First Edition: June 21, 2017
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
A Clinic Mix-Up Leaves Pregnant Woman In Dark About Zika Risk
Hospital officials in Washington state have apologized after failing for months to inform a pregnant woman she was likely infected with the Zika virus that can cause devastating birth defects. Andrea Pardo, 33, of Issaquah, Wash., was tested for the virus in October, after becoming pregnant while living in Mexico. The results were ready by December, but Pardo wasn’t notified until April — 37 weeks into her pregnancy, just before she delivered her daughter, Noemi. So far, the baby appears healthy. But the delay, blamed on a mistake at the University of Washington clinic where Pardo received care, deprived her of the chance to make an informed choice about her pregnancy, she said. (Aleccia, 6/21)
The Associated Press:
GOP Eyes Senate Health Care Vote Next Week, Amid Grumbling
Republicans are angling toward a Senate vote next week on their marquee effort to erase much of President Barack Obama's health care law. But there's plenty of grumbling from senators across the GOP spectrum, and leaders haven't yet nailed down the support they'll need to prevail. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Tuesday that there's "more work to do" before the bill adequately cuts premiums. A second conservative, Utah's Mike Lee, complained about not seeing the legislation despite being on the working group of senators assigned to craft it and said lawmakers should have seen the measure "weeks ago" if they're to vote next week. And Alaska moderate Lisa Murkowski said she didn't know how she'd vote, adding, "I have no idea what the deal is." (6/21)
Reuters:
After Weeks Of Secrecy, U.S. Senate To Unveil Healthcare Bill
U.S. Senate Republicans plan to unveil the text of their draft healthcare bill on Thursday as senators struggle over issues such as the future of the Medicaid program for the poor and bringing down insurance costs. Republicans in the chamber have been working for weeks behind closed doors on legislation aimed at repealing and replacing major portions of the Affordable Care Act, former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, popularly known as Obamacare. (Cornwell and Cowan, 6/20)
USA Today:
McConnell: Senate Bill To Repeal And Replace Obamacare Coming Thursday
McConnell said that the bill was being drafted in public and that any senator could have come to working group meetings and given their input during group lunches. But other Republicans — who were in the working groups designated with drafting the bill — disagreed. (Collins, 6/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Senate Republicans Promise To Unveil Obamacare Overhaul Thursday, With Votes Expected Next Week
The Republican leader can spare only two GOP votes from his slim 52-seat majority for passage, presuming Vice President Mike Pence would cast the tie-breaking vote. Pence and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price both attended the Republican senators' lunch Tuesday in a show of support. (Mascaro and Memoli, 6/20)
The Washington Post:
Senate GOP Leaders Will Present Health Bill This Week, Even As Divisions Flare
McConnell’s desire to wrap up before the Fourth of July recess reflects the sense of urgency among Republicans, including President Trump, to show progress on health care after years of vowing to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. But McConnell’s strategy for achieving that goal — writing a bill with a handful of aides behind closed doors — has come at a cost that reached new heights on Tuesday: anger among Republicans who feel shut out of the process. (Sullivan, Eilperin and Snell, 6/20)
Politico:
Fate Of Obamacare Repeal Uncertain In Senate
The GOP plan to jam through a bill over the next 10 days amounts to a rare political risk by McConnell with no guarantee of success — and one that could jeopardize his Senate majority long-term if the bill ends up being viewed as poorly as the House-passed bill, which has a 17 percent approval rating. McConnell himself wouldn’t guarantee passage on Tuesday, or even commit to a vote next week, though that is his plan. (Everett and Haberkorn, 6/20)
Politico:
How McConnell Gets To 50 Votes To Repeal Obamacare
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell needs to nail down 50 GOP votes to repeal Obamacare. He has no easy options. He can lean toward conservatives like Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah, who want to dismantle as much of Obamacare as they possibly can. But if he does that, he risks losing a group of Senate moderates, including Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who are pushing for a slower phase-out of the Medicaid expansion that is covering low-income people in some of their states. (Haberkorn, 6/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski Faces Hard Sell On Health Bill
