Bloomberg: Why 27 Million Are Still Uninsured Under Obamacare
One key to stabilizing the law is drawing in more of those who are uninsured, particularly the younger, healthier ones. In fact, young people are the most likely to go uninsured, according to a detailed analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The analysis shows that those who lack insurance cut across age and income and vary from state to state. Taking a look at who these people are can give clues to how the health law is falling short, and what can be done to fix it. (Diamond, Tracer and Whiteaker, 10/19)

Morning Consult: Analysis: Less Than Half Of Uninsured Eligible For Federal Assistance
Less than half of the approximately 27 million uninsured people in the U.S. are eligible for federal financial assistance, an analysis released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows. Roughly 11.7 million, or 43 percent of that population, are not taking advantage of some sort of federal assistance to get health insurance that they are eligible for, according to the analysis. That assistant may be in the form of a subsidy to purchase a policy on the Affordable Care Act exchange or a Medicaid plan a consumer is eligible for but not signed up for. (McIntire, 10/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Rate Increases For Health Plans Pose Serious Test For Obama’s Signature Law
Finalized rates for big health insurance plans around the country show the magnitude of the challenge facing the Obama administration as it seeks to stabilize the insurance market under the Affordable Care Act in its remaining weeks in office. Market leaders that are continuing to sell coverage through HealthCare.gov or a state equivalent have been granted average premium increases of 30% or more in Alabama, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi and Texas, according to information published by state regulators and on a federal site designed to highlight rate increases of 10% or more. (Radnofsky, 10/18)

The Hill: ObamaCare Experts: Don't Expect Fixes In 2017 
Leading experts on healthcare policy say they’re not holding their breath for major fixes to ObamaCare in the next Congress.“ We shouldn’t hold down great expectations for significant change,” Robert Reischauer, one of two public trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, said Tuesday. “What we should probably do is tamp down the behavior that would make things worse,” he said, referring to six years of Republican attempts to undermine the law. (Ferris, 10/18)

The Hill: Top ObamaCare Lobbyists Reject 'Public Option' Push 
Longtime ObamaCare lobbyists are soundly rejecting one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent healthcare pitches: the public option. Leaders of the nation’s largest hospital, pharmaceutical and insurer trade groups said on Tuesday they wouldn’t support a Clinton administration’s push for a public option without first ensuring the Obamacare marketplaces work. (Ferris, 10/18)

Morning Consult: Top Health Care Lobbyists Push Back On Idea Of Public Option
The leaders of three of D.C.’s top health care advocacy groups suggested they’ll push hard against a public option at a Chamber of Commerce event Tuesday on the Affordable Care Act. Leaders of trade groups representing insurers, hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry speaking together on a panel all rejected a public option, and said that officials should instead opt to strengthen the exchanges as they are. Democrats in recent months have pointed to creating a public option in at least some regions of the country that are experiencing a lack of competition on the Affordable Care Act markets. (McIntire, 10/18)

The Hill: Should ObamaCare’s Individual Mandate Penalties, Subsidies Increase? 
Crafting the law’s subsidies to help individuals afford coverage was a potential key to its success. Coupled with the individual mandate to purchase coverage or pay a penalty, the decisions involved hand-wringing over the fee and subsidy structure that could strike just the right chord, yet remain economically feasible, and most importantly, passable by Congress. Six years later, the debate over ObamaCare hasn’t ceased. Critics say the law is fundamentally flawed and nothing short of repeal is needed. But for some policy wonks, the debate is more nuanced. They have analyzed what would make the law work better, and wonder if a higher individual mandate penalty or more generous subsidies would help drive more Americans into the exchanges. (Roubein, 10/18)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: 2015 Financial Results For Affordable Care Act Plans Mixed
Among six Pennsylvania health insurers with at least $50 million in revenue last year from the individual coverage sold under the Affordable Care Act, only two collected more in premiums than they paid in claims, according to Pennsylvania Insurance Department data released Monday. They were Independence Blue Cross and Aetna. The results illustrate the disarray in the ACA insurance markets, as insurers have struggled to accurately price insurance for a population that has proven to be a moving target. (Brubaker, 10/18)

The Fiscal Times: Open Enrollment Is Here: 5 Steps To Pick The Right Health Care Benefits 
It's open enrollment season again, when employers announce health benefit options for next year and provide an opportunity for employees to make changes to their plans. While choosing your health care benefits may not top your list of favorite activities -‑ nearly three quarters of employees say reading about benefits is long, complicated or stressful, according to a new report from Aflac -- it’s one of the most important financial decisions that you make. (Braverman, 10/19)

Modern Healthcare: They're With Her? These Are Likely Picks For Health Posts In A Clinton White House 
If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency Nov. 8, she will quickly name people to top health policy positions who are diverse in gender, race, and ethnicity, have sharp political and administrative skills, and can work in a bipartisan way, Democratic political insiders say. Some names floated as likely contenders for HHS Secretary, CMS administrator and other posts include former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Neera Tanden, Chris Jennings, Ann O'Leary, Dr. Atul Gawande, and Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey. While some hope Sylvia Mathews Burwell will continue on as secretary, that's seen as unlikely. (Meyer, 10/18)

