The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: At WSJ CEO Council, Health Law’s Success Depends On Which Number You Prefer
By now, supporters and opponents of the Affordable Care Act often divide along “glass half full or half empty” lines over similar facts, and each perspective was on display at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council on Tuesday. “We believe coverage in general has been improved” by the 2010 law, said Health and Human Services senior counselor Leslie Dach. ... His agency has estimated that the law has extended coverage to 17.6 million people .... Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, speaking after Mr. Dach, pointed to Congressional Budget Office estimates suggesting that as many as 35 million people are still without coverage, and 27 million will be uninsured five years from now, to argue the health law has required too much to do too little. (Radnofsky, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Report Shows Impact Of State's Health Care 'Gap'
A new report reveals the negative impact that the state's health care "gap" is having on local communities. The report was released this week by the Tennessee Justice Center in Nashville. People in the health care gap earn too little to pay for private insurance, but don't qualify for TennCare, the state's version of Medicaid. (11/18)

Minnesota Public Radio: Health-Insurance Terms Giving You A Headache?
It's health-plan enrollment season, and many people find the options complicated and difficult to understand. The jargon can be overwhelming, and it can lead people to make to costly mistakes or avoid care all together. (Zdechlik, 11/17)

The Providence Journal: R.I. Faces Millions More In Cost Of Benefits Tracking Computer System
The development of a new computer system to determine eligibility for state health and human services benefits will cost an extra $10 million in the current budget year and another $4.9 million the following year, state lawmakers were told on Tuesday. UHIP is intended to replace 20-year-old independent computer systems to allow for integrated verification of eligibility for such assistance as Medicaid, Affordable Care Act subsidies through HealthSource RI and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps). (Salit, 11/17)

(Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader: Daugaard Weighing Medicaid Expansion
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard plans to address Medicaid expansion in his Dec. 8 budget address, his chief of staff said Tuesday. “It’s the governor’s hope that he would be able to provide a recommendation one way or the other,” Tony Venhuizen said. The governor’s office said expanding the program could extend eligibility to 55,000 additional South Dakota residents. And the cost to the state could range from $30 million to $33 million a year beginning in 2020. (Ferguson, 11/17)

It turns out the health law had a personal health effect for the president -

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Obama Says He Quit Smoking When Health-Care Law Passed
President Barack Obama hasn’t had a cigarette in 5 years. In a new interview in GQ, Mr. Obama says that he hasn’t smoked since the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act, his signature health-care law. “I made a promise that once health care passed, I would never have a cigarette again. And I have not,” he told the magazine. (Tau, 11/17)

Kaiser Health News: Study: Health Plan Buyers Will Save Money If They Shop
You better shop around. For holiday gifts? No, for a 2016 health insurance plan on the federal marketplace, healthcare.gov. Millions of consumers who are enrolled this year could pay higher rates if they stay in the same health plan next year, according to a study released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Galewitz, 11/18)

The Associated Press: Study: To Avoid Higher Health Law Premiums, Switch Plans
The study ... looked at a type of coverage called the "lowest cost silver plan." A hypothetical 40-year-old faced an average premium of $264 for the lowest cost silver plan in 2015. If that consumer stays in the same plan for 2016, the premium would be $304, or 15 percent more. (11/18)

The Washington Post: Rate Hikes Widespread For Popular HealthCare.gov Insurance Unless People Switch Plans
The analysis shows that premiums are escalating for 2016 in virtually all of these plans. And in nearly three-fourths of the counties where consumers can buy coverage through the federal insurance exchange, the plan that was the lowest-price option for 2015 will no longer have the least expensive premium next year. The findings by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health policy organization, reinforce a message that the Obama administration has been spreading since the Nov. 1 start of the third year's enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act: Consumers risk insurance-premium sticker shock unless they are willing to switch to a different plan. (Goldstein, 11/18)

