals retroactively for caring for the uninsured. ... The governor also met with members of Florida's congressional delegation and other fellow Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, to push his case. (Kennedy, 5/12)

Palm Beach Post: War Between Florida Republican Leaders May Claim New Victims: Taxpayers And School Kids
The battle among Florida’s Republican leaders over covering uninsured residents looks ready to claim state taxpayers and school kids as the latest political victims. Appearing Monday night on FOX-TV’s On The Record with Greta Van Susteren, Scott said he expected his call for $673 million in tax breaks and a record high level of per-pupil funding to be scrapped when lawmakers return in June for a special session. (Kennedy, 5/11)

News Service Of Florida: Scott Names Hospital Panel Without Hospital Execs
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday appointed nine people --- none of them hospital executives, and only one of whom appears to have significant medical experience --- to a commission meant to examine the economics of health care and hospitals in Florida. The appointments to Scott's Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding came as industry officials are still digesting the governor's call to have hospitals share profits like Major League Baseball teams if federal officials decide not to extend a $2.2 billion program that helps pay for the care of uninsured patients. (Larrabee, 5/12)

Fairbanks (Alaska) News Miner: At Medicaid Expansion Hearing, Opponents Poke Holes In Governor's Plan
The first day in a week of hearings on Medicaid expansion hosted by the House Finance Committee in Anchorage was like a thundercloud gathering over kindling parched by more than 90 days of legislative gridlock. ... Tuesday’s hearing quickly turned into a full-blown, unmitigated blaze of politically loaded attacks on Gov. Bill Walker’s top campaign promise launched by Republicans with the occasional softball question lobbed by a pro-expansion Democrat. As Walker was holding a press conference to chide the Legislature for skipping out on its plan to reconvene in Juneau on Tuesday, the second of four hearings scheduled on House Bill 148 this week was rife with speeches staking out well-entrenched positions against Medicaid expansion. (Buxton, 5/12)

Alaska Public Media: Walker Administration Says Medicaid System Is On The Mend
Healthcare Services Director Margaret Brodie briefed legislators on the state’s progress with the [Medicaid payment] system at House Finance committee hearings today and yesterday. The update comes as Gov. Bill Walker has asked lawmakers to accept federal dollars to expand the state’s Medicaid program. Out of the 500 defects found in the Xerox-built system, fewer than 100 remain. Brodie also said claims were being processed with greater than 90 percent accuracy. She said the system is not perfect, but it is improving dramatically and can handle more claims. (Gutierrez, 5/12)

The Hill: E&C Advances Landmark Bill To Overhaul Drug Development
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has planned a markup for its signature legislation to overhaul drug development. The markup, which will take place by the health subcommittee on Thursday, will be lawmakers’ first chance to publicly propose changes to the legislation, known as 21st Century Cures. (Ferris, 5/12)

CQ Healthbeat: Electronic Health Records To Factor In 'Cures' Markup
New language designed to ensure that electronic health information systems talk to each other – an issue known as interoperability – is expected to be added to a package to expedite new medical cures that a House subcommittee is slated to mark up Thursday. The Energy and Commerce Committee tweeted Monday that its Health Subcommittee would hold a markup Thursday on its so-called 21st Century Cures legislation by Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Diana DeGette, D-Colo. (Attias, 5/12)

The Hill: Senators Plan Rival Bill On Medical Cures
The Senate is likely to produce its own version of legislation that would smooth the path for new medical cures, two Republican senators said Tuesday. Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week plan to mark up a bipartisan bill called 21st Century Cures. The legislation is aimed at streamlining the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) process for approving new drugs and treatments, and would increase research funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). (Sullivan, 5/12)

And in Capitol Hill news regarding medical devices -

The Fiscal Times: $28 Billion Obamacare Tax On Medical Devices In Jeopardy
For months, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been rallying around a measure to repeal President Obamacare’s 2.3 percent tax on medical devices. Now, House Democrats are pushing to have the vote approved by Memorial Day. The medical device tax has been the target of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. They have been aggressively lobbied by the medical device industry, which says the tax is bad for business, driving up prices and leading to job losses—especially at smaller companies. (Ehley, 5/12)

