First Edition: February 8, 2018
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Bipartisan Senate Budget Deal Boosts Health Programs
Not in the deal, for which the path to the president’s desk remains unclear, is any bipartisan legislation aimed at shoring up the Affordable Care Act’s individual health insurance marketplaces. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) a vote on health legislation in exchange for her vote for the GOP tax bill in December. So far, that vote has not materialized. (Rovner and Luthra, 2/7)
Kaiser Health News:
Despite Changes That Undermined ACA Enrollment, Marketplaces ‘Remarkably Stable’
Despite their upbeat tone about this year’s enrollment, directors of several state marketplaces warned that 2019 looks grim. “Just the removal of the [individual mandate penalty in Congress’ recently enacted tax overhaul] will mean premiums go up 15 percent to 30 percent or more depending on the state,” said Lee. (Appleby, 2/7)
Kaiser Health News:
Changing The Way We Look At Dementia
In November, six people with Alzheimer’s disease and related types of cognitive impairment stood before an audience of 100 in North Haven, Conn. One by one, they talked about what it was like to live with dementia in deeply personal terms. Before the presentation, audience members were asked to write down five words they associated with dementia. Afterward, they were asked to do the same, this time reflecting on what they’d learned. (Graham, 2/8)
The New York Times:
Senate Leaders Reach Deal To Raise Spending Over Two Years
Senate leaders struck a far-reaching bipartisan agreement on Wednesday that would add hundreds of billions of dollars to military and domestic programs over the next two years while raising the federal debt limit, moving to end the cycle of fiscal showdowns that have roiled the Capitol. The accord between Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, and Chuck Schumer of New York, his Democratic counterpart, would raise strict caps on military and domestic spending that were imposed in 2011 as part of a deal with President Barack Obama that was once seen as a key triumph for Republicans in Congress. (Kaplan, 2/7)
The Associated Press:
Budget Agreement Adds Money For Defense, Infrastructure
Key aspects of the proposed budget agreement that covers the current fiscal year and the next. ... Extends the Children's Health Insurance Plan for 10 years, up from six years under a previous agreement. Includes an additional $6 billion for fighting opioid addiction and boosting mental health services, $4 billion to improve health care for veterans, $20 billion for infrastructure improvements and $2 billion to support additional research at the National Institutes of Health. (2/7)
The Washington Post:
Sweeping Budget Deal Would More Than $500 Billion In Federal Spending, End Months Of Partisan Wrangling
Some of the funding is reserved for programs favored by lawmakers of both parties: research conducted by the National Institutes of Health, for instance, as well as transportation and water infrastructure. Also included are extensions of tax breaks that could add billions of dollars more to the cost of the bill. The Children’s Health Insurance Program would be extended through 2028, and the federal fund for community health centers would see a two-year extension. The bill also abolishes the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a body established in the 2010 Affordable Care Act with the power to reduce the payments Medicare makes to health providers. (DeBonis and Werner, 2/7)
The Hill:
Senate Deal Would Fund Children's Health Insurance, Community Health Centers
A stopgap funding measure passed by Congress earlier this month only funded CHIP for six years, but the spending deal announced Wednesday would tack on another four years of funding. (Hellmann, 2/7)
Stat:
Senate Budget Deal Puts Drug Makers On The Hook For More Costs
The budget deal announced in the Senate on Wednesday contained a provision surprising to drug companies and Medicare beneficiaries alike: a sooner-than-expected change to the program’s “donut hole” coverage gap. The provision included in the budget plan would mean a sizable hit to the pharmaceutical industry. It would move from 2020 to 2019 a requirement that drug makers pick up a larger portion of costs for their medicines for Part D beneficiaries who reach the so-called “donut hole” — a gap in Medicare coverage where beneficiaries often have to pay eye-watering drug prices out of pocket up to a certain dollar amount. (Facher and Silverman, 2/7)
The Hill:
Budget Deal Includes $6 Billion To Fight Opioid Abuse
A bipartisan Senate budget deal includes $6 billion for opioid addiction and mental health, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. Advocates have been calling for more funding to combat the increasing deaths from opioid overdoses, which are now killing more Americans than car accidents. (Roubein, 2/7)
Stat:
NIH And Opioid Response Get Boost In Senate Budget Deal
The increase in NIH funding continues a trend of substantial budget increases for the agency over the last several years. In a budget request submitted last May, the White House proposed a 17 percent reduction in the 2018 NIH budget, and indicated support for a cap on the portion of agency grants that can be used toward research institutions’ infrastructure costs. Congress instead ignored the White House request, and raised planned spending on the NIH to $36.1 billion dollars. (Facher, 2/7)
The Hill:
Senate Dems Push For Expansion Of ObamaCare Subsidies In Deal
