First Edition: December 4, 2017
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Middle-Class Earners Weigh Love And Money To Curb Obamacare Premiums
Anne Cornwell considered two drastic strategies in her quest to get affordable health insurance premiums last year for herself and her retired husband. One was divorce. Another was taking a 30 percent pay cut. She chose the latter. (Bluth, 12/4)
Kaiser Health News:
States — And 9M Kids — ‘In A Bind’ As Congress Dawdles On CHIP Funding
Last week, Colorado became the first state to notify families that children who receive health insurance through the Children’s Health Insurance Program are in danger of losing their coverage. Nearly 9 million children are insured through CHIP, which covers mostly working-class families. The program has bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, but Congress let federal funding for CHIP expire in September. (Lopez and Simmons-Duffin, 12/4)
Kaiser Health News:
With CHIP In Limbo, Here Are 5 Takeaways On The Congressional Impasse
Two months past its deadline, Congress has yet to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program, leaving several states scrambling for cash. Lawmakers grappling with the failed repeal of the Affordable Care Act allowed authorization of the program to lapse on Sept. 30. Although CHIP has always had broad bipartisan support, the House and Senate cannot agree on how to continue federal funding. And the Trump administration has been mostly silent on the issue. (Galewitz, 12/1)
The Associated Press:
Tax Bill Clears Senate In Big Boost For Trump, GOP
Republicans muscled the largest tax overhaul in 30 years through the Senate early Saturday, taking a big step toward giving President Donald Trump his first major legislative triumph after months of false starts and frustration on other fronts. "Just what the country needs to get growing again," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in an interview after a final burst of negotiation closed in on a nearly $1.5 trillion package that impacts the breadth of American society. (Fram, Gordon and Ohlemacher, 12/2)
Reuters:
U.S. Senate Tax Bill Accomplishes Major Obamacare Repeal Goal
The sweeping tax overhaul that passed the U.S. Senate on Saturday contains the Republicans' biggest blow yet to former President Barack Obama's healthcare law, repealing the requirement that all Americans obtain health insurance. The individual mandate is meant to ensure a viable health insurance market by forcing younger and healthier Americans to buy coverage to help offset the cost of sicker patients. It helps uphold the most popular provision of the law, which requires insurers charge sick and healthy people the same rates. Removing it while keeping the rest of Obama's Affordable Care Act intact is expected to cause insurance premiums to rise and lead to millions of people losing coverage, policy experts say. (Abutaleb, 12/2)
The Washington Post:
Senate’s Huge Tax Bill Would Have Potent Ripple Effects For Health-Care System
The Republican tax overhaul that squeaked through the Senate early Saturday morning would reach deep into the nation’s health-care system, with a clear dagger to a core aspect of the Affordable Care Act and broader ripple effects that could threaten other programs over time. The measure would abolish the government’s enforcement of the ACA requirement that most Americans carry insurance coverage. It would not end the individual mandate itself but would eliminate tax penalties for flouting that requirement. The result could cause an extra 13 million people to become uninsured and drive up insurance premiums in marketplaces created under the law, according to an estimate by Congress’s nonpartisan budget analysts. Yet downstream effects of the bill that have drawn less attention could potentially damage the health care and well-being of far more people. (Goldstein, 12/2)
The New York Times:
Few Hurdles Left, G.O.P. Is Confident Tax Cuts Will Be Signed This Month
Congressional Republicans, buoyed by the Senate’s approval early Saturday of a landmark tax overhaul, expressed confidence that final legislation would be sent to President Trump by the end of this month. While the tax bills approved by the House and the Senate diverge in significant ways, the same forces that rocketed the measures to passage appear likely to bond Republicans in the two chambers as they work to hash out the differences. (Tankersley and Rappeport, 12/2)
The New York Times:
For McConnell, Health Care Failure Was A Map To Tax Success
For Mitch McConnell and fellow Senate Republicans, the push for a sweeping tax overhaul was never anything like the divisive internal party struggle that prevented repeal of the Affordable Care Act. “All of my members, from Collins to Cruz, were just more comfortable with this issue,” Mr. McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and majority leader, said in an interview this weekend, referring to the centrist Susan Collins of Maine and the conservative Ted Cruz of Texas. “Everybody really wanted to get to yes. There was a widespread belief that this was just a good thing to do for the country and for us politically.” (Hulse, 12/3)
The Associated Press:
Senate Democrats Stand United Against GOP Tax Bill
Rarely unified, Senate Democrats stood together in opposing the GOP revamp of the tax code despite the traditional popularity of tax cuts and warnings from President Donald Trump and Republicans about the political cost in next year's midterm elections. (12/3)
The Associated Press:
Highlights Of Senate, House GOP Bills To Overhaul Tax Code