The New York Times: House Is Expected To Pass A Revised Abortion Bill
The House on Wednesday is expected to vote on a bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a revised version of a measure that Republican leaders abruptly pulled in January amid objections from some of their own members. The new version of the legislation, introduced by Representative Trent Franks, Republican of Arizona, would slightly loosen the original requirements for women who seek abortions after becoming pregnant through rape or incest, and would make it easier to sue a noncompliant abortion provider. The bill is expected to pass, said Destiny Decker, Mr. Franks’s spokeswoman. (Huetteman, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal: House Expected To Pass 20-Week Abortion Bill
The House is expected Wednesday to pass modified legislation banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, months after concerns from centrist and female Republicans derailed a vote on the bill. The legislation stands little chance of becoming law, as President Barack Obama is unlikely to sign it even if it clears Congress. Still, the bill highlights the challenges Republicans face tackling an issue important to conservatives without alienating some women voters ahead of the 2016 elections. (Peterson and Radnofsky, 5/12)

The Associated Press: INSIDE WASHINGTON: No Fallout For Congressional Health Plan
If the Supreme Court rules the way most Republicans want in the latest health overhaul case, GOP lawmakers who now have insurance coverage under President Barack Obama's law may wind up with some explaining to do. Members of Congress, staffers and dependents actually get their health insurance under a little-known provision of "Obamacare." But if the Supreme Court strikes down government health care subsidies for millions of people in more than 30 states, legal and benefits experts say coverage for lawmakers from those states won't be affected. (5/13)

The Hill: Conservative Groups Renew Pressure On 'ObamaCare Exemption'
A coalition of conservative groups want to make sure Congressional Republicans don't let up on the fight to eliminate what they call D.C.’s exemption from ObamaCare. Heritage Action for America and Club for Growth are among a half-dozen groups that have joined a campaign called the “No D.C. Exemption,” according to a release shared first with The Hill. The effort is spearheaded by the right-leaning organization, the U.S. Health Freedom Caucus. (Ferris, 5/13)

The New York Times: Data Disclosure Leads Researchers To End Study Of Obesity Drug
A study of an obesity drug has ended after the manufacturer released early and ultimately misleading data, researchers said on Tuesday. The company, Orexigen Therapeutics, disclosed in March that early results from a clinical trial of its drug Contrave had shown a 41 percent reduction in the risk of heart attacks, strokes and death from cardiovascular causes. Orexigen’s stock shot up, and the information no doubt helped lift sales of Contrave. But the academic researchers who oversaw the study said on Tuesday that Orexigen had violated an agreement that the early results were not going to be shared widely, even within the company. Moreover, as participants in the trial were followed for a longer period of time, the benefit of the drug in reducing cardiovascular risks vanished. (Pollack, 5/12)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Effectiveness Of Weight Loss Drug Contrave Remains In Doubt
It will be at least seven years before people using the new weight loss drug Contrave know whether it is beneficial or harmful to their heart. Drug-makers have pulled the plug on the large clinical trial that would have assessed the cardiovascular safety of the drug, which combines the generic medications buproprion and naltrexone. ... The FDA relied on that initial 25% of study data when it approved Contrave in September, 2014, requiring that the rest of the study be continued in order to rule out increased cardiovascular risk. (Fiore and Fauber, 5/12)

CBS News: Amphetamine-Like Stimulant In Dietary Supplement Linked To Stroke
An amphetamine-type stimulant found in dietary supplements marketed to promote weight loss and improve athletic performance could be to blame for a hemorrhagic stroke in a woman who took the supplement before working out. The case report, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, is the first to suggest a connection between the man-made, synthetic compound called BMPEA and an exercise-induced stroke. ... In April of this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to five companies to stop selling products containing BMPEA, stating that the stimulant does not meet the definition of a dietary ingredient. (Welch, 5/13)