Politico: Senate GOP Presses Ahead With Planned Parenthood Defunding
Senate Republicans are still planning to force Planned Parenthood defunding legislation through the chamber using a fast-track process — despite concerns from some GOP moderates. GOP leadership briefly mulled dumping the defunding provision from a broader measure that dismantles key parts of Obamacare, in an effort to mollify worried moderates. Senate Republicans have struggled to corral 51 votes for the package, which will be passed using a fast-track "reconciliation" process, amid growing opposition from both the conservative and moderate wings of the party. (Kim, 11/17)

The Hill: Planned Parenthood Defund Language To Stay In ObamaCare Repeal Package
Senate Republican leaders initially wanted to vote on the ObamaCare repeal bill this week, but they’ve had trouble rounding up enough votes in part because moderates have balked at the Planned Parenthood language. McConnell, however, held course Tuesday and vowed it would not be dropped to make the bill more enticing for Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). He told reporters the repeal package “will contain a defund of Planned Parenthood,” adding, “we’ll be moving to that after Thanksgiving.” Senate GOP sources say the package, which will move under special budgetary protections that allow it to pass with a simple-majority vote, still does not have enough support. As many as eight Republican senators are threatening to vote no either because of the Planned Parenthood language or because of concern it does not go far enough to repeal the landmark healthcare reform law. (Bolton, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Senate Panel Questions FDA Nominee On Drug Prices, Approvals
President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration defended his record Tuesday as senators pressed him about rising drug prices, slow approval times for new drugs and his ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Robert Califf, 64, is currently the No. 2 official at the agency, which regulates consumer products from medications to seafood to e-cigarettes. He joined the FDA as deputy commissioner earlier this year after more than 30 years as a prominent cardiologist and medical researcher at Duke University. (Jalonick, 11/17)

STAT: Califf: I'll Never Lower FDA's Approval Standards
Dr. Robert Califf, President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, defended his acceptance of drug industry funding Tuesday and promised never to lower the agency’s safety standards. (Kaplan, 11/17)

Marketplace: A Challenge At The FDA: Getting New Generics To Market
One of the most pressing problems facing the agency is boosting competition in the generic drug market. Right now, it takes a long time to bring a generic drug to market — 48 months, according to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association. (Gorenstein, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Large Health Care Workers Union Backs Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton won the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union on Tuesday, giving her the support of a labor powerhouse that backed President Barack Obama in 2008. The nation's largest health care union represents about 2 million nurses, health care workers and other caregivers and is among the most ethnically diverse unions in the country. The decision is a blow to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose supporters had pushed against an endorsement. (Thomas, 11/17)

CNN: Clinton Draws Sharper Contrast With Sanders On Taxes, Health Care
Hillary Clinton drew a sharp contrast with Bernie Sanders on health care and taxes here on Tuesday, telling a fired-up audience at a local community college that as president, she would not raise taxes on the middle class. (Merica, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Clinton, Sanders Spar Over Taxes, Health Care
Intensifying their rivalry, Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday accused Bernie Sanders of charting a tax increase on middle-class families and undercutting President Barack Obama's signature health care law. Sanders' campaign shot back that her approach to health care was all about her financial donors. Clinton said at a Dallas rally that Democrats shouldn't follow a plan by "one of my opponents" that would replace the current health care system with a Medicare for all system, turning it over to the states. (Thomas, 11/17)

The Dallas Morning News: Hillary Clinton Jabs At Gov. Greg Abbott During Campaign Stop In Dallas
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton took some pointed jabs at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Tuesday in an otherwise routine campaign visit to Dallas. “When your governor turned away federal dollars that could have expanded Medicaid, he put ideology ahead of the well-being of the people and the families in this state,” Clinton said, noting Texas’s nation-leading rate of uninsured residents. (Shine, 11/17)

And drug pricing issues continue to be a hot topic among candidates -

STAT: Nobody Knows If Candidates' Drug-Price Plans Will Actually Work
Here’s a dirty little secret as prescription drug costs emerge as a major political issue: Nobody really knows what will work. Presidential candidates are rolling out proposals and lawmakers are holding hearings to show they’re on it. But many of the top proposals from Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and the Republican candidates have been floated for a long time — and experts say none is guaranteed to bring down drug prices in a way that would significantly alleviate the burden on consumers. (Scott, 11/18)