Senate Republicans’ quest for the 50 votes needed to pass their health-care bill has put them in hot pursuit of one duck-hunting, occasionally defiant GOP senator: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) confirmed Tuesday that the bill’s text would be released Thursday and a vote held likely next week, triggering an intensified effort to secure the votes of senators like Ms. Murkowski. An assessment of the bill’s impact by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is expected by early next week. (Peterson and Armour, 6/20)
Politico:
Secrecy Boosts GOP’s Obamacare Repeal Push
Senate Republicans are closer than ever to voting to repeal Obamacare after three months of work that’s unparalleled in its secrecy and speed. They’re unapologetic, though. Because so far, it’s working. The closed-door deliberations, which have left even some GOP senators in the dark, have prompted widespread charges of hypocrisy and even a fair amount of heartburn within a party that railed for seven years against Democrats’ rush to pass their 2010 health care reform law. (Cancryn, 6/20)
Politico:
11 Times Republicans Said Obamacare Process Was Too Secretive
Senate Republicans have come under fire from Democrats and even some in their own party for crafting their Obamacare replacement plan in secret, without public hearings to debate the legislation they have promised to voters for years. But not long ago, leaders in the Republican Party skewered President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress for writing the Affordable Care Act "behind closed doors" and in "smoke-filled rooms," as Vice President Mike Pence, at the time a lawmaker from Indiana, put it. (Lahut, Siu and Tesfamichael, 6/20)
The New York Times:
G.O.P. Rift Over Medicaid And Opioids Imperils Senate Health Bill
A growing rift among Senate Republicans over federal spending on Medicaid and the opioid epidemic is imperiling legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act that Senate leaders are trying to put to a vote by the end of next week. President Trump had urged Republican senators to write a more generous bill than a House version that he first heralded and then called “mean,” but Republican leaders on Tuesday appeared to be drafting legislation that would do even more to slow the growth of Medicaid toward the end of the coming decade. (Pear and Steinhauer, 6/20)
The Associated Press:
GOP Medicaid Cuts Would Hit States Fighting Opioid Epidemic
The Republican drive to roll back Barack Obama's health care law is on a collision course with a national opioid epidemic that's not letting up. Medicaid cuts resulting from the GOP legislation would hit hard in states deeply affected by the addiction crisis and struggling to turn the corner, according to state data and concerned lawmakers in both parties. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Democratic Senators Say Opioid Treatment Would Take Hit Under GOP Health Plan
A pair of Senate Democrats in states hard hit by opioid addiction say the Republican effort to replace the Affordable Care Act would undermine efforts to battle the epidemic, arguing the prospect of extra opioid treatment funding wouldn’t sufficiently replace insurance coverage that would be lost if Medicaid’s expansion were reversed. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) released a report arguing Republican-proposed cuts to Medicaid funding would worsen the country’s growing opioid problem because many people use their Medicaid insurance to cover addiction treatment. He was joined at a news conference Tuesday by Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.). (Nunn, 6/20)
Politico:
Senate Democrats Go Searching For GOP Obamacare Bill
Senate Democrats are struggling against an invisible enemy — the GOP’s still-secret Obamacare repeal plan. So on Tuesday, three of them decided to take a field trip to hunt for it. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Brian Schatz of Hawaii headed across the Hill to the Congressional Budget Office, located in Southwest Washington about a 10-minute drive from the Capitol, in what they acknowledged would be a fruitless quest for a copy of the health care bill that Republicans expect to bring to a vote as soon as next week. (Schor and Kim, 6/20)
Politico:
Poll: Opposition To GOP Health Bill Is On The Rise
Opposition to the Republican health bill is growing, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. As the GOP-led Senate prepares to take up the measure, only 35 percent of voters surveyed approve of the bill passed by the House last month. Nearly half of voters, 49 percent, disapprove of the bill. The other 16 percent don’t know or don’t have an opinion, the poll shows. (Shepard, 6/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Makes ACA Payments To Health Insurers For June
The Trump administration made contested payments to health insurers for the month of June, removing the possibility of an abrupt cutoff just as many insurers make decisions about coverage under the Affordable Care Act in 2018. The fate of “cost-sharing reduction” payments, which reimburse health plans for lowering copays and deductibles for millions of low-income people who get coverage under the 2010 law, often dubbed Obamacare, has been a running backdrop in the debate over Republicans’ bid to scrap that law. Senate GOP leaders intend to vote next week on legislation to repeal portions of the act. (Radnofsky, 6/20)