Reuters: Number Of Americans Using $100,000 In Medicines Triples - Express Scripts
More than a half-million U.S. patients had medication costs in excess of $50,000 in 2014, an increase of 63 percent from the prior year, as doctors prescribed more expensive specialty drugs for diseases such as cancer and hepatitis C, according to an Express Scripts report released on Wednesday. Of the estimated 575,000 Americans who used at least $50,000 in prescription medicines last year, about 139,000 used at least $100,000 worth of medication, nearly triple the 47,000 who hit that mark in 2013, the report said. (Berkrot, 5/13)

NBC News: Three Times More Americans Are Spending $100,000-Plus On Prescription Drugs
Pricey cancer drugs, expensive new cures for hepatitis and made-to-order drugs have driven U.S. prescription costs to new highs for some Americans, according to a report issued Wednesday. It finds that more than half a million Americans each took home $50,000 or more worth of prescription drugs last year. And the number of super-high spenders prescribed $100,000 or more worth of medications nearly tripled from 47,000 to 139,000, pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts says. (Fox, 5/13)

And on the personalized medicine front -

Reuters: AstraZeneca Digs Into Precision Medicine With Lung, Heart Deals
AstraZeneca is diving deeper into personalised healthcare with two projects that move the concept beyond cancer into respiratory disorders and heart disease. Personalised or precision medicine, which tailors treatment to a patient's genetic profile, is an increasing focus for drug companies, especially after an initiative from U.S. President Barack Obama in January. (Hirschler, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal's Pharmalot: Sanders Asks VA To Break Patents On Gilead And AbbVie Hep C Drugs
The ongoing debate over the cost of prescription drugs took another twist as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) has asked the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to use emergency powers to break – or override – the patents on high-priced hepatitis C medicines sold by several drug makers, including Gilead Sciences. The new hepatitis C treatments cure more than 90% of those infected and, in the U.S., cost from $63,000 to $94,500, depending upon the drug and regimen, before any discounts. Gilead markets Sovaldi and Harvoni, while AbbVie sells Viekera Pak. (Silverman, 5/12)

CQ Healthbeat: VA Seeks More Money For Hepatitis Drugs, New Choice Criteria
A top Department of Veterans Affairs official asked senators Tuesday to pass legislation that would allow the agency to shift some funds for private, non-VA care to pay for expensive hepatitis C drugs and further adjust eligibility criteria for a program that Congress created last year known as the Choice program. Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson presented the requests to the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee at a hearing Tuesday afternoon. (Adams, 5/12)

The Associated Press: Lawmakers To VA: Find Another Way To Pay For Denver Hospital
Lawmakers from both parties said Tuesday they will not divert money from a new health care law to pay for a half-finished hospital in Denver that now is expected to cost more than $1.7 billion — nearly triple an estimate the Department of Veterans Affairs gave last year. The VA is asking Congress to redirect $730 million from the new Veterans Choice Act to complete the long-delayed hospital. The law was passed last year in response to a scandal over long waiting times for veterans seeking health care and falsified records to cover up the delays. (5/12)

In other military health news, a Seattle VA hospital apologizes for turning away a vet with a broken foot. And the Navy Secretary proposes doubling paid maternity leave -

The Seattle Times: Seattle VA Hospital Strands Veteran Outside ER
When Donald Siefken drove up to the Seattle VA hospital emergency room earlier this year with a broken foot, all he asked for was a little help getting inside. Instead, a hospital employee who answered Siefken’s cellphone call told him to call 911 himself, then hung up on him, Siefken said. Frustrated to tears, the 64-year-old retired truck driver and Army vet from Kennewick placed the emergency call while parked just feet away from the ER entrance. (Kamb, 5/12)