Reuters: How Trump, Clinton Would Fix The 'Crazy' U.S. Health System
When former President Bill Clinton called parts of Obamacare "crazy," he put his wife Hillary Clinton on the defensive and gave much-needed ammunition to her Republican rival for the presidency, Donald Trump, who wants to scrap it. ... Still, Clinton's comments may not have been so crazy. He put a spotlight on an uncomfortable truth: after six years, billions of dollars and a sweeping reform that stands as Obama's single biggest domestic policy achievement, health care is still unaffordable for many Americans. (Humer and Stephenson, 10/18)

Modern Healthcare: Trump's Plan For Fighting Drug Abuse Raises Fears Of A War On Drugs 2.0 
Public health experts say Donald Trump's plan to curb opioid addiction sounds like a throwback to the war on drugs that some say resulted in mass incarceration instead of treatment. The Republican presidential nominee unveiled several initiatives during a speech in New Hampshire, which has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic. Among the ideas is increasing mandatory minimum prison sentences for serious drug offenders. Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, has instituted similar policies in his state. Experts say the idea has not worked there and instead has disproportionately incarcerated minorities. (Johnson, 10/18)

CNN: WikiLeaks Hack Brings Medicare And Social Security Debate To The Forefront
A closed-door speech to Morgan Stanley in 2013, revealed in hacked emails posted by WikiLeaks, could stoke new questions for Hillary Clinton Wednesday night about whether she truly believes in the fiscal sustainability of the promises she is making on the campaign trail. In the speech, Clinton referred to the 2010 Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan as "the right framework," a stance that is seemingly at odds with her 2016 platform. Throughout the year, Clinton has been decidedly to the left of Simpson-Bowles, which called for a series of changes, including raising the Social Security retirement age from 67 to 69, cutting the growth of future benefits and considering a change in the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 if health care costs grow faster than expected. (Davis, 10/18)

In other 2016 election news from the states —

Los Angeles Times: Bucking His Detractors, The Controversial Leader Of An L.A. AIDS Nonprofit Sets His Sights On The National Political Stage
In a state as expensive as California, and during a political year as crowded as 2016, most organizations would struggle to sponsor just one ballot measure. Fighting on two fronts is often reserved for the most formidable interest groups. But that’s just what the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation is doing this year. (Mai-Duc and Panzar, 10/19)

Morning Consult: HHS Defends Speed Of Zika Money Distribution
Department of Health and Human Services officials on Tuesday pushed back on questions about why the department wasn’t prepared to distribute funding to respond to the Zika virus as soon as Congress allocated the funding. “There is a process for being able to spend money within the federal level within guidelines,” said Kevin Griffis, the assistant secretary of public affairs at HHS said on a call with reporters Tuesday, adding that the department has shown “the seriousness with which we have approached this health challenge.” (McIntire, 10/18)

In other Zika news —

Houston Chronicle: Baylor Researchers Study Houston Zika Patient To Learn How The Virus Spreads 
The months-long study of a single patient highlights the desperate efforts of researchers here and across the U.S. to better understand Zika, which causes microcephaly, a birth defect in which children have malformed heads and severely stunted brain development. Because the woman in the study sought medical care within a few days of returning, the researchers were able to collect their first samples hours before fever set in, giving them a rare opportunity to trace the virus from the onset of symptoms. One important finding: Zika was detected in vaginal secretions for 14 days after onset, indicating the disease can be passed from a female sexual partner for up to two weeks. (Hixenbaugh, 10/18)

Stat: Primary Care Doctors Are Staying Out Of The Fight Against Opioids
The scarcity of doctors trained to deal with addiction may be particularly acute in Española, but the issue resonates in cities and towns across the country, where roughly 20,000 people die annually from opioid-related overdoses. In the face of one of the country’s most pressing and fastest-growing public health crises, few primary care doctors treat substance abuse disorders, even though they are uniquely positioned to recognize problems and help patients before it’s too late. Instead, many primary care doctors follow an old script: Refer patients to addiction centers and Narcotics Anonymous, and move on. (Tedeschi, 10/19)

In other news about the epidemic —

Stat: New Jersey Attorney General Warns Of Prescription Fentanyl Danger
The New Jersey attorney general is seeking to suspend the medical license of a doctor who prescribed the powerful painkiller fentanyl to a patient who later fatally overdosed. Attorney General Christopher Porrino also warned other physicians on Monday to use extreme caution in prescribing the drug, marketed as Subsys. The complaint against Dr. Vivienne Matalon of Cherry Hill, N.J., also announced Monday, comes amid concerns that many physicians are inappropriately prescribing Subsys to patients for whom it’s not intended, putting them in danger and helping to further fuel the epidemic of opioid abuse in the country. (Armstrong, 10/17)

Kaiser Health News: Organ Donation And The Opioid Epidemic: ‘An Unexpected Life-Saving Legacy’
On the final day of June 2015, Colin LePage rode waves of hope and despair. It started when LePage found his 30-year-old son, Chris, at home after an apparent overdose. Paramedics rushed Chris by helicopter to one of Boston’s flagship medical centers. Doctors revived Chris’s heart, but struggled to stabilize his temperature and blood pressure. At some point, a doctor or nurse mentioned to LePage that his son had agreed to be an organ donor. (Bebinger, 10/19)