The Associated Press: IMS Health: Drug Spending To Jump 30 Pct. To $1.3T In 2020
As criticism of soaring prescription drug prices in the U.S. grows, global spending on medicines is expected to rise 3 percent to 6 percent annually for the next five years, according to a new forecast from IMS Health. The health data firm predicts global spending will increase by about 30 percent cumulatively from about $1 trillion now to about $1.3 trillion in 2020, driven by expensive new drugs, price hikes, aging populations and increased generic drug use in developing countries. (11/18)

The Chicago Tribune: AMA Calls For Ban On Drug, Device Advertising
The American Medical Association on Tuesday called for a ban on consumer advertising for prescription drugs and medical devices, saying such marketing could be driving demand for unnecessary expensive treatments. The Chicago-based association said it adopted a policy supporting an advertising ban and called for greater transparency in prescription drug prices and costs. The policy was adopted by physicians at an AMA meeting in Atlanta. (Russell, 11/17)

NPR: Justice Department Announces Criminal Charges Against Dietary Supplement Firms
The Department of Justice announced it is bringing civil and criminal charges against some makers and marketers of dietary supplements. According to a statement, the DOJ alleges that the companies sold supplements that either contained unlisted ingredients or make health claims that are inadequately supported by scientific evidence. "The Justice Department and its federal partners have joined forces to [bring] to justice companies and individuals who profit from products that threaten consumer health," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer in the statement. (Wagner, 11/17)

The New York Times' Well Blog: Makers Of Nutritional Supplements Charged In Federal Sweep
A yearlong federal investigation into the dietary supplement industry has resulted in a widespread crackdown on the sale of tainted or misleading products. The Justice Department said on Tuesday that it filed criminal and civil enforcement actions against 117 companies and individuals. (Anahad O'Connor, 11/17)

The Washington Post: VA Looks To Revamp Private Care For Veterans In Ambitious Plan
The Department of Veterans Affairs will unveil a wide-reaching plan to Congress Wednesday to merge its unwieldy network of private doctors, an acknowledgement that the government cannot address a surging demand from veterans for medical care alone. (Rein, 11/18)

The Miami Herald: Florida Hospitals: VA Owes $134M In Unpaid Claims
Florida hospitals are trying to get the Department of Veterans Affairs to pay about $134.4 million in outstanding claims for medical services they provided to veterans who faced long wait times or far distances for care at a VA healthcare facility, according to a survey by the Florida Hospital Association. In the survey, which was conducted in September and October, 95 percent of the 89 FHA member hospitals reported having unpaid claims with the VA, some outstanding for more than two years. (Chang, 11/17)

NPR: Prostate Screening Drops Sharply, And So Do Cancer Cases
One of the most intense debates in men's health has flared again: How often should men get screened for prostate cancer? This debate has simmered since 2012, when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force shocked many patients and doctors by recommending against routine prostate cancer screening. Some doctors welcomed the change by the influential panel of experts, saying it would save many men from experiencing false alarms and potentially serious complications of unnecessary treatment. (Stein, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Less Prostate Cancer And Screening Seen After New Guidance
Far fewer U.S. men are being diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and getting blood tests to detect the disease since an influential government-appointed panel recommended against routine screening of all men, an American Cancer Society study found. A big question remains: Did that shift have any effect on death rates from prostate cancer, the most common non-skin cancer in U.S. men? About one in seven U.S. men will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetimes. While most will die from something else, more than 27,000 are expected to die from the disease this year alone. (Tanner, 11/17)

Des Moines Register: Democrats Take Medicaid Opposition To Washington
Three Democratic senators will ask federal officials Wednesday to reject or delay Gov. Terry Branstad’s controversial effort to privatize management of Iowa’s $4.2 billion annual Medicaid program. “Governor Branstad’s almost complete lack of transparency has left major questions from both providers and members unanswered,” said Sen. Liz Mathis of Robins. “The missed deadlines, the disorganization, the financial threats against providers have created fear, uncertainty and turmoil.” (Clayworth, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Iowa Senators Seek To Halt Medicaid Privatization In DC Trip
Three Iowa Senate Democrats plan to meet with federal officials in Washington on Wednesday in hopes of stopping implementation of Gov. Terry Branstad's proposed privatization of the state's Medicaid program. Senate President Pam Jochum of Dubuque and Sens. Amanda Ragan of Mason City and Liz Mathis of Robins say the privatization plan is disorganized and leaves too many major questions unanswered to be implemented on Jan. 1. (11/17)