With the Senate bill passed Saturday and the House bill passed two weeks ago, congressional Republicans now will work quickly on a compromise measure to send to President Donald Trump by Christmas. A comparison of the Senate and House bills, each coming in at nearly $1.5 trillion. (12/3)
The Washington Post:
Another Delicate Challenge For Republicans: Reconciling House And Senate Tax Bills
Republicans will try Monday to urgently reconcile the tax overhaul bills they passed in the House and Senate, entering a delicate period where they have to retain the support of their party’s conservative and moderate members. Party leaders insist that there are no showstopping differences between their two bills, each of which features a decrease in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. Still, the bills feature differences worth hundreds of billions of dollars. (Werner, Paletta and DeBonis, 12/3)
The New York Times:
Heading Toward Tax Victory, Republicans Eye Next Step: Cut Spending
As the tax cut legislation passed by the Senate early Saturday hurtles toward final approval, Republicans are preparing to use the swelling deficits made worse by the package as a rationale to pursue their long-held vision: undoing the entitlements of the New Deal and Great Society, leaving government leaner and the safety net skimpier for millions of Americans. Speaker Paul D. Ryan and other Republicans are beginning to express their big dreams publicly, vowing that next year they will move on to changes in Medicare and Social Security. President Trump told a Missouri rally last week, “We’re going to go into welfare reform.” (Zernike and Rappeport, 12/2)
The Washington Post:
GOP Eyes Post-Tax-Cut Changes To Welfare, Medicare And Social Security
“You also have to bring spending under control. And not discretionary spending. That isn't the driver of our debt. The driver of our debt is the structure of Social Security and Medicare for future beneficiaries,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said this week. While whipping votes for a GOP tax bill on Thursday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) attacked “liberal programs” for the poor and said Congress needed to stop wasting Americans' money. (Stein, 12/1)
The Associated Press:
Health Care Fallout: Fate Of 8M Low-Income Children In Limbo
TC Bell knows what life is like without health insurance after growing up with a mother who cobbled together care from a public health clinic, emergency room visits and off-the-books visits to a doctor they knew. That memory makes Bell, of Denver, grateful for the coverage his two daughters have now under the Children's Health Insurance Program — and concerned about its uncertain future in Congress. (Karnowski and Anderson, 12/1)
The Hill:
Key Lawmaker Seeks Flexibility For States On CHIP
The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is working to lift a restriction on how much money states can get to keep their Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) running, as Congress works to reauthorize the program that lapsed Sept. 30. Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) has been working with leadership on granting states more flexibility to keep their programs going, according to a GOP committee spokesperson. (Roubein and Hellmann, 12/1)
The New York Times:
CVS To Buy Aetna For $69 Billion In A Deal That May Reshape The Health Industry
CVS Health said on Sunday that it had agreed to buy Aetna for about $69 billion in a deal that would combine the drugstore giant with one of the biggest health insurers in the United States and has the potential to reshape the nation’s health care industry. The transaction, one of the largest of the year, reflects the increasingly blurred lines between the traditionally separate spheres of a rapidly changing industry. (De La Merced and Abelson, 12/3)
The Washington Post:
CVS Agrees To Buy Aetna In $69 Billion Deal That Could Shake Up Health-Care Industry
If approved, the mega-merger would create a giant consumer health care company with a familiar presence in thousands of communities. Aetna chief executive Mark T. Bertolini described the vision in an interview as "creating a new front door for health care in America." "We want to get closer to the community, because all health care is local," Bertolini said. "What was going to draw people into an Aetna store? Probably not a lot. We looked for the right kind of partnership." (Johnson, 12/3)
Reuters:
CVS Health To Acquire Aetna For $69 Billion In Year's Largest Acquisition
The deal comes after Aetna's $37 billion plan to acquire smaller U.S. health insurance peer Humana Inc was blocked in January by a U.S. federal judge over antitrust concerns. A proposed combination of peers Anthem Inc and Cigna Corp was also shot down. (O'Donnell and Humer, 12/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
CVS To Buy Aetna For $69 Billion, Combining Major Health-Care Players
The proposed deal is the latest and most dramatic sign of how the lines between traditional segments in health care are blurring as companies, saddled with mature businesses and in many cases restricted from buying rivals, enter new areas in search of growth. Companies from insurers to hospital chains are also looking for ways to squeeze costs and bolster their leverage against other players in the food chain. That is creating opportunities, but also new fault lines as companies find themselves competing against erstwhile partners. (Terlep, Wilde Mathews and Cimilluca, 12/3)
The Wall Street Journal:
Will CVS Health Deal To Buy Aetna Hold Up To Antitrust Scrutiny?