Stat: NIH Gives Boost To LGBT Research, Once Seen As ‘Disposable’
The National Institute of Minority Health Disparities (NIMHD) this month classified sexual and gender minorities as a health disparity population — that is, a group whose health is significantly worse than the general population in terms of disease and mortality. [LGBT health researcher Kellan] Baker, who regularly meets with the [National Institutes of Health] on issues of LGBT health policy, said that the Center for American Progress has been pushing for this classification for almost a decade.Though it does not allocate any additional funding, the classification means that LGBT research will now be eligible for health disparity funding from any institute within the NIH. (Wetsman, 10/18)

WBUR: How 'Deprescribing' Could Change Your Medical Routine 
There’s an old problem in medicine. Too many meds in your drug cabinet. Some you don’t need anymore, some are interacting and making you feel worse. Then bingo, you get a new prescription to cure that. Or you grab some over-the-counter fix. Now, there’s a push to take millions of Americans off their meds. (Clayson, 10/18)

WBUR: New Science On Gut Bacteria And Allergies
Are kids too clean today? One of the big new fronts in medical research is the study of the microbiome, and how the galaxy of germs in our bodies keep us healthy.  More and more research shows that infants who are supposed to germs have fewer allergies. (10/18)

Los Angeles Times: More Than Half Of U.S. Kids Don't Get Dental Sealants, And The CDC Wants Schools To Change That
How can elementary schools save nearly $50 per student? By bringing in dental professionals to put sealants on their molars, federal health officials said Tuesday. If that doesn’t sound like an education-related problem, consider this: Cavities that go untreated cause kids to do worse in school. (Kaplan, 10/18)

The Washington Post: On Planned Parenthood’s 100th Birthday, Four Surprising Ways Birth Control Has Changed
One hundred years ago last Sunday, nurse Margaret Sanger opened the nation's first birth control clinic on Amboy Street in Brooklyn. For a 10-cent fee, visitors were given a pamphlet — “What Every Girl Should Know" — and a tutorial on the female reproductive system and how to use various contraceptives, according to a New York University project about Sanger’s legacy. That clinic eventually evolved into Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit organization that is credited with making reproductive health a priority for all and that treats millions of people in its clinics each year. (Cha, 10/18)

In other women's health news —

Dallas Morning News: Do Mammograms Cause More Problems Than They Detect? 
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that breast cancer screening using mammograms leads to unnecessary overtreatment of non-harmful breast lumps. Researchers found that for every woman who may have had her life saved by a mammogram, four women were found to have tumors that may never have become serious. What’s the big deal, you may be thinking? Well for those four women, a false positive mammogram result can lead to a long road of biopsies, tests and unnecessary medical interventions. These tests come with their own risks including bleeding, infection and anxiety. (Yasmin, 10/18)

The Associated Press: Michigan Health Chief Is Target In Flint Criminal Probe
Michigan’s top public health official is a target in the criminal investigation of Flint’s water crisis that has led to charges against nine government employees, his lawyer said Tuesday. Nick Lyon, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services and a member of Gov. Rick Snyder’s Cabinet, received a letter in early September from investigators indicating he is a focus, attorney Larry Willey said. (Eggert, 10/18)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Health Director Lyon Targeted In Flint Water Criminal Probe
The state's health department director is a target of the criminal investigation into Flint's water crisis and received a subpoena Tuesday ordering him to produce documents about his official role and responsibilities, according to his lawyer. Nick Lyon was told last month by state investigators that he is a focus of the investigation by the office of state Attorney General Bill Schuette, said Lyon's lawyer Larry Willey of the Grand Rapids criminal defense firm Willey & Chamberlain. (Dolan, 10/18)

In other news from Flint —

The Wall Street Journal: Flint Suit Seeks Aid For Students Due To Water Crisis
A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Flint, Mich., alleges that public-school students affected by the city’s lead-tainted water crisis are being denied special education services. Fifteen children are named as plaintiffs in the suit filed in U.S. District Court against the Michigan Department of Education, Flint Community Schools and the Genesee Intermediate School District. (Hobbs, 10/18)

Chicago Tribune: Patient Information At Mercy Hospital Potentially Exposed
The personal information of more than 500 patients at Chicago's Mercy Hospital & Medical Center has been potentially exposed, the hospital announced in recent days. The hospital recently notified 547 affected patients after discovering the breach in August. The breach occurred after an outside billing service for the hospital lost Mercy documents, according to the hospital. So far, Mercy has not received any reports of the information being accessed or used improperly. (Schencker, 10/18)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: CHOP Exploring Telemedicine Deal For Native Americans
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Indian Health Service, a unit of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are exploring the creation of a telehealth program for American Indians and Alaska Native children, the two organizations said Tuesday. As part of a memorandum of understanding, CHOP and the Indian Health Service, which services 2.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives, will develop a pediatric telemedicine plan for the Navajo areas of Phoenix, Tuscon, and Albuquerque, all in Arizona. (Brubaker, 10/18)

Des Moines Register: Marshalltown Hospital, Swimming In Red Ink, Tries Not To Drown
Marshalltown’s hospital is struggling to stay afloat, after potential partners backed out of a plan to turn it into a for-profit venture. Central Iowa Healthcare has recently dismissed its chief executive officer, laid off 12 other employees and scrambled to replace emergency department physicians who quit. The hospital, formerly known as Marshalltown Medical and Surgical Center, had operating expenses of $79 million last year, but operating revenues of just $59 million, according to a recent audit report. (Leys, 10/18)

