First Edition: August 1, 2017
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Many Still Sidestep End-Of-Life Care Planning, Study Finds
Before being deployed overseas for the Iraq War in 2003, Army reservist Don Morrison filled out military forms that gave instructions about where to send his body and possessions if he were killed. “I thought, wow, this is mortality right in your face,” Morrison, now 70, recalled. (Andrews, 8/1)
The Associated Press:
Senate GOP Sees No Path On Health Care, Despite Trump Prods
Top Senate Republicans think it's time to leave their derailed drive to scrap the Obama health care law behind them. And they're tired of the White House prodding them to keep voting until they succeed. Several GOP leaders said Monday that at least for now, they saw no clear route to the 50 votes they'd need to get something — anything — recasting President Barack Obama's health care statute through the Senate. (Fram, 8/1)
Politico:
Republicans Ignore Trump's Obamacare Taunts
Senate Republicans have no plans to revive their party-line attempts to repeal Obamacare this summer, despite President Donald Trump’s increasing frustration over the chamber’s failed attempts last week to gut the law. "Until somebody shows us a way to get that elusive 50th vote, I think it's over,” said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Republican. “Maybe lightning will strike and something will come together but I'm not holding my breath." (Everett and Haberkorn, 7/31)
Los Angeles Times:
Senior GOP Senators Serve Notice: No Action On Healthcare At This Point
Trump administration officials continue to push the Senate to take another run at healthcare legislation, but on Monday senior Republican senators pushed back, making clear that they're done with the topic for now. "There's just too much animosity and we're too divided on healthcare," Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the head of the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview with Reuters. (Lauter, 7/31)
The New York Times:
Lesson For Trump: Hardball Against Senators Is A Game He Can Lose
The recalcitrant senator kept crossing up the inexperienced new president on big-ticket legislation even though they represented the same party. Frustrated and angry, the White House fought back, threatening retaliation both petty and portentous, eyeing federal jobs and programs in the state of the rebellious lawmaker to force obedience. While this may sound like the current situation between President Trump and Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, over her refusal to back the party line on health care, it was actually 1993. (Hulse, 8/1)
The Associated Press:
Zinke: 'Laughable' To Suggest He Threatened Alaska Senators
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said it is "laughable" to suggest he threatened Alaska's U.S. senators over a vote by one of them involving health care. Zinke said Sunday in Nevada that he often speaks with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and they get along well. "Ah, you know, the moon has been characterized as other things, too," Zinke said when asked by reporters about the calls and their characterization as threatening. "So, I think it's laughable." (7/31)
Politico:
Newest GOP Health Care Attempt Faces Same Tough Odds
Senate Republicans couldn’t agree on a way to repeal and replace Obamacare. So now they’re contemplating a totally different approach: Blow it up and let the states sort it out. The latest attempt to resuscitate the GOP's repeal bid would reshape the nation’s health care system by sharply curtailing the federal government’s role and placing the future of Obamacare in the hands of governors. But Republican senators will have a hard time overcoming the internal divisions that doomed their three attempts last week to unravel the Affordable Care Act. (Cancryn, 7/31)
Politico:
Schumer: Republicans Have Been In Touch About Health Care
Sen. Chuck Schumer said Monday he has heard from 10 of his Republican colleagues in response to his call for a bipartisan approach to health care legislation. “No one thought Obamacare was perfect — it needs a lot of improvements,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) said after an unrelated news conference at Albany Medical Center. “We’re willing to work in a bipartisan way to do it. What we objected to was just pulling the rug out from it and taking away the good things that it did: Medicaid coverage for people with parents in nursing homes, for opioid treatment, for kids with disabilities, pre-existing conditions.” (Vielkind, 7/31)
Politico:
White House Not Letting Go Of Obamacare Repeal
The White House is trying to rebuild momentum for Obamacare repeal after it stalled, yet again, in the GOP Senate last week. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) met Monday with top aides to President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price about health care reform, said a Cassidy aide and Republican officials. (Everett and Dawsey, 7/31)
NPR:
Trump Threatens To Withold Funds That Help Keep Insurance Markets Stable
President Trump took to Twitter this week to threaten insurance companies that he may withhold crucial government payments in an effort to undermine the Affordable Care Act. It's not the first time the president has threatened to cut off these payments to insurers, which he refers to as "BAILOUTS." But these payments aren't designed to compensate insurers for business failures. Rather they reimburse insurance companies for discounts the law requires them to give to low-income people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. (Kodjak, 8/1)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Threatens Insurer Payments To Push Congress On Health-Law Repeal
President Donald Trump warned Monday that he could end federal payments to insurers, allowing them to be “hurt” by the Affordable Care Act, as a way to press members of Congress to revive efforts to repeal the Obama-era health law. “If ObamaCare is hurting people, & it is, why shouldn’t it hurt the insurance companies,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. The president was alluding to the ACA’s “cost-sharing reduction” payments, which the government pays to insurers to help them cut deductibles and other costs for low-income consumers. (Hackman, Hughes and Wilde Mathews, 7/31)
Los Angeles Times:
Can Trump Really Cut Health Insurance Payments For Members Of Congress And Their Staff? It Would Be Easy
Reeling from the failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Trump now threatens to block federal funding that lawmakers and their staff rely on to help buy health insurance. Trump's threats are not empty. The administration could simply stop the payments -- which are provided to Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff much the way many employers help pay employees' monthly insurance premiums -- by dashing off new federal regulation. (Mascaro, 7/31)
The Associated Press:
Trump On Tricky Legal Ground With 'Obamacare' Threat
President Donald Trump's threat to stop billions of dollars in government payments to insurers and force the collapse of "Obamacare" could put the government in a tricky legal situation. Legal experts say he'd be handing insurers a solid court case, while undermining his own leverage to compel Democrats to negotiate, especially if premiums jump by 20 percent as expected after such a move. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/1)
The Wall Street Journal:
Could Trump Cut Lawmakers’ Health Coverage?