CVS Health Corp.’s planned acquisition of Aetna Inc. will face tough antitrust scrutiny, but the limited overlap between the companies’ businesses should help bolster their case for the deal, experts said. The $69 billion acquisition would involve CVS’s drugstores, some including retail clinics, and its massive pharmacy-benefit-management business. Aetna is the third-biggest U.S. health insurer, selling plans to employers as well as offering Medicare and Medicaid coverage, among other types. The two companies have some areas of direct competition, particularly in the sale of drug plans to Medicare beneficiaries. (Wilde Mathews, 12/3)
The New York Times:
Why A CVS-Aetna Merger Could Benefit Consumers
There are reasons for consumers to be optimistic about CVS’s reported purchase of Aetna for $69 billion on Sunday. It’s one of the largest health care mergers in history, and in general, consolidation in health care has not been good for Americans. But by disrupting the pharmacy benefits management market, and by more closely aligning management of drug benefits and other types of benefits in one organization, CVS could be acting in ways that ultimately benefit consumers. (Frakt, 12/3)
Los Angeles Times:
CVS To Buy Aetna For $69 Billion In Deal That Would Shake Up Healthcare Industry
Gerald Kominski, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, said, "It remains to be seen whether this [merger] is actually going to drive costs down" for consumers but that savings could materialize "if it becomes a lower-cost alternative to sending people to a doctor's office or having people show up in the emergency room." "To the extent they can help manage the Aetna members' conditions — particularly people who might otherwise end up in the ER or were recently hospitalized — this could lower costs," Kominski said. "We'll see how it pans out." (Peltz, 12/3)
The Associated Press:
FDA Approves First-Of-A-Kind Test For Cancer Gene Profiling
U.S. regulators have approved a first-of-a-kind test that looks for mutations in hundreds of cancer genes at once, giving a more complete picture of what's driving a patient's tumor and aiding efforts to match treatments to those flaws. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Foundation Medicine's test for patients with advanced or widely spread cancers, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed covering it. (Marchione, 12/1)
Politico:
GOP Medicaid Work Rules Imperil Care For Opioid Abusers
Red states ravaged by the opioid crisis are pushing for Medicaid work requirements that could push people out of treatment as they try to get off drugs. Kentucky, New Hampshire, Maine and Indiana are among at least eight GOP-led states seeking federal approval to require Medicaid enrollees to work as a precondition of their health coverage. All four states have been hard hit by drug addiction, which claims 140 lives a day nationally. (Pradhan and Ehley, 12/3)
Stateline:
As Kratom Use Surges, Some States Enact Bans
Advocates say the substance, which does not depress the respiratory system and therefore presents little to no overdose risk, could help reduce the nation’s reliance on highly addictive and often deadly prescription painkillers. Some addiction experts also argue the plant could be used as an alternative to methadone, buprenorphine and Vivitrol in medication-assisted therapy for opioid addiction. ... Now, with growing concerns about the dangers of prescription painkillers, an estimated 3 million to 5 million people are using kratom and reporting positive results, based on information from retailers. But worries that the unregulated plant product could be abused for its mild euphoric qualities and users could become addicted are spurring federal officials to issue public health warnings — and a handful of states and cities to impose bans. (Vestal, 12/4)
The New York Times:
Heroin In Soups And Lollipops: How Drug Cartels Evade Border Security
The tip came on the last day of January 2014 to special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement: A drug courier was about to land at the Baltimore airport with a large shipment. Hours later, the agents asked the man, Edgar Franco Lopez, a Guatemalan, to search the three large duffel bags he was loading in a car outside the airport. But agents found only food. So they bluffed, saying they had found evidence of drugs in the bags. (Nixon, 12/2)
The Associated Press:
'Take All Their Excuses Away': Hard Cases In Heroin Fight
The van was coming for Richard Rivera, but it was taking a long time. He waited inside the entrance of Saint Anthony Hospital where he had spent the past three days getting off heroin. His next stop: a sober-living facility. As his addiction counselor, DeValle Williams, kept a silent watch, the 49-year-old Rivera griped about the people who found him a bed 22 miles away, complete with meals, job training and gym access. (Johnson, 12/4)
The Associated Press:
Should Opioids Be Banned In Court Over Fears Of Exposure?