Dallas Morning News: Methodist Health Denies Claims That It Docks Nurses' Lunch Pay 
Methodist Health denies allegations that its hospitals routinely dock non-exempt nurses of pay for lunch breaks they never take during busy shifts. A nurse filed a collective action lawsuit in August, saying the system’s automatic meal deduction policy fails to properly compensate staff for hours they actually work. The hospital questioned the accuracy of the plaintiff’s “interpretation of the relevant facts” and asked that the charges be dropped in a 20-page response sent to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas last week. (Rice, 10/18)

Chicago Tribune: Franciscan Health Names South Side Native As New CEO Of Two Hospitals
A native Chicagoan who has spent his career in health care administration outside the Chicago area is returning home to run the Franciscan Health hospitals in Olympia Fields and Chicago Heights. Allan M. Spooner, 49, who grew up in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood and graduated from the former Mendel Catholic High School in Roseland, has been named the new president and chief executive officer at both south suburban hospitals. (Koeske, 10/18)

Houston Chronicle: Major CHI St. Luke's Acquisition Announced 
CHI St. Luke's Health hopes to significantly expand its footprint in the north Houston region with the acquisition of a physician group, a small hospital system, an ambulatory surgery system and two freestanding emergency room centers, officials announced Tuesday. More than 100 physicians from the Greater Houston Physicians Medical Association, one of the largest multispecialty physician groups in north Houston, will be folded into the CHI St. Luke's Health network starting Nov. 1. The agreement also includes 25 affiliated clinics and medical group locations, the hospital said. (Deam, 10/18)

Georgia Health News: Many Georgia Doctors Are Dissatisfied, Survey Shows
Georgia’s physicians are slightly more pessimistic about the future of medicine than their counterparts nationally, a recent survey found. Two of three Georgia doctors — 66.8 percent — said they were somewhat negative/pessimistic or very negative/pessimistic about medicine’s future, versus 62.8 percent of doctors  nationally, according to a survey of more than 17,000 physicians around the nation. (Miller, 10/18)

The Washington Post: D.C. Council Advances Right-To-Die Legislation; Will Debate And Vote Next Month
The D.C. Council will take up legislation to allow doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill residents on Nov. 1, lawmakers decided Tuesday. The council opted to put the matter on its legislative agenda at the start of next month, when it will hold the first of two required votes on the bill. (Nirappil, 10/18)

New Hampshire Times Union: Manchester Aldermen Say Yes To Sex Change Coverage 
City aldermen voted Tuesday to offer transgender-inclusive health-care benefits — such as sex change surgery — to municipal employees and their families covered under city health insurance plans. The vote was 10-2 in favor, with Alderman At Large Joseph Kelly Levasseur abstaining until he could receive more information...Aldermen took up the matter in response to a request from Human Resources Director Jane Gile asking the city to instruct health insurance provider Anthem to “remove all transgender exclusions or limitations of coverage for all health services related to gender transition from the templates of the city’s medical benefit plan.” (Feely, 10/18)

Chicago Tribune: Nearly 370 Waukegan Students Still Do Not Meet State Vaccine Requirements
Nearly 370 of Waukegan School District 60's 17,000 students were set to be excluded from the classroom Monday morning, a district spokesman said. That's because those students haven't gotten their state-mandated vaccines or haven't submitted the paperwork showing that they have a religious or medical exemption or that they didn't have an appointment scheduled by the state's Oct. 15 deadline, district spokesman Nick Alajakis said. Another 100 students have not received their vaccines but have appointments scheduled. (Coleman, 10/18)

Chicago Tribune: Abbott, St. Jude Medical To Divest Products In Bid To Appease Regulators 
Abbott Laboratories and St. Jude Medical will divest several products in an attempt to satisfy regulators examining Abbott's acquisition of the medical device company. Abbott, based in north suburban Abbott Park, and Minnesota-based St. Jude will sell the products to Terumo Corp. for $1.12 billion. The Japanese company sells medical devices and pharmaceutical products. Abbott spokeswoman Darcy Ross said Abbott expects its $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude to close by the end of the year, though the deal still awaits regulatory approval. (Schencker, 10/18)

Los Angeles Times: UC Irvine Health Workers Picket Medical Center Over Layoffs
More than 100 UC Irvine Health workers used their work break or their day off Tuesday to picket at UCI Medical Center in Orange in response to 175 employee layoffs that began this month. UC Irvine Health's chief executive, Howard Federoff, informed staff of the layoffs through an email Oct. 3. Previous expense reductions and increased revenue through growth of the organization's clinical services have "not been enough to avoid reductions in staff," Federoff said in the email. (Chan, 10/18)

Houston Chronicle: Physical Therapy Executives Convicted In Houston Of Fraud, Money Laundering 
Three top executives at a physical therapy company were convicted this week by a federal jury in Houston of conspiracy, health care fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. After a five-week trial and 14 hours of deliberation before U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein, Jr., the jury on Monday convicted three officials from Team Work Ready, which operates clinics in five states, including Texas and Louisiana, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Ken Magidson in Houston. (Banks, 10/18)