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is pushing for major changes to an agreement on an ObamaCare fix, including an expansion of subsidies under the health-care law. Murray, who is leading negotiations for Senate Democrats on the issue, wants to increase the ObamaCare tax credits that help people afford coverage, according to a Senate Democratic aide. That would be a significant expansion of ObamaCare that could help make premiums more affordable for many people. (Sullivan, 2/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
Congressional Leaders Say They Agree On Budget Deal
“This bill is the product of extensive negotiations among congressional leaders and the White House,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said on the Senate floor Wednesday in announcing the pact. “No one would suggest it is perfect, but we worked hard to find common ground.” “After months of legislative logjams, this budget deal is a genuine breakthrough,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said on the Senate floor. (Peterson and Hughes, 2/7)
Reuters:
Congressional Leaders Forge Budget Deal That Adds To Deficit
The proposal will likely require the support of some Democrats if it is to pass the House. Some liberal Democrats opposed it because it does not include an agreement to protect from deportation hundreds of thousands of "Dreamers," young people brought illegally to the United States as children. In voicing her opposition, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi set the record for the longest continuous speech in House history, an eight-hour effort that included reading letters from Dreamers pleading to be allowed to stay in the United States. (Cowan and Becker, 2/7)
The Washington Post:
ACA’s State-Run Insurance Exchanges Fare Better Than The Law’s Federal Marketplace
States that run their own Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces significantly outperformed the rest of the country in attracting consumers to sign up for health plans for 2018, according to enrollment tallies released on Wednesday. Overall enrollment stayed essentially level from the year before in the 11 states plus the District of Columbia with state-based marketplaces, while sign-ups in states that rely on the ACA’s federal exchange fell, on average, by more than 5 percent. Five states with hybrid systems did best of all, according to a report compiled by the National Academy for State Health Policy. (Goldstein, 2/7)
The Associated Press:
AP Count: Nearly 11.8M Enroll For Obama Health Law In 2018
Call it the political equivalent of a death-defying escape: former President Barack Obama's health care law pulled in nearly 11.8 million customers for 2018, despite the Republican campaign to erase it from the books. An Associated Press count found that nationwide enrollment was about 3 percent lower than last year. California, with more than 1.5 million sign-ups, was the last state to report, announcing its numbers on Wednesday. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Vineys, 2/7)
The Hill:
ObamaCare Enrollment Drops 3.7 Percent For 2018, Health Group Says
ObamaCare saw a 3.7 percent drop in enrollment in 2018 compared to the year before, according to new numbers released Wednesday from a health-care group that says the relatively minor decline demonstrates “remarkable stability.” The national total of consumers who selected ObamaCare plans during this year’s open enrollment period was 11.8 million, compared to 12.2 million who signed up for plans in 2017. (Hellmann, 2/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Despite Trump Attacks, Obamacare Sign-Ups Hold Steady, New Numbers Show
The new enrollment numbers — which include totals from California and other states that operate their own marketplaces, as well as states that rely on the federal HealthCare.gov marketplace — offer the most detailed picture to date of the insurance markets. And they suggest surprising strength in many markets across the country, with consumers steadily signing up for health plans even as Trump and his Republican congressional allies derided the markets as crumbling and unaffordable. "This shows that consumers really want and need coverage," said Trish Riley, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, which compiled the nationwide enrollment tally. (Levey, 2/7)
The Hill:
House Eyes Changes For ‘Right To Try’ Bill
Lawmakers in the House appear likely to make changes to the “right to try” bill on experimental drugs, something supporters worry could make it harder to get the bill to President Trump’s desk. Advocates of the measure — which would let terminally ill patients request access to treatments the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved — want the House to take up the Senate-passed bill as is. But that’s unlikely, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said Monday. (Roubein, 2/8)
Stat:
U.S. Attorney Urged To Re-Open Probe Into An Allergan Unit For Alleged Fraud
Nearly eight years ago, an Allergan (AGN) unit paid $150 million to settle criminal charges of illegally marketing three drugs. Now, the U.S. attorney in Boston is being asked to reopen its investigation after newly unsealed documents suggest the company may have deliberately misled federal officials about a key clinical trial for one of the medicines, undermining the basis for the settlements. Specifically, the documents indicate Forest Laboratories obscured crucial information demonstrating the Celexa antidepressant was not effective in children. Instead, using what its medical director acknowledged was “a masterful stroke of euphemism,” the company portrayed the study results as positive in materials that were submitted to the Food and Drug Administration in hopes of winning approval for pediatric use, according to the court documents. (Silverman, 2/8)