The potency of certain opioid painkillers has Massachusetts’ judiciary considering whether to ban the substances from being brought into courtrooms as evidence — a move some experts say is driven by a misunderstanding of the real dangers. The chief justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court recently told prosecutors that she fears allowing fentanyl and carfentanil into courtrooms puts lawyers, jurors and defendants at risk even when the drugs are properly packaged. (Richer, 12/3)
The New York Times:
Woman With Transplanted Uterus Gives Birth, The First In The U.S.
For the first time in the United States, a woman who had a uterus transplant has given birth. The mother, who was born without a uterus, received the transplant from a living donor last year at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, and had a baby boy there last month, the hospital said on Friday. (Grady, 12/2)
The Washington Post:
A Woman With A Transplanted Uterus Just Gave Birth — A First For The U.S.
The success marked another step forward for transplant surgery aimed at improving a person’s life, not just saving it. Doctors have performed penis transplants for wounded troops, given a young boy two new hands and given a new nose, lips, palate, eyelids and jaw to a woman who was gruesomely disfigured after she was shot in the face. The fact that the uterus transplant success in Sweden can be replicated is a promising sign for thousands of women who have been unable to conceive. And doctors at Baylor have sought to expand the limits of the procedure, using donated uteri that didn’t come from family members and, in some cases, organs that came from cadavers. (Wootson, 12/3)
Stat:
Investors See Big Money In Infertility. And They're Transforming The Industry
Sensing a lucrative market, private equity firms are pouring money into building national chains of fertility clinics. Some are spending on splashy advertising and a deliberate strategy of reaching out to young women who are not yet trying to conceive. Venture capitalists are getting into the business, too; this year alone, PitchBook has tallied more than $178 million flowing into startups developing fertility products, such as a test that promises a credit score-style rating of a woman’s fertility. (Robbins, 12/4)
The Washington Post:
Drinking Red Wine Is Good For You — Or Maybe Not
At the end of a long week, people are opening wine bottles in bars, restaurants and homes around the world, ready to kick back and relax. This relationship with wine has a long history. The oldest known winery, dating to 4100 B.C., was discovered in 2010 by archaeologists in an Armenian cave. Just recently scientists reported finding jugs that had been used for storing wine from 6000 B.C. Wine was used in ceremonies by the Egyptians, traded by the Phoenicians and honored by the Greek god Dionysus and the Roman god Bacchus. By 2014, humanity was consuming more than 6 billion gallons of wine every year. (Baranchuk, Alexander and Haseeb, 12/2)
NPR:
Tylenol May Help Ease The Pain Of Hurt Feelings
Nobody likes the feeling of being left out, and when it happens, we tend to describe these experiences with the same words we use to talk about the physical pain of, say, a toothache. "People say, 'Oh, that hurts,' " says Nathan DeWall, a professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky. (Aubrey, 12/4)
NPR:
New Drugs Could Prevent Migraine Headaches For Some People
People who experience frequent migraines may soon have access to a new class of drugs. In a pair of large studies, two drugs that tweak brain circuits involved in migraine each showed they could reduce the frequency of attacks without causing side effects, researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Hamilton, 12/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Early-Life Stress, Especially In War, Can Have Consequences Across Multiple Generations
The wartime evacuation of Finnish children more than 70 years ago might have been an historical footnote, its cost to human health and happiness lost in the passage of time. More than 70,000 Finnish children were separated from their parents in a frantic rout and whisked away to institutions and foster families in Sweden and Denmark. The aim of this mass migration of unaccompanied children was to shield them from harm, as Finland had become a battleground for clashing Soviet and German forces. But studies by an international group of experts in child development have found that its effect was not wholly protective. (Healy, 12/1)
The Associated Press:
Sex Cases Put Spotlight On Sex Addiction, But Is It Real?