Houston Chronicle: Johnson & Johnson, Texas Medical Center Join Forces To Develop Medical Devices In Houston
Johnson & Johnson Innovation announced Tuesday that it has created the Center for Device Innovation at Texas Medical Center to speed up development of "breakthrough" medical devices. CDI will consist of a new medical device engineering studio with a staff of researchers and developers, and will have access to preclinical facilities at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute and Texas Heart Institute, according to a statement from Johnson & Johnson. The goal is to more quickly move new medical technology development from concept to reality and commercialization. (Smith, 10/18)

California Healthline: New California Law Will More Finely Parse Health Data On Asians
For years, the state has used a limited number of categories to map out health trends among Asian ethnic groups. People of Taiwanese descent may have been folded into the Chinese demographic group in identifying death, disease and pregnancy rates. Fijian people were lumped into the category of “other Asian.” But thanks to a new law, the California Department of Public Health will add categories so that people of many more ancestries, such as Bangladeshi or Hmong, can self-report their ethnic group more specifically and accurately. (Bartolone, 10/19)

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State Part Of Major Clinical Trial On Leukemia 
When Judy Moyer was diagnosed in 2015 with the most lethal form of blood cancer, she underwent a treatment plan that has barely improved in 40 years. Less than 20 percent of patients older than 60 with acute myeloid leukemia — a disease of the blood and bone marrow — survive beyond five years. Yet the traditional regimen of toxic chemotherapies developed to combat it in 1973 has remained largely unchanged... But by the end of the year, the OSU center will help launch a massive, nationwide clinical trial that eventually could grow to encompass up to 20 medical sites and test as many as 10 experimental treatments for AML. (Renault, 10/19)

Orlando Sentinel/Tampa Bay Tribune: Orange County Implementing App To Increase Citizen CPR 
Soon, Orange County residents with a PulsePoint app will also be able to rush to the help of nearby individuals in cardiac arrest. At a cost of $100,000 for five years, the county is integrating the app's software to its 911 dispatch system and expects to roll it out within the next six months." With people nearby and the AEDs out there, this really helps as a connection point," said Chief Otto Drozd of Orange County Fire Rescue Department. "It really has the potential to save lives. "When there's a cardiac arrest in a public area, the app is activated via the 911 system and sends an alert to nearby users who have the app on their phone and can perform CPR. It also shows the location of nearby automatic defibrillators. (Miller, 10/18)

The Associated Press: Mental Health Center Says It Wasn’t Contacted Before Crashes
A community mental health agency disputes a police account that someone contacted it before a man drove the wrong way on an interstate, causing crashes that killed five teenagers and injured several other people. Police said the man, Steven Bourgoin, visited a hospital three times hours before the crashes and was seen by a physician’s assistant and a mental health center was called but didn’t screen him. The account is in a statement from a state trooper who investigated the crashes. (Rathke, 10/18)

Boston Globe: Why Marijuana Opposition Is So Effective In Liberal Mass. 
Massachusetts legalizers are facing the most organized and powerful cannabis opposition in the country, not to mention divisions within their own pro-marijuana ranks. What’s more, some say the Question 4 campaign’s responses to these challenges have at times made matters worse. So, will next year’s Freedom Rally be a victory lap — or a eulogy for a campaign that went up in smoke? (Warner, 10/18)

Boston Globe: Cardinal O’Malley Hosts Interfaith Strategy Session Against Marijuana Legalization Ballot Question
Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley met with more than 40 interfaith leaders Tuesday to discuss strategies to defeat a state ballot measure that would legalize recreational use of marijuana. The Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston warned that making marijuana legal would exacerbate the opioid epidemic, entice more children to use drugs, hurt poor neighborhoods, and threaten public safety. (Wangsness, 10/19)

Orlando Sentinel/Tampa Bay Tribune: Senior Enclaves Open In Family-Style Projects 
Technology and home-delivery services have made aging in place more viable. The home-building industry has responded with new products they hope will entice aging buyers to leave their existing homes for communities that cater to them but still connect with a potential support system of family members and others. Stakes are high with demand from buyers age 55 and older expected to reach almost 250,000 homes a year by 2020, according to the National Association of Home Builders. (Shanklin, 10/18)

Stat: Treat Pharma As A Utility, And 10 Other Ways States Can Lower Drug Prices
As prescription drug costs continue to squeeze state budgets, a group of state health policy makers is offering some novel — and also some familiar — suggestions for coping. These include regulating the pharmaceutical industry as a utility, allowing states to operate as pharmacy benefit managers and waiving some provisions of the Medicaid program. In a paper released on Tuesday, the National Academy for State Health Policy also recommends that states pursue laws that require more transparency from drug makers. (Silverman, 10/18)

USA Today: Generic Drugs Saved $230 Billion In 2015, But Some Prices Rise Too
Generic drugs have not been immune from some of the big price hikes their brand name counterparts have, but a report to be released Wednesday shows generic costs are still declining overall even as more are sold. Last year, generic drugs made up 88% of prescriptions filled and 28% of total drug spending.  This year, the percent of prescriptions increased to 89% while the percent of overall spending dropped to 27%, according to the report by the Generic Pharmaceutical Association. (O'Donnell, 10/18)