The Kansas Health Institute: Adult Care Facilities Wary Of KanCare Reimbursement Change
Groups that represent Kansas adult care facilities say a change to their Medicaid reimbursement calculations is not ideal, but they’ll accept it if it resolves payment issues caused by the state’s switch to privatized managed care. Rhonda Boose, an official with the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, brought the changes to a legislative committee on rules and regulations for review this week. The changes modify how adult care facilities are reimbursed for care for Medicaid-eligible residents. The facilities receive different rates depending on the medical needs of the residents with Medicaid, which in Kansas is called KanCare. (Marso, 11/17)

Crain's Detroit Business: Michigan Board Denies Medicaid HMO Contract Appeals
Despite last-minute pleas this morning by a handful of Medicaid HMOs, the Michigan State Administrative Board held firm and upheld state joint evaluation committee recommendations that denied the appeals of five of six health plans, state officials told Crain's. Losing appeals of a six-year, $42 billion state contract to serve 1.7 Medicaid beneficiaries were HAP Midwest Health Plan, Sparrow PHP, Meridian Health Plan of Michigan, Fidelis SecureCare of Michigan and Total Health Care. Molina Healthcare of Michigan was the only HMO that won its appeal. The decisions mean Sparrow PHP will be out of the Medicaid business by Jan. 1. HAP Midwest will have to retool its strategic plan and focus on serving several counties outside Southeast Michigan. (Greene, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Forecast: Virginia’s Medicaid Costs To Rise By Nearly $1B
A new state forecast expects Virginia’s Medicaid costs to increase by nearly $1 billion through the next two-year budget. The $956 million increase is due primarily to a surge in enrollment by people who were eligible for program benefits but either did not know it or did not act on it until this year. (11/17)

Reuters: Democrats See Rare Chance To Win Governor Race In Republican Stronghold Of Louisiana
Edwards, an anti-abortion, pro-gun rights fiscal moderate, heads into Saturday's runoff election with a substantial lead in the polls over his Republican opponent, U.S. Senator David Vitter, in a race showcasing Louisiana's famed bare-knuckles politics. ... A former Army Ranger and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he touts strong ratings from the National Rife Association and the anti-abortion Louisiana Right to Life Federation. On fiscal issues, he calls himself moderate. Edwards would favor expanding Medicaid coverage for the poor under President Barack Obama's health care law. (11/17)

And in Virginia, the sitting lieutenant governor announces he will run for the state's top job in 2017 -

The Washington Post: Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor Makes It Official: He’s Seeking State’s Top Job
Despite his moderate style, Northam hits on some hot-button issues in his announcement, including abortion and expanding access to Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Democrats are likely to play up partisan issues in an effort to turn out voters in the off-year gubernatorial election. (Vozzella, 11/17)

The Wall Street Journal: A New York Initiative To Promote Mental Health
Doctors in New York City will soon be asking new mothers some extra questions during medical visits. Along with “How’s your baby?” they’ll also ask, “And how are you?” The new initiative to screen all pregnant women and new mothers for maternal depression was announced Tuesday by Chirlane McCray, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s wife, at a news conference at Bellevue Hospital. (MacMillan, 11/17)

The Texas Tribune: Report Recommends Police Reform Mental Health Policies
Holding up San Antonio as an example, a report by a justice system policy group recommends that law enforcement agencies change their practices regarding mental illness, sex workers and addiction without waiting for legislative action. (Silver, 11/17)