Is sex addiction a true addiction, a crime, or a made-up condition used by misbehaving VIPs to deflect blame or repair tarnished images? A tide of high-profile sexual misconduct accusations against celebrities, politicians and media members has raised these questions — and sowed confusion. Sex addiction is not an officially recognized psychiatric diagnosis, though even those who doubt it's a true addiction acknowledge that compulsive sexual behavior can upend lives. (Tanner, 12/3)
Los Angeles Times:
Is This What The Doctor's Office Of The Future Will Look Like?
The new Forward medical clinic in Century City does not have a waiting room. The initial check-up with a doctor at Parsley, a new medical center in Playa Vista, involves a 75-minute meeting with a doctor and a session with a health coach. Loom, in Los Angeles, has a cozy space for clients to chat with a counselor about trying to get pregnant or dealing with a miscarriage. As people tire of long wait times, rushed visits, a reliance on prescription medicines and dealing with the morass that is the insurance system, some doctors, practitioners and entrepreneurs — especially those trying to attract millennial customers — are finding another way to deliver wellness. (Daswani, 12/2)
The Wall Street Journal:
Some New York City Workers Lacked Training For Lead-Paint Repairs
At least some of the city workers who fixed and repainted walls with possible lead paint in New York City public-housing apartments after the units had gone years without required inspections weren’t federally certified to perform the work. New York City Housing Authority Chairwoman Shola Olatoye said on Friday that the agency has been out of compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules requiring training for work involving lead paint since 2014. (Gay, 12/1)
The Washington Post:
A Man Collapsed With ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ Tattooed On His Chest. Doctors Didn’t Know What To Do.
Doctors in Miami faced an unusual ethical dilemma when an unconscious, deteriorating patient was brought into the emergency room with the words “Do Not Resuscitate” across his chest. The 70-year-old man was taken earlier this year to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where doctors made their startling discovery: a chest tattoo that seemed to convey the patient's end-of-life wishes. The word “Not” was underlined, and the tattoo included a signature. It left the medical team grappling with myriad ethical and legal questions. (Bever, 12/1)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Officials Launch Effort To Curb HIV
Los Angeles County public health officials on Friday announced an effort aimed at reducing the annual number of HIV infections by more than two-thirds and bringing an end to the virus that causes AIDS. More than 60,000 people in the county live with HIV, the second-largest such population in the nation. Around 1,850 new cases are diagnosed here each year, the majority among LGBTQ residents, Latinos and African Americans. (Etehad, 12/1)
Los Angeles Times:
Former Official Accused Of Stealing $800,000 From Nonprofit San Diego County Clinic
The former head of information technology at the nonprofit North County Health Services, which aids low-income people, pleaded not guilty Friday to siphoning nearly $800,000 from San Diego County organization. Hector Ramos, 55, of Murrieta, was charged with 49 counts related to the loss of the money, which authorities say happened over the course of eight months in 2015. (Figueroa, 12/1)
The Washington Post:
Medical Marijuana Has Arrived In Maryland, And Sales Have Begun
At least 200 would-be customers were lined up outside Rockville’s first medical marijuana dispensary Friday afternoon when one of the owners announced that a cannabis shipment — including elixirs, tablets and flowers — had arrived. Bill Askinazi promised that everyone in line would go home with at least some marijuana, then said computer issues were delaying the start of sales, and rushed back inside. (Nirappil, Siegel and Gregg, 12/2)
Los Angeles Times:
Porter Ranch Residents Informed Of Brief Surge In Methane Levels At Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility
Methane levels briefly surged Friday night at the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility in the San Fernando Valley, prompting Southern California Gas Co. to notify nearby residents in Porter Ranch. The company sent out the notice late Friday night, saying that increased levels of methane had been found earlier that evening on two fence-line monitors along the facility border. (Reyes, 12/2)