Marketplace: Data Shows Drug Prices Spiked Seven Percent Last Year
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released new inflation numbers today. Turns out consumer goods are about 1.5 percent more expensive today than they were last fall. It’s the usual culprits — gas, housing. But deep among the data was a figure which grabbed our attention. Prescription drugs have gone up 7 percent since last year — the highest annual increase since 1992. (Gornstein, 10/18)

The Fiscal Times: The Most Expensive Prescription Drugs In America 
More than three-quarters of Americans now say that prescription drug costs are unreasonable, and most support regulatory changes aimed at controlling drug price hikes and increasing transparency around how pharmaceutical firms set prices, according to a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Americans spent an average of $858 per person on prescription drugs in 2013, according to the most recent data from the Organisation for Economic Development, a figure that has likely gone up since then given recent trends in medical expenditures. That’s more than twice the average amount spent per capita in 19 other industrialized nations included in the report. (Braverman, 10/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson Brushes Off Looming Biosimilar Competition, Posts Solid Results
Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday sought to reassure investors and analysts that lower-priced competition for one of its top-selling products won’t slow a company that posted slightly better-than-expected results in the third quarter. The health-products company said world-wide sales in the quarter grew by 4.2%, to $17.8 billion. The company reported profit of $4.27 billion, or $1.53 a share, up from $3.36 billion, or $1.20 a share, in the same period a year ago. (Rockoff and Steele, 10/18)

FiercePharma: Clinton Campaign's 'War With Pharma!!' Went Official With Last Year's Stock-Busting Tweet: WikiLeaks
When a single tweet from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sent biopharma shares tumbling last fall, her campaign staff reacted with glee. Soon after, former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cheered Clinton on, too. Industry watchers know what’s happened since--Clinton has rolled out a series of proposals to control drug prices, and one of her follow-up tweets in August triggered another selloff in biotech shares. Now, thanks to WikiLeaks, we know some of the behind-the-scenes chatter in the Clinton campaign as her pharma-pricing crusade began. (Staton, 10/17)

Bloomberg: Sanders’ Tweet On Drugmaker Ariad’s ‘Greed’ Sends Stock Plunging
A 114-character tweet from Senator Bernie Sanders’ twitter account cost Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. investors as much as $387 million on Friday afternoon. “Drug corporations’ greed is unbelievable. Ariad has raised the price of a leukemia drug to almost $199,000 a year,” said the tweet, linking to an article about the drugmaker written by Stat News. The shares slumped as much as 15 percent, the biggest intraday decline in more than a year, and traded down 12 percent to $11.51 at 2:52 p.m. in New York. (Bloomfield, 10/14)

FiercePharma: Sanders Rallies For California Drug Pricing Crackdown That Pharma's Eager To Defeat
While many pharma watchers are closely focused on the headlining presidential race this election season, a vote coming in California poses a big risk to the industry.Despised by drugmakers, the referendum is getting big-name backing from former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who blasted pharmas at a series of rallies this weekend.California’s Proposition 61 would require that the state buy its prescription drugs at a price no higher than that charged by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. That would be a big hit to pharma, because California is the nation's most populous state. (Sagonowsky, 10/17)

FiercePharma: Valeant Defends Its Latest Round Of Price Increases -- But Critics Aren't Buying It
Valeant said, its overall pricing moves across its pharma portfolio “represent an increase of less than 2.0%” within the calendar year and on a forward-looking, annualized basis “are in line with the 2016 Consumer Price Index of 2.3%. ”Not everyone’s buying it, though. “While the company seems to us to be trying to position this as some sort of modest increase, we note that these price increases come on top of excessive price increases taken in previous years,” Wells Fargo analyst David Maris wrote in a note to clients. “We do not think a company that raises the price on a product by 50% one year and then commits to mid-single digits the following year is somehow not relying on a price-driven strategy.” (Helfand, 10/17)

Bloomberg: Valeant Cuts Ties With Pharmacy That Distributed Antidepressant
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. is ending its relationship with a mail-order pharmacy helped sell one of several older drugs it has acquired and raised prices on. The pharmacy, Direct Success Inc., was used by Valeant to distribute the antidepressant Wellbutrin XL. Valeant, in a statement, confirmed the end of the relationship, although it said the pharmacy only handled about 5 percent of the sales of the product last year. The change was first noted by David Maris, an analyst with Wells Fargo & Co. (Hopkins, 10/17)

Stat: Drug Maker Fined For Shorting Supplies Of Cancer Drugs In Order To Raise Prices
Italian antitrust authorities last Friday fined Aspen Pharmacare, a large drug maker based in South Africa, nearly $5.5 million for halting supplies of several cancer drugs as a negotiating tactic designed to boost prices by as much as 1,500 percent. (Silverman, 10/17)

Stat: Doctors Without Borders Chastises Pfizer For Refusing To Lower Vaccine Price
In a pointed rebuke to Pfizer, Doctors Without Borders has rejected an offer by the big drug maker to donate 1 million doses of a pneumonia vaccine because such a move might “undermine long-term efforts” to increase access for people in poor countries. Instead, the organization pushed once again for Pfizer to lower its price. (Silverman, 10/13)