The Associated Press: Navy Secretary To Propose Doubling Maternity Leave
In an effort to retain talented women, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus will unveil a proposal Wednesday that calls for doubling the amount of paid maternity leave that sailors and Marines can take to 12 weeks. Mabus will detail the proposal during a speech at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, according to a senior Navy official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to disclose the proposal ahead of the official announcement. (Vergakis, 5/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Gay Couples Tie The Knot For Health Benefits
Wedding bells will ring later this year if the Supreme Court decides that gay couples are constitutionally entitled to marry. But health insurance, more than romance, may nudge some couples down the aisle. Amid a push that has made same-sex marriage legal in 37 states and the District of Columbia, some employers are telling gay workers they must wed in order to maintain health-care coverage for their partners. About a third of public- and private-sector employees in the U.S. have access to benefits for unmarried gay partners, according to a federal tally, but employment lawyers say the fast-changing legal outlook is spurring some employers to rethink that coverage. (Silverman, 5/12)

Earlier KHN coverage: Once, Same-Sex Couples Couldn’t Wed; Now, Some Employers Say They Must (Appleby, 1/20)

Kaiser Health News: Radical Approach To Huge Hospital Bills: Set Your Own Price
In the late 1990s you could have taken what hospitals charged to administer inpatient chemotherapy and bought a Ford Escort econobox. Today average chemo charges (not even counting the price of the anti-cancer drugs) are enough to pay for a Lexus GX sport-utility vehicle, government data show. Hospital prices have risen nearly three times as much as overall inflation since Ronald Reagan was president. Health payers have tried HMOs, accountable care organizations and other innovations to control them, with little effect. (Hancock, 5/13)

The Associated Press: FDA Releases Plan To Ease Restrictions On Gay Blood Donation
The Food and Drug Administration is outlining its plan to end the nation’s lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, a 32-year-old policy that many medical groups and gay activists say is no longer justified. The FDA on Tuesday released proposed guidelines for screening blood donors at increased risk of carrying HIV. Under the proposal, the current blanket ban on donations from gay men would be replaced with a policy barring donations from men who have had sex with another man in the last year. The Obama administration previously announced the policy shift in December. (Perrone, 5/12)

ABC News: FDA Takes Steps To End Lifetime Ban On Gay Male Blood Donors
If the recommended policy is implemented, gay and bisexual men would be allowed to donate blood if they have abstained from sex with men for a year. The year-long deferral for gay and bisexual men has been enacted by other countries, including Japan, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia. Thanks in part to more sensitive tests for HIV and after seeing evidence from the countries mentioned above, the FDA determined a one-year deferral would likely be long enough to safeguard the donor supply. Currently the chances of contracting HIV in a blood transfusion is 1 in 1.47 million, according to the FDA. (Mohney, 5/12)

NBC News: As Promised, FDA To Lift Ban On Gay Blood Donation
The Food and Drug Administration has formally proposed letting gay and bisexual men donate blood, so long as they've abstained from sex for a year. The recommendation changes the current guidance, which is that any man who have ever had sex with another man in his entire life should never be able to donate blood. It's a policy that has enraged gay rights groups and that is virtually impossible to enforce. (Fox, 5/12)

Reuters: Government Watchdog Seeks More Data On State Medicaid Payments
States sometimes keep inaccurate and incomplete records of the payments they make to healthcare providers under Medicaid, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which provides auditing services to federal agencies. The report, issued Monday, was based on a study of three states - Illinois, New York and California - which were chosen for their size and geographic diversity, according to the GAO. (Pierson, 5/12)

The Associated Press: Ohio Settles Lawsuit Involving Dropped Medicaid Recipients
About 154,000 Ohio residents will have their Medicaid health benefits restored and their eligibility for the program rechecked as part of a settlement reached in a lawsuit against the state, the state's Department of Medicaid said Tuesday. The agreement comes in a case involving how Ohio officials "re-determine" the eligibility of recipients in the federal-state health program for the poor and disabled. (Sanner, 5/12)