Stat:
He Calls Animal Testing 'Taxpayer-Funded Torture.' The FDA Listened
Now the 39-year-old founder of an animal rights group, [Anthony] Bellotti last month achieved an important victory for opponents of animal testing. He played a key role in pressuring the Food and Drug Administration to shut down a nicotine-addiction study in which four monkeys died, and prompting the appointment of an independent investigator to look into the agency’s animal research program. Emboldened by that success, Bellotti is redoubling fundraising efforts for his fledgling organization, and publicizing more government-backed medical tests that he believes taxpayers oppose. It is, he suggests, a wholly novel approach to animal-rights advocacy, since no one has previously sold this idea as a way to cut government waste. (Tedeschi, 2/8)
The Hill:
Abortion Fights Loom In States
Both sides of the abortion rights debate are preparing for a busy year of fights over when and how abortions may be performed in states across the country — and both sides are developing a long-term strategy that could involve a new challenge to Roe v. Wade. While it is still early in the year, several measures seeking to limit abortion rights have already advanced in Republican-dominated states. (Wilson, 2/7)
The Hill:
Planned Parenthood Begins Search To Replace Cecile Richards
Planned Parenthood is kicking off its search to replace departing President Cecile Richards, the organization's board of directors announced Wednesday. Former Planned Parenthood board member Anna Quindlen was elected to lead the group's search committee for a new president. The committee also includes members of Planned Parenthood's board and CEOs from affiliates in Ohio, Florida and Minnesota. (Hellmann, 2/7)
The Associated Press:
US Says Abortion Gag Rule Cost Only 4 Organizations Funding
The Trump administration said Wednesday that only four international organizations and a dozen of their local partners have refused to accept new rules for spending U.S. assistance that ban health care funds from being used to promote or perform abortions overseas. The International Planned Parenthood Federation is among those that declined. The administration said that out of 733 organizations whose funding came up for renewal under the new restrictions, 729 had agreed to the rules and had their grants approved as of the end of the last budget year in September. (Lee, 2/7)
Reuters:
Exclusive: States Need U.S. Help To Protect Drug-Affected Infants-GAO
The federal government needs to take more steps to help states protect infants born affected by drugs such as opioids, the U.S. Government Accountability Office says in a new report released Wednesday. State agencies remain confused about a federal law requiring them to report drug-affected infants to child protective services - not to punish mothers but to help families and ensure the child’s safety, the GAO says. Thirty-eight states said more guidance would be “extremely to very helpful,” according to the report. (Wilson, 2/7)
NPR:
Opioid Law Enforcement, Not Treatment, Is Trump's Priority
More than three months after President Trump declared the nation's opioid crisis a public health emergency, activists and healthcare providers say they're still waiting for some other action. The Trump administration quietly renewed the declaration recently. But it's given no signs it's developing a comprehensive strategy to address an epidemic that claims more than 115 lives every day. The President now says to combat opioids he's focused on enforcement, not treatment. (Allen, 2/7)
The Washington Post:
Experts Call For More Resources In Fighting Opioid Epidemic
An average of 19 people a week overdosed on opioids in Richmond last year, and government agencies and other entities have responded to the crisis in a variety of ways, from dispensing overdose reversal drugs to arresting addicts. Academic and law-enforcement experts discussed the problem and possible solutions Tuesday in a panel discussion titled “The Opioid Epidemic: Impact on Communities” at Virginia Commonwealth University. (Belletti, 2/7)
The Associated Press:
County Sues 14 Opioid Drug Companies For Addiction Increase
A Maryland county has filed a lawsuit against 14 opioid manufacturers and distributors. The Washington Post reports the Montgomery County lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses the companies of deceptive marketing and failure to report suspicious sales, leading to “unprecedented” opioid addiction in the county. The lawsuit says prescription opioid overdose deaths increased from 27 in 2010 to 117 in 2016. (2/8)
The Washington Post:
Judge Suggests Drug-Addicted Woman Get Sterilized Before Sentencing, And She Does
In her 34 years, Summer Thyme Creel has passed a lot of bad checks, taken a lot of drugs and borne a lot of children (seven). After her sentencing today in federal court in Oklahoma, her involvement with checks and drugs will stop at least temporarily, but she will never have another baby. That’s because the judge in her case suggested, in writing, that Creel consider getting herself sterilized before the sentencing, and Creel proceeded to do just that. (Jackman, 2/8)