NPR: West Virginia Grapples With High Drug Costs
Skyrocketing prices for essential medicines like the EpiPen, are generating public outcry, congressional hearings and political promises for policy fixes. In the meantime, the increases continue to hit pocketbooks — even of people who don't rely on these expensive drugs. In a state like West Virginia, where dire budget shortfalls have been a problem over the last few years, the problem is especially pronounced. (Lofton, 10/15)

Stat: HHS Is Urged To Allow A Drug Maker To Export Cheap Versions Of Pricey Cancer Med
More than 50 advocacy organizations are urging the federal government to allow a small Canadian company to make a generic version of a cancer medicine and sell it to poor countries. In a Oct. 17 letter to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the groups argue that the company, Biolyse, should be allowed to sell a version of the Xtandi prostate cancer treatment to low- and middle-income countries because federally funded research was used to create the drug. In their view, the government holds a royalty-free license and can allow a third party to then market a generic. (Silverman, 10/17)

CBS News: The Pain Of Higher Drug Prices - 7 Biggest Price Hikes For Medicare's Costliest Drugs
Ask any American about the price of prescription medications, and many will either have a story about their own rapidly rising drug costs or those suffered by friends and family members. About eight out 10 Americans say prescription drug costs are unreasonable, up from roughly seven out of 10 a year ago, according to a recent poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation. On top of that, consumers also support measures to keep costs down, ranging from allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices to placing caps on annual price hikes. (Picchi, 10/13)

Modern Healthcare: Cuban Pharmaceutical Imports To U.S. Could Lead To Lower Drug Prices
Industry experts say the Obama administration's decision to lift a ban on importing Cuban pharmaceuticals and collaborating with the nation's researchers could bring the nation's cheaper, reputable medicines to the U.S. if they're approved by the Food and Drug Administration. (Rubenfire, 10/17)

Stat: Insurers Pay More For Multiple Sclerosis Drug Because Rebates Don't Help
Drug makers may offer rebates to payers, but health plans continue to see notable increases in costs for prescription medicines, according to a report by the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. And this has been especially true for one particularly costly group of medicines used to treat multiple sclerosis. (Silverman, 10/13)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Group Looks At Ways To Rein In Pa.'s Prescription Drug Costs
No one this side of Medicare struggles with prescription drug costs more than state governments. On Tuesday, a group of state health policy experts gathered in Pittsburgh offered wide-ranging options for throttling those costs — from options as simple as bulk purchasing of drugs to something as dramatic as regulating the pharmaceutical industry as if it were a public utility. (Twedt, 10/19)

Stat: Medicare Shouldn't Pay More For Drugs When Others Pay Less
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump don’t see eye-to-eye on much. But they do agree that drug costs are spiraling out of control at the public’s expense. Both the Democratic and the Republican candidates for president have said that Medicare should be able to negotiate drug prices, something that currently isn’t allowed by law. Letting Medicare do that — which the Department of Veterans Affairs and other countries have been doing for years — has the potential to transform health care. (Brian C. Callaghan and Lindsey de Lott, 10/18)

Sacramento Bee: A High-Stakes Game Of Chicken On Drug Prices
California’s state government spends about $4 billion a year on prescription drugs – for low-income people in the Medi-Cal program, as well as state employees, retirees and prison inmates. Shouldn’t taxpayers be getting the best deal possible for their money? (Daniel Weintraub, 10/17)

Bloomberg: Valeant Is Poised To Disappoint
Valeant seems to be better at boosting drug prices than its own stock price. The embattled specialty pharma firm's shares have tumbled 28 percent from a peak of more than $31 in August. That month, the company enjoyed a string of rare positive headlines, including a 2016 revenue forecast that surprised investors by holding steady instead of being cut for the umpteenth time. (Max Nisen, 10/14)

Fortune: Valeant Raises Drug Prices Again, Argues New Hikes Are 'Responsible'
Valeant Pharmaceuticals helped catalyze the ongoing backlash to pharma’s drug pricing habits. Now, the company is trying to defend its latest price hikes as more responsible than the huge increases which got it in hot water in the first place. Valeant announced late Friday that it’s raising the prices of several products in its neurology, gut drug, and urology treatment franchises. These spikes will be limited to single digits, according to the firm. (Valeant’s price hikes on old treatments have exceeded 500% and even 1,000% in some cases.) (Sy Mukherjee, 10/17)

Stat: EpiPen Maker Tries Yet Another Tactic To Boost Profits
Among the many questionable tactics Mylan Pharmaceuticals has pursued to boost EpiPen sales has been a surreptitious lobbying campaign to have its device added to a coveted list of preventive services that is maintained by the federal government. Here’s why this matters: If Mylan succeeds in getting EpiPen on that list, consumers would not have to make copayments, leaving insurers or government agencies to pick up that cost. That sounds like a good deal for patients. But by taking their wallets out of the equation, Mylan minimizes the chance of a public backlash to its pricing. It could likely keep raising the price of EpiPen — largely unnoticed. (Ed Silverman, 10/18)

The Hill: Pharmacy Benefit Managers: Part Of The Solution To High Drug Prices
Recently, three changes in the health care terrain collided to raise new concerns over rising drug prices: the advent of new high-priced “wonder drugs” like Sovaldi; revelations that Turing Pharmaceuticals and others bought the rights to low-cost drugs in order to re-price them at higher levels, and the enrollment of millions in the new ACA Exchange high-deductible plans, which enabled consumers to see the real price of drugs, not just the copays. (Mark Merritt, 10/17)