Columbus Dispatch: More Than 150,000 Ohioans To Get Medicaid Again After Settlement
More than 150,000 poor Ohioans will regain tax-funded Medicaid health coverage under a settlement on Tuesday of a lawsuit against the state. Details of the deal were released a week after a court hearing was canceled because an agreement had been reached. The dispute focused on how the Ohio Department of Medicaid conducted an annual process to determine whether beneficiaries remain eligible for the government health coverage. (Candisky, 5/12)

The Associated Press: Audit Details Problems With Medicaid Transportation
A company in charge of providing transportation to doctors' appointments for low and moderate income people in Wisconsin was late or never showed up thousands of times in less than a one-year period, an audit released Tuesday showed. The nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau's audit said Medical Transportation Management, a company the state paid $56.1 million to provide non-emergency medical trips for Medicaid recipients in the 2013-2014 fiscal year, needs to do a better job getting people to appointments on time. (Bauer, 5/12)

The Associated Press: Vermont House Votes To End Philosophical Vaccine Exemption
Reversing an action it took three years ago, the Vermont House voted Tuesday to go along with the Senate's long-standing wish to end the philosophical exemption that allowed some parents not to get their kids fully vaccinated. The House voted 85-57 to end the exemption and make full immunization a condition of attending school. The vote came after nearly four hours of impassioned debate that pitted concern for improved public health versus maximizing personal choice. (Gram, 5/12)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Home Health Workers' Fight For Higher Wage Hits Roadblocks
A years-long battle to raise the base pay for certain Missouri home health workers has hit significant roadblocks during the closing days of the legislative session. A committee voted Tuesday to delay a wage plan agreed to by the workers’ union and a state board, a move that gives state lawmakers until next year to decide whether to permanently block the proposal. (Shapiro, 5/13)

The Washington Post: Bill De Blasio Proposing National Paid Family Leave That His Own Employees Don’t Get
When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio rolls out his liberal response to the Contract with America today in Washington, his 13-point plan will call for a $15 minimum wage, universal pre-kindergarten programs — and paid family leave. That left some New York City employees scratching their heads: The half a million people who work for the city don’t receive paid maternity or paternity leave through their own health plan. In fact, New York City’s health plan lags far behind even the most basic Affordable Care Act plans when it comes to maternity care. The health-care plan is one of a number of plans grandfathered into the ACA, which means it doesn’t have to meet standards the law requires of other plans. (Wilson, 5/12)

The Associated Press: Indiana's HIV Outbreak Grows To 153 Confirmed Cases
State health officials say southeastern Indiana’s HIV outbreak tied to needle-sharing among intravenous drug users has reached 153 confirmed cases. The number announced Tuesday is up from a total of 150 confirmed and preliminary positive cases that were reported last Thursday. (5/12)

Kaiser Health News: With Specialists In Short Supply, L.A. County Turns To e-Consulting
Doctors called it the black hole. If their low-income or uninsured patients needed specialty care, they put in a referral to the massive Los Angeles County health care bureaucracy and then waited — for weeks or even months. It could take eight months to see a neurologist, more than three to see a cardiologist. (Gorman, 5/13)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: More Georgia Rural Hospitals Opt Out Of Birthing Babies
More than 30 small-town hospitals in Georgia have shuttered their labor and delivery units over the years, and Emanuel Medical is slated to become one of them. The closings have escalated in the past five years to about two a year, said Pat Cota, executive director of the Georgia OBGyn Association. (Anderson, 5/12)

Georgia Health News: Governor Vetoes Agency For Older Georgians
As expected, Gov. Nathan Deal on Tuesday vetoed legislation that would have created a separate state agency devoted to older Georgians. House Bill 86 had passed overwhelmingly in the General Assembly session. It would have moved the current Division of Aging Services out of the Department of Human Services. The new agency, the Adult and Aging Services Agency, would have been attached to the Department of Community Health. (Miller, 5/12)