The New York Times:
How To Know When A Child’s Flu Turns Serious
The standard prescription for flu is to stay home and rest, drink plenty of fluids, and keep pain and fever under control with over-the-counter drugs like acetaminophen. But this flu season has been a particularly scary one for parents. At least 53 children across the country have died from flu-related illness, and parents need to know how to tell if a child takes a turn for the worse — and if it’s time to rush to the hospital. (Rabin, 2/7)
Los Angeles Times:
How Your Brain May Have Shielded You From Depression After The 2016 Election If You Didn't Like The Result
For some people the election of Donald Trump was a glorious moment of triumph. For others, it was a debilitating moment of trauma. But for a team of researchers at UCLA, it was the perfect opportunity to test how the brain responds to political distress. "A lot of research on stress in the brain looks at events that occur on an individual level," said Sarah Tashjian, a graduate student in psychology at UCLA who led the work. "We wanted to see if we could extrapolate that to a larger event like a shift in the political climate" (Netburn, 2/8)
The Washington Post:
Robin Williams's Suicide Was Followed By A Sharp Rise In 'Copycat' Deaths
“Hanged.” The front page of the New York Daily News said it all in one word on Aug. 13, 2014. Above the capital letters, which filled nearly a third of the page, was a photo of comedian Robin Williams with a somber expression, dead at age 63. The headline, unfortunately, contravened the most basic recommendations of the World Health Organization and suicide prevention experts for how the media should cover suicide, including “toning down” accounts, to avoid inspiring similar deaths. News of Williams's death appears to be associated with a nearly 10 percent rise in the number of suicides in the United States in the five months that followed, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE. (Nutt, 2/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Snooping Around In Hospital Pipes, Scientists Find DNA That Fuels The Spread Of Superbugs
The pipes carrying away the effluvia of very sick people are bound to be nasty, dirty places. But just how unwholesome they are is made clear in a new report showing that the pipes beneath a hospital intensive care unit are a throbbing, seething hookup zone for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. (Healy, 2/6)
Stat:
Doctors At The Olympics Work For Years To Get To The Games
As Team USA preps for the Winter Olympics festivities to kick off this weekend, it’s not only the 243 athletes who are getting ready for action — it’s also a crew of medical volunteers who undergo a grueling selection process of their own. The official U.S. Olympic Committee’s Sports Medicine Division recruits a crew of volunteer doctors — as well as orthopedists, chiropractors, nurses, sports therapists, massage therapists, and more — every two years. Those selected will work with Olympic teams during training and practices and ultimately at the games themselves — some caring for one team exclusively; others moving around as the need arises. And they do it all uncompensated. (Samuel, 2/8)
The New York Times:
Norovirus Cases At Olympics More Than Double, Moving Beyond Security Staff
The number of confirmed cases of norovirus at the Winter Games has risen to 86 from 32 in just two days as Olympic officials struggle to track the source of the outbreak on the eve of the opening ceremony. Hong Jeong-ik from South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that the new cases included staff members of the Pyeongchang Olympics Organizing Committee, venue personnel and even cafeteria workers — a sign that the highly contagious virus had spread beyond the security personnel who were the first to test positive. (Qin, 2/8)
The Washington Post:
An Oregon Hospital Refused A New Liver To An Undocumented Woman. Then It Found Its Heart.
Hospital officials in Oregon have ended a policy that prevented an undocumented woman from getting a liver transplant because of her immigration status after outcry, according to local news reports. Silvia Lesama-Santos, 46, a mother of four who has lived in the country for at least 30 years, was denied the transplant in a letter Tuesday from transplant program at the Oregon Health and Science University, a public school dedicated to health-related sciences. (Rosenberg, 2/7)
The Associated Press:
Report Says Oversight Lacking At Violent NY Psych Hospital
A newspaper is reporting that a New York psychiatric hospital for inmates operated without legally required oversight while two inmate deaths, 40 assaults and 25 sex offenses triggered police responses between 2012 and 2016. The Journal News reports that there were 210 criminal incidents at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in rural Marcy, New York during that time. (2/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Portantino Introduces Bill To Require Suicide Prevention Hotline Numbers Be Provided In Schools
State Sen. Anthony J. Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) introduced legislation this week that would require all public, charter and private schools to print a suicide prevention hotline number on the back of their students' identification cards. The measure, SB 972, would be for seventh through 12th grades and all higher education institutions. Adolescent suicide and self-inflicted injury are a serious social and public health concern, Portantino said. (Kellam, 2/7)