The New England Journal Of Medicine: Undermining Value-Based Purchasing — Lessons From The Pharmaceutical Industry
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a goal of linking at least 50% of Medicare spending to value-based payment models such as accountable care organizations.1 Health care providers are now scrambling to reorganize in a way that delivers value while preserving or enhancing commercial success. Although it’s not yet clear how providers will respond to value-based payment models, an examination of pharmaceutical industry practices can provide insights into problems that may arise — and practices to avoid. (Leemore S. Dafny, Christopher J. Ody, and Matthew A. Schmitt, 10/12)

Forbes: Leaked Clinton Memo Acknowledges Obamacare's Exchanges Are Failing
WikiLeaks published a stunning memo, dated November 23, 2015, to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, the chairman of her campaign, from Chris Jennings, the former Deputy Assistant to President Obama for Health Policy, about serious problems with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Though intended only for internal viewing, the document is now in the public domain. Similar to the Jonathan Gruber statement of how policymakers intentionally mischaracterized key ACA provisions because of the “stupidity of the American voter,” this memo shows how ACA supporters’ public optimism contrasts with private concern about the law and a need to change course. According to Jennings, “the health insurer and enrollee participation issues in the exchanges are, at best, disconcerting. There are also adverse risk selection and health plan payment issues that are equally troubling and merit scrutiny.” (Brian Blase, 10/18)

Modern Healthcare: Despite Doom And Gloom, Experts See Solutions To ACA Exchange Woes
On Friday, actuaries across the country will offer proposals via Twitter to the problems facing the Affordable Care Act exchanges. It's the start of a competition sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Milliman to develop ideas for improving the performance of the nation's struggling individual insurance market. (Harris Meyer, 10/18)

Stat: Stop Insurers From Making End Runs Around Patients With Preexisting Conditions
For years, insurers dropped sick people from their plans or denied coverage due to preexisting conditions like cancer, keeping them from the care and medicines they needed. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was supposed to make it unlawful for insurers to refuse coverage to such individuals or charge them more for health insurance. But it is still happening. No longer able to keep patients off their plans outright, insurers have resorted to other ways to discriminate and avoid paying for necessary treatments. Specifically, they have imposed specialty tiers and high copays or coinsurance for prescription drugs that effectively force sick people to delay needed care or to find a different health plan. So much for the end of preexisting conditions. (Ron Cohen, 10/19)

RealClear Health: Big Tobacco 2.0: Time To Get Smart About Marijuana Reform
Marijuana legalization is on the ballot in five states this November. Many perceive these measures as aimed at ending a racially-biased war on drugs, or boosting tax revenue for education and infrastructure. However, a closer read of the actual initiatives reveals a different reality: These ideals, while important, are simply not reflected in the text of the initiatives themselves. Instead, an exploitative new industry, reminiscent of Big Tobacco, has hoisted the banner of “Ending the War on Drugs” for an ulterior, but far more straightforward motive—making a lot of money at the expense of public health. (Kevin Saber, 10/18)

The Health Care Blog: The Trust Gap In Healthcare: Findings From The 2016 Healthcare Trust Index
Healthcare is an industry wherein trust is foundational. ... Distrust in providers and payers is a systemic challenge in our system. The data show some organizations perform better than others but pervasive distrust is a problem for all organizations. ... The trust gap between insurers and providers is wide and long-standing. It did not happen overnight nor will it be solved quickly. In the new world order of healthcare, shared risk arrangements between the parties is now the norm. Unless and until distrust is addressed, these efforts will disappoint and results will be negative. (Paul Keckley, 10/18)

Columbus Dispatch: Mental Illness Challenges Courts 
Since the decades-ago emptying of state mental hospitals — a well-meaning but poorly thought-out effort — families and courts have struggled to find a balance: How can they assure that those rendered incapable of making rational decisions will continue their treatment and medication, yet not inflict unnecessary hospitalization? One answer was a 2014 law hailed as a way to empower courts to order outpatient treatment. But roughly two years after, it had yet to help a single family in Franklin County. (10/19)

WBUR: My Last Act Of Love As Her Mother: Aborting A Daughter Who Could Not Survive
In addition to requiring a woman to listen to her baby’s heartbeat, the bill signed by [Indiana Gov. Mike] Pence would also have banned abortions based solely on a fetus’s disability or genetic anomaly. This restriction, had it not been blocked by a federal judge, would also have affected my family. ... I hope that when considering whom to vote for in November, voters look beyond party platforms and ideology and look at the very real impact restrictions on abortion can have on a woman and her family. (Abby Flanagan, 10/18)

USA Today: Vote Against Assisted Suicide In Colorado
[O]n the Colorado ballot this year is Proposition 106, which would legalize doctor-assisted suicide in our state. The End of Life Options Act is modeled after the law passed last year in California. There are a number of reasons to oppose this particular initiative, even if one is not personally opposed to the idea of assisted suicide. ... And yet, as a citizen of Colorado, none of those issues troubles me as much as the message Prop 106 gives to students, veterans and others struggling to find the will to live. We already have a suicide problem in this state. Now is not the time for the state to officially endorse it. This is not only the wrong act. It’s the wrong act at the wrong time. (John Stonestreet, 10/18)