The Washington Post: Will Scott Walker’s Budget Troubles Hurt His Potential 2016 Bid?
The promised revenue from the Republican governor’s previous budget moves has not fully materialized, leading Walker and GOP lawmakers to propose another round of reductions — including cuts in funding for public schools, the university system, health-care programs and a slew of other programs. The Republican-controlled legislature says it won’t be raising taxes, no matter what, though it might increase fees for registering a car or visiting a state park. (Johnson, 5/12)

California Healthline: Coalitions Form To Get Slice Of Budget
Two coalitions of health care providers, advocates and medical groups announced their formation in the past week and said they would try to ramp up pressure for a couple of key budget issues as the state budget talks intensify. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has until Friday to release his May revision of the state budget. The Legislature will begin public hearings on the budget next week, beginning May 18. (Gorn, 5/12)

Minneapolis Star Tribune: With Clock Ticking At Capitol, Budget Talks Continued Into Night
Gov. Mark Dayton and top DFL and GOP legislative leaders continued private meetings Tuesday on the two-year state budget, trying to bridge broad disagreements over education spending, tax cuts, transportation and health programs. ... DFLers, meanwhile, drilled in on the Republican proposal to end MinnesotaCare, a public health insurance program with about 90,000 participants. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said budget talks had stalled because the GOP would not surrender that provision. “That’s a nonstarter,” Bakk said. The time available to work all this out is shrinking quickly. To avoid a special session, lawmakers must pass a complete two-year budget by midnight on Monday. (Condon and Simmons, 5/13)

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Minnesota Teachers' Salaries Stall, But Health Spending Soars
The amount Minnesota school districts spend on teacher salaries and benefits outpaced the rate of inflation between 2003 and 2014, with the largest growth recorded in the cost of pensions and health care. A Star Tribune analysis of compensation data showed that teachers’ take-home pay has declined an average of 2 percent statewide after adjusting for inflation. But the cost of benefits such as health care and pensions, paid by districts, has risen 29 percent above the rate of inflation during that same period. (Lopez, 5/13)

San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News: Bay Area Sleep Clinic Operators Targeted By Feds In Fraudulent Billing Suit
The United States has joined a whistleblower case alleging that two operators of more than a dozen Bay Area sleep clinics fraudulently billed Medicare for sleep diagnostic tests that did not meet federal standards, officials announced Tuesday. Saratoga residents Anooshiravan Mostowfipour, 57, and Tara Nader, 56, own and operate sixteen sleep clinics throughout the South Bay, under the name Bay Sleep Clinic, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag. Mostowfipour and Nader also own Amerimed Corporation, which distributes medical equipment under the name Amerimed Sleep Diagnostics. (Nelson, 5/12)

The Oregonian: Marijuana Politics In Oregon Legislature: Outlook Still Hazy
Oregon legislators still appeared at an impasse Tuesday over a controversial bill that would put new limits on the medical marijuana industry in Oregon -- but key legislators played down the idea that it would lead legislative leaders to dissolve the House-Senate marijuana committee. (Mapes, 5/12)

North Carolina Health News: Tanning Bed Bill Headed To NC Senate Floor To Keep Teens Away
With his widow in the room, the committee green-lighted a bill named for the late Rep. Jim Fulghum, who died in the summer of 2014 after a sudden, quick battle with late stage cancer. The Jim Fulghum Teen Skin Cancer Prevention Act would keep teens under the age of 18 from using tanning beds ahead of proms and trips to the beach. (Hoban, 5/13)

Reuters: Arizona Prosecutors Charge Woman Who Faked Cancer
An Arizona woman was charged with fraud and identity theft after faking cancer to get the state to pay for her late-term abortion five years ago, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Chalice Renee Zeitner, 29, also faces one count each of felony theft and forgery stemming from the scheme in Phoenix between March and 2010, according to a statement from the state Attorney General's Office. (Schwartz, 5/13)