The New York Times:
Middle Class, Not Poor, Could Suffer If Trump Ends Health Payments
Jane and Abe Goren retired here five years ago to escape the higher cost of living they had abided for decades in the suburbs of New York City. They did not anticipate having to write monthly checks for health insurance that would exceed their mortgage and property taxes combined. Ms. Goren, 62, is paying nearly $1,200 a month for coverage through the individual insurance market (her husband, 69, is on Medicare) and accumulating enough debt that her sons recently held a fund-raiser to help. For next year, her insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, has proposed raising premiums by an average of 22.9 percent, a spike it is blaming squarely on President Trump. (Goodnough, 6/20)
Politico:
Looming Obamacare Deadline Forces Decision From Skittish Insurers
Decision day is here for the health insurers that serve Obamacare markets. The health plans must decide by Wednesday whether to file plans to sell through the federal exchange HealthCare.gov in 2018. But they’re still waiting for assurances the Trump administration will fund subsidies to reduce low-income customers’ health costs. The White House on Tuesday agreed to make the payments for June. But uncertainty over what happens after that is turning efforts to cover Obamacare’s poorest customers into a game of chicken — and adding instability to already shaky insurance markets. (Demko, 6/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
Insurance Startup Oscar Raises Its Bet On Affordable Care Act
Insurance startup Oscar Insurance Corp. said it plans to expand its offerings in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, as insurers face a federal deadline Wednesday for initial filings to participate in the health law’s exchanges next year. Oscar, which has been under a spotlight partly because of its tie to the Trump administration, said it aims to begin selling ACA plans in Tennessee for the first time in 2018, and re-enter the exchange in New Jersey, where it sat out this year. The insurer also will expand the regions where it sells ACA plans in California and Texas. (Wilde Mathews, 6/21)
The Associated Press:
AP Exclusive: Records Show Scant Support For Walker’s Plan
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to drug-test Medicaid recipients and increase premiums on poor people drew five fully positive comments out of more than 1,000 submitted by the public, with one of the supportive letters coming from his own lieutenant governor, according to a review by The Associated Press. (Bauer, 6/20)
The New York Times:
A Founder Of The Children’s Health Fund Packs Up His Doctor’s Bag
In 1986, as New York City reeled from a crack epidemic and runaway violence, Paul Simon, the musician, and Irwin Redlener, a doctor, paid a visit to one of the city’s notorious welfare hotels, the Martinique in Midtown Manhattan. The two had been working together to raise money and awareness for children in Africa, as part of the “We Are the World” campaign, when it occurred to Mr. Simon that perhaps they could also address urgent needs closer to home. (Santora, 6/20)
The New York Times:
Draft Order On Drug Prices Proposes Easing Regulations
In the early days of his administration, President Trump did not hesitate to bash the drug industry. But a draft of an executive order on drug prices appears to give the pharmaceutical industry much of what it has asked for — and no guarantee that costs to consumers will drop. The draft, which The New York Times obtained on Tuesday, is light on specifics but clear on philosophy: Easing regulatory hurdles for the drug industry is the best way to get prices down. (Kaplan and Thomas, 6/20)
The New York Times:
Haven For Recovering Addicts Now Profits From Their Relapses
It was the kind of afternoon that cold-weary tourists revel in as they sip mojitos near the beach — a dazzling sun, a sky so blue it verged on Photoshopped and weather fit for flip-flops. But the young visitor from Arkansas, curled up into a ball near the sidewalk, had a better reason to be grateful. He was alive. “You are overdosing on heroin,” Sean Gibson, a paramedic captain with the Delray Beach Fire-Rescue, had told him earlier this year, after the man fell off his bike, hit a chain-link fence and collapsed, blood trickling down his face. (Alvarez, 6/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Hospitalization Rate For Opioid Abuse Doubled In 10 Years, Report Says
The opioid epidemic continues to devastate Americans, and a new report shows that it has only gotten worse in recent years. In 2014, abuse of prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and street drugs such as heroin sent users to hospitals at record rates. That is true in emergency rooms, and even more true in rooms for patients who have been admitted to the hospital. (Netburn and Kaplan, 6/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Here's Why Experts Say All Kids Ages 6 And Up Should Be Screened For Obesity