North Carolina Health News: Proposed Cuts To Mental Health Services Rankle State Officials, Lawmakers, Advocates
Cardinal Innovations, one of North Carolina’s state-funded mental health managed care organizations, announced last week it would be changing the benefits offered to people with mental health and substance use issues and intellectual and developmental disabilities, effective this Friday. In a bulletin issued to service providers dated Nov. 11, Cardinal announced that people currently receiving services such as treatment from a Community Support Team, which provides “community-based mental health and substance abuse rehabilitation services” for people with “complex and extensive treatment needs,” will continue to receive those services. But effective Nov. 20, no new clients will be eligible for the service. (Hoban, 11/17)

The Columbus Post-Dispatch: Families Struggle With Ohio’s Mental-Health-Care System
Debbie Sizemore begged emergency-department doctors to reconsider. But they said her delusional husband wasn’t a threat, not to her or anyone. (Riepenhoff, Wagner and Kurtzman, 11/18)

In related news -

The Washington Post: It’s 3 A.M. And You’re Feeling Depressed. How Technology Is Transforming Mental Health Care.
When he’s having a hard time coping, the 23-year-old Maryland man can get extra support with a few quick taps on his smartphone. That takes him to the Big White Wall, an online service that provides help 24/7 to people who are struggling with problems such as depression, stress and anxiety. It offers educational resources and courses led by mental health professionals. It also offers peer encouragement through virtual conversations. ... The service, which has been running in the United Kingdom for nearly a decade, is now drawing attention from several U.S. health systems looking for ways to increase access, especially in rural areas with few if any psychiatrists, counselors or even social workers. (Sun, 11/15)

KQED: Contra Costa Co. Prepares To Offer Health Care To Undocumented Adults
Brookside Community Health Center in Richmond serves a lot of immigrants — with legal papers and without — and it’s about to take on even more. Contra Costa County already provides insurance to undocumented children, and in September county supervisors voted to extend primary care services to 3,000 adults living here illegally. (Silver, 11/17)

Los Angeles Times: Nonprofit Blue Shield Accused Of Backing Out Of $140-Million Charity Pledge
California regulators and consumer groups say insurance giant Blue Shield of California is reneging on a $140-million charitable pledge it made to win approval for a big acquisition. State officials said last month that the San Francisco insurer had agreed to give $14 million annually for 10 years to Blue Shield’s foundation or another charity – in addition to its regular contributions. (Terhune, 11/17)

The San Jose Mercury News: Daughters Of Charity Deal With Hedge Fund Worries Hospital Experts
As California Attorney General Kamala Harris prepares to announce her decision Thursday on whether to green-light a tortured deal between the beleaguered Daughters of Charity Health System and an East Coast hedge fund, some hospital industry experts are worried that it might be little more than a taxpayer giveaway. (Seipel, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Planned Parenthood Can Reapply For Privileges
University of Missouri Health Care said Tuesday that it's compiling documents so a doctor at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia can apply for state-required privileges after the university decided to pull privileges earlier this year. Even with the latest move by the university, the clinic in Columbia is likely to lose its license allowing it to provide medication-induced abortions. The physician's current privileges will end on Dec. 1, and University of Missouri Health Care spokeswoman Teresa Snow said in a statement that the application process takes months. (Ballentine, 11/17)

The Chicago Tribune: Program Has Police Putting Heroin Addicts Into Treatment, Not Jail
Katelynn Lahman had just fired a shot of heroin into her arm when she decided to call her hometown's chief of police. Lahman, 20, had been on heroin for nine months, funding her habit with petty crimes. She finally decided to seek help, she said, but was unable to find a place that would take her. "(The police chief) was like, 'What if I tell you I can get you into a detox tomorrow morning?'" Lahman recalled. "I said, 'OK, that's fine.' So literally, 8 o'clock in the morning, I go to detox because (police) show up." (Keilman, 11/17)

Kaiser Health News: Aid-In-Dying Advocacy Group Girds For Battles After California Victory
Fresh off a political triumph in California, the nation’s chief advocacy group for physician-assisted suicide laws is mobilizing for many more battles on behalf of terminally ill patients. Since Gov. Jerry Brown signed California’s end-of-life options bill last month, a new chapter is starting for Compassion & Choices, a Denver-based nonprofit that led the campaign for the measure and has pushed for such laws for nearly 19 years. California is the fifth state, and largest by far, to allow physicians to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to patients who want to end their lives in their last stages of terminal illnesses. (Galewitz, 11/18)