Los Angeles Times: The Toll Of Anti-Obamacare Fanaticism: Two Horrifying Vignettes
Almost since the inception of the Affordable Care Act, the Southeast has been an epicenter of Obamacare Derangement Syndrome--the condition that makes individuals and elected officials so susceptible to the power of that single nine-letter word that they act in flagrant disregard of their own interests or those of their constituents. Recent news reports from South Carolina and Florida illustrate how ODS can cost people their health, their savings and even their lives. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/12)

Dallas Morning News: Affordable Care Act Is A Sturdy 5-Year-Old
After a rough incubation, birth and infancy, the Affordable Care Act is a sturdy 5-year-old, showing increasing signs of achievement and acceptance. But growth could come to a sudden halt if the Supreme Court throws out the subsidies that enable more than 8 million Americans to pay their health insurance. That would energize opponents, who have spent six years fighting Obamacare. But the negative fallout would extend beyond President Barack Obama to millions of beneficiaries. (Carl P. Leubsdorf, 5/12)

Forbes: Why Business Owners Should Help Their Employees Get On Medicaid
Business leaders — and the analysts who study their companies — must seek every opportunity to maximize profits (and investors’ dollars). One such overlooked opportunity is helping employees get on Medicaid. Recent changes to healthcare laws have placed a greater financial burden on businesses. But tucked into the law is a new government program that can save companies thousands of dollars per year. This new program is expanded and improved Medicaid, designed to help low-income employees and their employers. Your company can take advantage of this program by helping low-income employees enroll in Medicaid, thereby keeping your business’s healthcare costs down, meeting legal obligations, and fulfilling your fiduciary duty to your investors. (Benjamin Geyerhahn, 5/12)

Orlando Sentinel: Promise-Breaking Pols At Heart Of Florida's Health-Care Mess
Yet if you had to put a face on why all of this is happening, it might not belong to one of the high-profile names you have read the most about. Rather, it might be the face of Rene Plasencia. Or maybe Mike Miller. Both are freshmen GOP legislators from Central Florida ... virtual nobodies in the political world. Normally, the only people less relevant are Democrats. Yet Plasencia and Miller have come to symbolize the paralyzing dysfunction of our state for one simple reason: They are now working to shut down a health-care plan each man previously vowed to support. Both men ran campaigns asking voters to send them to Tallahassee so they could use Medicaid to provide health-care coverage to needy Floridians. (Scott Maxwell, 5/12)

The Washington Post's Plum LIne: Morning Plum: GOP Resistance To Obamacare Is Killing The Tax Cuts Republicans Want
There’s been yet another twist in the seemingly endless battle over the Medicaid expansion in Florida: Rick Scott has now flatly stated that the GOP split over whether to accept it is probably going to cost the state its tax cuts and cost its students higher per-pupil spending. (Greg Sargent, 5/12)

Tampa Bay Times: The Case Against Medicaid Expansion
Florida can authorize the expenditure of only as much money as it projects it will receive in any given year. What that means is that the Florida Legislature must prioritize. Every dollar spent on health care, for example, may be a dollar not spent on education, building roads, expanding ports and the like. A lesson that every newly elected legislator learns is that the vast majority of the nearly $80 billion state budget is spoken for when commitments are met to health care, K-12 education, prisons, roads and other mandatory funding requirements. So while expanding health care for the poor is laudable, it must be balanced with other important priorities. (George LeMieux, 5/12)

Fairbanks (Alaska) News Miner: State Needs Medicaid Reform, Expansion
Medicaid as it stands is ticking toward a greater financial explosion. Moral and humanitarian arguments for Medicaid expansion are plentiful and they are just. But equally important are wide-spread financial realities assured to explode into financial disaster if not addressed. (Art Petersen, 5/13)

