First Edition: January 3, 2019
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
How The Government Shutdown Affects Health Programs
There seems to be no end in sight for the current partial government shutdown, the third since the beginning of the Trump administration. For the vast majority of the federal government’s public health efforts, though, it’s business as usual. That’s because Congress has already passed five of its major appropriations bills, funding about three-fourths of the federal government, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Luthra, 1/3)
Kaiser Health News:
Coverage Denied: Medicaid Patients Suffer As Layers Of Private Companies Profit
Marcela Villa isn’t a big name in health care — but she played a crucial role in the lives of thousands of Medicaid patients in California. Her official title: denial nurse. Each week, dozens of requests for treatment landed on her desk after preliminary rejections. Her job, with the assistance of a part-time medical director, was to conclusively determine whether the care — from doctor visits to cancer treatment — should be covered under the nation’s health insurance program for low-income Americans. (Terhune, 1/3)
Kaiser Health News:
Too High To Drive: States Grapple With Setting Limits On Weed Use Behind Wheel
It used to be the stuff of stoner comedies and “Just Say No” campaigns. Today, marijuana is becoming mainstream as voters across the country approve ballot questions for legalization or medical use. In response, state governments are testing ways to ensure that the integration of this once-illicit substance into everyday life doesn’t create new public health risks. These efforts are sparking a difficult question: At what point is someone too high to get behind the wheel? (Luthra, 1/3)
The Hill:
House To Vote Next Week On Intervening To Defend ObamaCare In Court
The House will hold a vote next week on intervening to defend ObamaCare in court against a GOP-led lawsuit, which Democrats hope will be a tough vote for many Republicans. A spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the vote on having the House formally intervene in court to defend ObamaCare will come next week, in addition to a vote on Thursday on intervening in the lawsuit as part of the larger package of rules for the new session of Congress. (Sullivan, 1/2)
The Hill:
Trump Predicts Supreme Court Will Overturn ObamaCare
President Trump on Wednesday predicted that the Supreme Court would declare ObamaCare unconstitutional and that Democrats and Republicans would have to work together on a new health plan. "That case from Texas should win in the Supreme Court," Trump said Wednesday during a televised cabinet meeting. "We should win at the Supreme Court, where this case will go. When we do, we will sit down with the Democrats and we will come up with great health care." (Hellmann, 1/2)
CQ:
2019 Legislative Preview: Health Care
Fights over health care are set to grip Capitol Hill again this year, with the 2010 health care law and prescription drug prices on the agenda in both chambers. Lawmakers hope they’ll find ways to advance legislation through the Republican-controlled Senate and a Democratic-controlled House. Prescription drug prices may be their best bet, with incoming chairmen like GOP Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey already calling that a focus. (Siddons and McIntire, 1/3)
The New York Times:
What Is And Isn’t Affected By The Government Shutdown
Fear not, seniors of America: The Social Security checks are still coming. (And the Postal Service will still deliver them.) That’s because the Social Security Administration already received funding for the 2019 fiscal year, in September, according to Mark Hinkle, an agency spokesman. “Social Security services and offices will remain fully operational, and Social Security benefits will be paid on time,” he said in an emailed statement. It is not the only entitlement program spared from the shutdown. Medicare and Medicaid are also unaffected. (Chokshi and Caron, 1/2)
Los Angeles Times:
Trump And Congressional Leaders Dig In Over Government Shutdown
The shuttered parts of the federal government were no closer to being reopened Wednesday after President Trump and congressional leaders met for the first time since the shutdown began nearly two weeks ago. “I don’t think any particular progress was made today, but we talked,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters. “We’re hopeful that somehow in the coming days and weeks we’ll be able to reach an agreement.” (Wire, 1/2)
The New York Times:
A Trump County Confronts The Administration Amid A Rash Of Child Cancers
The children fell ill, one by one, with cancers that few families in this suburban Indianapolis community had ever heard of. An avid swimmer struck down by glioblastoma, which grew a tumor in her brain. Four children with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. Fifteen children with acute lymphocytic leukemia, including three cases diagnosed in the past year. (Tabuchi, 1/2)
The Washington Post:
‘Not A Problem You Can Run Away From’: Communities Confront The Threat Of Unregulated Chemicals In Their Drinking Water
The day this small town told its residents to stop drinking the water, Jennifer and Justin Koehler decided to sell their white clapboard house and move their two children elsewhere. Sara and Matt Dean, who had relocated several years earlier from Chicago, started worrying about the health of their young son and the baby arriving soon. And Tammy Cooper felt a welling indignation that would turn her into an activist — one who would travel to Washington to push for action on the chemicals contaminating her family’s drinking water and that of millions of other Americans. (Dennis, 1/2)
Stat:
Trump Gets A Permanent Drug Czar — And His First Science Adviser
The Senate also confirmed James Carroll to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy, giving the White House a top drug policy adviser amid a national epidemic in which 70,000 Americans die each year from drug overdoses. Carroll has filled the role in an acting position since February. The Trump administration has identified the opioid crisis as a top priority, but lost its first ONDCP nominee to scandal and has in many cases sidelined the office while devoting much of its portfolio to Kellyanne Conway, one of the president’s top political advisers. (Facher, 1/2)