A warning by President Donald Trump that he might cut off congressional members’ health benefits in an effort to force them back to the bargaining table on health care has drawn a lot of attention—and some questions. We have answers. (Radnofsky, 7/31)
The Associated Press Fact Check:
Trump Misleads On Congressional Health Care
President Donald Trump says Congress should be paying what the public pays when it comes to "Obamacare." But members of Congress already pretty much do. Here's a look at Trump's claim, and the reality. (7/31)
Reuters:
Insurers To Fill Obamacare Gaps In Ohio's Individual Market
Five health insurance companies in Ohio, including Molina Healthcare Inc, have stepped up to sell health plans in 19 counties that would have been without Obamacare individual coverage in 2018, the state's insurance regulator said on Monday. (Humer, 7/31)
Cincinnati Enquirer:
Ohioans Dropped By Anthem On Obamacare Exchange Will Have Insurance Option
Nearly every Ohioan will have an option on the Obamacare health care exchange even after Anthem leaves.The Ohio Department of Insurance has worked with five insurers to cover 19 counties — and about 11,000 Ohioans — that would have been left without an option on the state's health care exchange next year. Concerned about uncertainty over the future of Obamacare, health care heavy-hitter Anthem and Dayton-based Premier Health Plan announced they would leave the exchange in 2018, leaving a fifth of the state's counties in the lurch. (Balmert, 7/31)
The Washington Post:
Insurers Just Stepped In To Avoid An Obamacare Disaster
“Ohio has long had a strong insurance system, and once again our insurers stepped up at an important time for thousands of Ohioans, taking unprecedented action to provide access to health insurance for Ohioans who otherwise were without options,” insurance director Jillian Froment said in a statement. A single Ohio county, Paulding County, still has no insurer expected to offer plans on the exchange. Froment said that regulators are searching for coverage options for that county. (Johnson, 7/31)
The Wall Street Journal:
Insurers Agree To Offer Health Plans In 19 Ohio Counties
Insurers have until late September—when they sign federal contracts to offer exchange products—to make final calls on their participation, amid questions about steps that the Trump administration may take that insurers say could undercut marketplace offerings. “We recognize there is a lot of uncertainty at the federal level,” said Jillian Froment, director of the Ohio Department of Insurance. “Change at that level could affect coverage, not only in those 19 counties, but all 88 counties.” (Wilde Mathews, 7/31)
The Associated Press:
California To Release 2018 Insurance Rates Amid Uncertainty
California officials plan to release next year's monthly premiums Tuesday for people who buy individual insurance plans under former President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. The announcement comes at a time of extreme uncertainty about the future of the U.S. health care system. (Cooper, 8/1)
The Associated Press:
Trump Drug Commission Calls For Emergency Declaration
President Donald Trump's drug commission has called on him to declare a national emergency to deal with the country's opioid drug epidemic. The commission sent an initial report to the Republican president on Monday saying the approximately 142 deaths each day from drug overdoses mean the death toll is "equal to September 11th every three weeks." (7/31)
The Washington Post:
White House Opioid Commission To Trump: “Declare A National Emergency” On Drug Overdoses
The commission, led by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, states that the goals of such a declaration would be to “force Congress to focus on funding” and to “awaken every American to this simple fact: if this scourge has not found you or your family yet, without bold action by everyone, it soon will.” (Ingraham, 7/31)
USA Today:
Commission Urges President Trump To Declare Emergency Over Opioid Crisis
"It would also awaken every American to this simple fact: If this scourge has not found you or your family yet, without bold action by everyone, it soon will," the report reads. "You, Mr. president, are the only person who can bring this type of intensity to the emergency and we believe you have the will to do so and to do so immediately." (Estepa, 7/31)
The New York Times:
White House Panel Recommends Declaring National Emergency On Opioids
In addition to seeking an emergency declaration, the commission proposed waiving a federal rule that sharply limits the number of Medicaid recipients who can receive residential addiction treatment. It also called for expanding access to medications that help treat opioid addiction, requiring “prescriber education initiatives” and providing model legislation for states to allow a standing order for anyone to receive naloxone, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses. (Goodnough, 7/31)
The Wall Street Journal:
White House Commission On Opioids Seeks Declaration Of Emergency
The report recommends several steps for increasing access to medications such as buprenorphine and methadone that help treat opioid addiction. It advises the Justice Department to increase use of the medications in prisons, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to require that all federally qualified health centers mandate that staff are licensed to prescribe buprenorphine. The report also recommends stronger enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, a 2008 law that prohibits health-insurance plans from covering mental-health services less generously than other medical services. (Whalen, 7/31)
Los Angeles Times:
White House Commission Recommends President Declare A National Emergency Over The Deadly Opioid Epidemic
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 560,000 people in the United States died of drug overdoses, a death toll larger than the population of Atlanta. In 2015, nearly two-thirds of drug overdoses were linked to opioids, including Percocet, OxyContin, heroin and fentanyl. There were more than 50,000 deaths from drug abuse and addiction in 2015, according to figures released by the White House when the commission was created. (Simmons, 7/31)
USA Today:
Suicide-Related Searches Surged After The Release Of '13 Reasons Why'
Suicide-related searches on Google jumped significantly after the release of the show 13 Reasons Why, according to a report published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. The show, which premiered in March on Netflix, follows the fictional story of Hannah Baker, a teenager who commits suicide and leaves behind 13 tapes detailing why she decided to end her life. (Toy, 7/31)
The Washington Post:
Internet Searches On Suicide Went Up After ‘13 Reasons Why’ Released By Netflix
“Our analyses suggest 13 Reasons Why, in its present form, has both increased suicidal awareness while unintentionally increasing suicidal ideation,” the authors wrote. “The most rising queries focused on suicidal ideation. For instance, ‘how to commit suicide’, ‘commit suicide’ and ‘how to kill yourself’ were all significantly higher.” Overall, suicide queries were 19 percent higher in the 19 days following the series’ release, “reflecting 900,000 to 1.5 million more searches than expected,” the paper reported. (Murgia, 7/31)
The New York Times:
Only Six Nations Have Evaluated Readiness For Global Pandemic
Of the world’s countries, only six — three rich ones and three poor ones — have taken the steps they should have to evaluate their ability to withstand a global pandemic, according to a recent report sponsored by the World Bank. Just three wealthy countries — Finland, Saudi Arabia and the United States — have gone through two external evaluations of their readiness to face pandemics, one for human diseases and one for animal outbreaks, the study found. (McNeil, 7/31)
The New York Times:
A Dangerous, ‘Silent Reservoir’ For Gonorrhea: The Throat
The human throat houses billions of bacteria, most of them harmless. But one species is becoming more common, and it is anything but benign. Drug-resistant gonorrhea has been on the rise for years; the World Health Organization has reported an increase in more than 50 countries. Now scientists say the epidemic is being driven by a particular mode of transmission: oral sex. (Pattani, 7/31)
The New York Times:
What Does Your Microbiome Say About You?
There are trillions of microbial species in the world and thousands of them live in or on the human body. Bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microorganisms congregate in mini ecosystems called microbiomes, found almost anywhere you can imagine. (Pattani, 7/31)
NPR:
'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome' Severity Linked To Several Proteins Of Inflammation
Imagine feeling horribly sick, day after day, yet doctors repeatedly tell you they can't find anything wrong. That typically happens to people with the mysterious illness commonly known as "chronic fatigue syndrome." Research findings from Stanford University released Monday could point the way to a long-sought diagnostic laboratory test for the condition, and possibly a first-ever treatment. (Tucker, 7/31)
The Washington Post:
Insufficient Sleep May Add More Than An Inch To Your Waist, Study Suggests
By now, the connection between sleep and weight gain has been well established. Numerous studies have provided evidence that sleeping too little — less than five hours — messes with your hormones, slows down your metabolism and reprograms your body to eat more. But just how serious are the consequences in terms of numbers? (Cha, 7/31)
The Associated Press:
Judge Nixes Alabama Law Putting Pregnant Girls Through Trial
A federal judge has struck down Alabama's one-of-a-kind law that enabled judges to put minors seeking abortions through a trial-like proceeding in which the fetus could get a lawyer and prosecutors could object to the pregnant girl's wishes. (Chandler, 7/31)