Health Affairs: Sleepless Nights In Spite Of Medicaid And Marketplace Coverage Gains Stemming From The ACA
I work for a public foundation, St. Luke’s Health Initiatives, based in Arizona. Thanks to the leadership of former Gov. Jan Brewer (R) and the business community, Arizona became one of the first states to agree to expand its Medicaid program after the US Supreme Court, back in 2012, made it an option for states. Because of this early policy victory and concerted efforts by a community-based coalition of more than 800 partners, more than 500,000 Arizonans have enrolled in health coverage through expanded Medicaid or the federally facilitated Marketplace to date. While these accomplishments should be celebrated, I am fearful that states such as Arizona may lose their momentum to build upon or even retain their coverage gains. (Kim VanPelt, 5/12)

Health Affairs: Counting The Uninsured: Are We Getting It Right?
A May 5 government report claims that over 16 million Americans have obtained coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act. This estimate, as well as others that are being or will soon be circulated, are based on rapid turnaround surveys conducted by telephone or over the web. Some of these efforts have gone through rigorous peer review and are being published in leading journals, including Health Affairs. While these efforts will encourage useful debate, it is important to recognize that in the past such surveys have been shown to underestimate the number of people who lack coverage. (Marc Berk, 5/12)

Sacramento Bee: Senators Should Approve Vaccine Bill
A bill to significantly strengthen vaccine requirements for California schoolchildren is heading for the full Senate, and could come up for a vote as soon as Thursday. Responsible lawmakers should vote yes. Senate Bill 277 would eliminate the state’s lax “personal belief” exemption to required school vaccinations. Driven by fear, ideology and misinformation, red-shirted parents have marched, rallied and disrupted hearings in their effort to derail it. (5/12)

San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News: California Should Pass Bill Improving Vaccination Rates
The vaccine compromise proposed by Sens. Richard Pan and Ben Allen is hardly ideal. It ignores good science and allows more than 13,000 children to skirt vaccination requirements. But ultimately it will improve California's vaccination rates to a level that will make it far more difficult for diseases to take hold and spread. The Legislature should pass SB 277, and Gov. Jerry Brown should sign it into law. (5/12)

USA Today: America's Love Affair With Legal Amphetamine
I've decided to create a new psychiatric disorder. Why not? Drug companies do it all the time. Shire, which makes Adderall, won approval recently from the Food and Drug Administration to market its amphetamine drug, Vyvanse, for the treatment of BED. You haven't heard of it? Neither had many people, until Shire funded studies to get the binge eating disorder into the DSM-5 — America's official psychiatric bible of common life dilemmas translated into mental disorders. My disorder is called achievement anxiety disorder (AAD), and it explains the increasing reports of prescription amphetamine misuse most often in the form of Adderall abuse. (Lawrence Diller, 5/12)

Los Angeles Times: State Falls Behind On Efforts To Keep Guns Out Of The Wrong Hands
People who have been convicted of felonies or any of a range of misdemeanors may not own guns in California under state and federal law. Nor may guns be sold to people whose mental illness makes them a danger to themselves or others, who are under domestic violence restraining orders or who are fugitives. Mandatory background checks are supposed to separate the ineligible from the eligible and prevent gun purchases. But what about people who lawfully own firearms, and then lose that right? (5/12)

JAMA Internal Medicine: An Update On Maryland’s All-Payer Approach To Reforming The Delivery Of Health Care
Every Maryland hospital now has a form of a global budget for hospital services covering at least all state residents, who represent approximately 9 out of 10 patients. ... unless there are drastic year-to-year changes, the total revenues during a year are the amount budgeted and approved, no matter how many admissions, magnetic resonance images, or outpatient visits. This set hospital budget may be achieved by changes to pricing during the year, in order to take away revenue from additional volume. Hospitals have strong incentives to reduce preventable hospital admissions. To date, hospitals have made many changes. Examples include establishing a multidisciplinary clinic to wrap additional support around primary care for patients with asthma, diabetes mellitus, and heart failure. (Joshua M. Sharfstein, Donna Kinzer and John M. Colmers, 5/11)