The Charlotte Observer: Novant Health To Launch Area's 3rd Family Medicine Residency Program
Novant Health will launch its first family medicine residency program – the third in the Charlotte region – next summer when six medical school graduates begin training at Huntersville Medical Center and in a Cornelius family practice. Hospital officials are interviewing applicants now, and the first residents will start July 1. When the three-year program is full, it will have 18 residents. (Garloch, 11/17)

The Orlando Sentinel: JSA Opening Two New Clinics For Medicare Beneficiaries
Starting on Dec. 1, Medicare beneficiaries will have access to two new primary care clinics in Orlando. The clinics are run by JSA Medical Group and are located in Fern Park and Conway. What's different about these medical offices is that they have activity centers, which are open to Medicare patients and the public. The centers offer dancing, yoga, stretching and computer classes. (Miller, 11/16)

The Connecticut Mirror: The Story In Charts: Who Still Smokes?
Smoking is down significantly across the country, and the rate is even lower in Connecticut. But the overall picture masks significant disparities in who the remaining smokers are. The group is heavily weighted toward those with the least education, lowest incomes, gays and lesbians, people who are covered by Medicaid or uninsured, and those with a disability. (Levin Becker, 11/18)

Bloomberg: Deductibles Are The Price You Pay For Obamacare
This weekend, in the New York Times, Robert Pear wrote about the high deductibles of the exchange policies that most people are buying. ... This is actually good insurance design. Insurance that covers routine expenses isn’t really insurance; it’s a sort of inefficiently expensive prepayment plan. If Obamacare forces people away from "first dollar" coverage with low or no deductible, and toward plans that cover people only for unanticipated emergencies, that would be a win for economic logic. The problem with this is twofold: First, unless they’re pegged to income, high deductibles are regressive, forcing the poorest people to pay the largest share of their income. And second, people absolutely hate economically logical health-care plans. This is why you see unions giving up quite a lot of other concessions on wages and benefits in order to keep those gold-plated health-care plans. (Megan McArdle, 11/17)

The Tennessean: New Rule Gives Medicare Beneficiaries More Control In End-Of-Life Care
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that Medicare will begin paying physicians and other practitioners to discuss advance care planning, effective Jan. 1, 2016. Advance care planning marks a critical step forward in ensuring that care delivery aligns with individual goals, values and preferences .... In 2013, nearly 70 percent of people who died in Tennessee were age 65 and older, making Medicare the largest insurer of health care provided during the last year of life. In fact, almost 30 percent of all Medicare dollars nationwide are paid during the last year of life .... This money is often spent to keep a patient alive far past the hope of recovery. (Edie Rimas and Ben Gardner, 11/17)

The New York Times: Why I Provide Abortions
In public health, you go where the crisis is. If there is an outbreak and you have the ability to relieve suffering, you rush to the site of the need. This is why, a year and a half ago, I returned to my hometown, Birmingham, Ala., to provide abortions. For the previous two years, I had been flying to the South from Chicago to provide care to women whose access to abortion services was limited to a few clinics, despite the fact that abortions are deemed legal by the Supreme Court. These women face harsh life circumstances and incessant hostility, merely for wanting to exercise their rights. (Willie J. Parker, 11/18)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Heading Into Substance Abuse Special Session, Some Bipartisan Agreement On Policy Priorities
With all of the recent posturing at the State House, it might be easy to assume that Gov. Maggie Hassan and Republicans in the Legislature are having trouble finding common ground on how best to tackle substance abuse. But, as lawmakers gear up for a special session devoted to New Hampshire’s opioid epidemic, that’s not necessarily the case. Yes, Republican leaders at first resisted Hassan’s calls for a special legislative session and have warned that she’s taking too heavy-handed an approach in pushing her proposals. They want to set up a task force to study possible solutions to the state’s substance abuse crisis, with the goal of passing a bill as early as possible when the regular session resumes in January. (11/17)