With obesity still rising among certain groups of kids, a government panel is renewing its advice that all children and adolescents ages 6 to 18 be screened for obesity. Screening is just the first step. Kids who are obese should then be referred to treatment programs that use a variety of approaches to change their behavior and help them slim down. (Kaplan, 6/20)
The Washington Post:
U2’s The Edge Talks Up Food As An Anti-Cancer Weapon
The lead guitarist of U2, the rock band playing at FedEx Field on Tuesday night, has more on his mind than music. In 2006, The Edge's 7-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, something that he says sent him “into a complete tailspin.” Sian recovered and is now 19. The experience heightened the legendary musician's interest in health and cancer, and especially in angiogenesis, which focuses on the formation of blood vessels. In recent years, several anti-angiogenesis drugs have been developed to disrupt the blood supply that cancers need to grow. (McGinley, 6/20)
NPR:
Survivors Of Childhood Disease Face Health Risks As Adults
Rachael Goldring was born with congenital heart disease. Had she been born a few decades earlier, she probably would have died as a baby. Goldring is now 24, and among a population of patients who present new challenges to a health care system unaccustomed to dealing with survivors of once-fatal conditions. Today there are more adults than kids living with some of these diseases, and medical training lags behind. Young adults who can't find suitable doctors may drop out of care, and their conditions may worsen. (Klein, 6/21)
The Washington Post:
More U.S. Counties Are Finding Zika-Carrying Mosquitoes
With the summer mosquito season in full swing in many U.S. states, a new report shows a significant increase in counties across the South that have reported mosquitoes capable of spreading Zika and related viruses. Two types of mosquitoes are the primary transmitters of Zika, dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya viruses. Based on updated data collected through 2016, research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 38 additional counties — primarily in Texas but as far north as Illinois — documented the presence of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, Zika's main vector. That's an increase of 21 percent compared with an earlier 2016 survey. (Sun, 6/20)
The Associated Press:
High Court Ruling May Hurt Claims Of Talc Link To Cancer
A Supreme Court ruling this week could have a "chilling effect" on the many lawsuits filed in St. Louis claiming talcum powder causes a deadly form of cancer in women, including cases under appeal in which stricken women and their survivors have been awarded more than $300 million, experts said Tuesday. (Salter, 6/20)
The Associated Press:
Groups File Lawsuits Over New Arkansas Abortion Restrictions
Abortion-rights groups asked a federal court Tuesday to block Arkansas from enforcing new restrictions lawmakers approved this year, including a ban on a commonly used second-trimester procedure that the groups say would make it nearly impossible for many women in the state to have an abortion. (DeMillo, 6/20)
The Washington Post:
ACLU, Planned Parenthood Challenge New Arkansas Abortion Regulations
The lawsuit aims to block four Arkansas laws that are scheduled to take effect later this year, among them a ban on a common abortion method during a woman’s second trimester of pregnancy known as dilation and extraction. The regulations also would prompt providers to notify — and seek consent from — a woman’s partner or family member before an abortion and would increase the amount of medical records doctors must request before an abortion to ensure a woman is not seeking an abortion based on the gender of the fetus. The new Arkansas laws also would require providers to more extensively collect and preserve fetal tissue from abortions performed on minors, should local police need it for evidence in an investigation, according to the lawsuit. (Ockerman, 6/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
N.Y. Lawsuit Seeks To Protect Abortion-Clinic Patients
New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against anti-abortion protesters who he said harass women outside a Queens health clinic, calling them murderers and carrying posters of mangled fetuses. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleges that anti-abortion protesters have tried to block the entrance to the Choices Women’s Medical Center, and have physically and verbally harassed patients in an attempt to impede access to reproductive services. (Alfaro, 6/20)
The Associated Press:
Michigan Legislature Approves Anti-Genital Mutilation Bills
Doctors and parents involved in female genital mutilation could go to prison for up to 15 years under bills overwhelmingly approved Tuesday by lawmakers in Michigan, who said harsher penalties are needed in a state where the first federal prosecution of the practice is ongoing. (6/20)