Reuters:
U.S. Senate Confirms Two FCC Commissioners, Science Adviser
In total, the Senate confirmed 77 nominees late Wednesday in the final hours of the 115th Congress, including Kelvin Droegemeier to be director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. President Donald Trump had gone 19 months before nominating a chief science adviser in July. Droegemeier, a meteorologist, was previously vice president for research at the University of Oklahoma. (Shepardson, 1/2)
Reuters:
Trump Says He Expects To See Lower Drug Prices
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he expects to see a tremendous decrease in drug prices even as drugmakers have taken steps to raise the prices of their medicines starting this month. Trump made the comments during a meeting of his Cabinet at the White House that included U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar. According to documents seen by Reuters, nearly 30 pharmaceutical companies have taken steps to end their self-declared halt to price increases this year. (1/2)
Reuters:
Drug Companies Greet 2019 With U.S. Price Hikes
Drugmakers kicked off 2019 with price increases in the United States on more than 250 prescription drugs, including the world's top-selling medicine, Humira, although the pace of price hikes was slower than last year. The industry has been under pressure by the U.S. President Donald Trump to hold their prices level as his administration works on plans aimed at lowering the costs of medications for consumers in the world's most expensive pharmaceutical market. (1/2)
Bloomberg:
Drugmakers May Be Delaying Price Hikes To Avoid Spotlight
With drugmakers under the microscope, price hikes on branded medicines are off to a slow start in 2019. According to a Goldman Sachs analysis, prices were raised on about 27 percent of the top 500 branded drugs, down from 47 percent last year. The average list price increase was only 4 percent, half what it was in 2018. “The lower magnitude of brand price increases could present modest downside risk to wholesaler earnings,” health-care services analyst Robert Jones wrote in a note to clients. (Flanagan and Griffin, 1/2)
Stat:
California Reports Show Changes In Drug Spending As Makers Sue Over Release
For the first time since California passed a law designed to provide transparency into prescription drug pricing, the state released a pair of reports showing how much was spent on medicines, the costliest drugs, and the treatments that were most frequently prescribed, among other things. The reports generated little hoopla, but represent the latest tangible results of a drawn-out battle between state lawmakers and the pharmaceutical industry over the rising cost of medicines. With Congress failing to take action on a growing pocketbook issue, California pushed to require drug makers to provide alerts and justification for pending price hikes. (Silverman, 1/3)
Stat:
SCOTUS To Examine Strategy Drug Makers Use To Sidestep Patient Lawsuits
The Supreme Court will next week consider a case that has the potential to upend how drug companies can defend themselves from patient lawsuits. The case, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Doris Albrecht, began as a collection of lawsuits by more than a thousand patients who used the osteoporosis drug Fosamax. The patients say the drug maker failed to adequately warn them that taking the drug might make them more likely to fracture their femurs. (Swetlitz, 1/3)
The Associated Press:
Expect 2019 To Be Quiet In Congress For Small Business
Lawmakers were expected to introduce health care bills even before the federal court ruling last month that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. Since that ruling, which is expected to be appealed and could reach the Supreme Court, House Democrats have said they plan to intervene in the defense of the law. Democrats expect to introduce bills to limit the use of low-cost short-term health plans that have limited coverage and bolster the ACA's coverage of people with pre-existing conditions. Republican opposition to Democratic efforts is likely, although many GOP lawmakers voiced support for pre-existing condition coverage during their election campaigns. (Rosenberg, 1/2)
The Associated Press:
Commission OKs Recommendation To Arm Teachers In Florida
The commission investigating a shooting massacre at a Florida high school unanimously approved its initial findings and recommendations Wednesday, including a controversial proposal that teachers who volunteer and undergo training be allowed to carry guns. The 15-member Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission's 446-page report details what members believe happened before, during and after the Feb. 14 shooting attack that left 14 students and three staff members dead and 17 wounded. (Spencer, 1/2)
Reuters:
Report Into Deadliest U.S. High School Shooting Calls For Arming Teachers, More Security
The 485-page report into the Parkland, Florida school massacre, that left 14 students and three adults dead at the hands of a lone gunman in February 2018, will be studied by Florida Governor Rick Scott, Governor-elect Ron DeSantis and a state commission charged with finding ways to prevent another school shooting massacre. The report, by the state-appointed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, finds a cascade of errors from law enforcement officers holding back as shots were fired and lax school security that allowed a former student with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle access to the campus. (McKay, 1/3)
Stat:
A Shattering Breach Of Trust: The Doctor Who Was Not Who He Claimed To Be
More than 200 of his former patients, including [Yvette] Hansberry, have joined a class-action suit against Dimensions Health Corp., which now operates the hospital where they were treated. The suit claims that the hospital was negligent in its hiring and credentialing of the man they knew as [Dr. Charles] Akoda — and that they had suffered “humiliation, shame, mortification and other injuries” under his care. The suit charges that he conducted unplanned emergency cesarean section surgeries that were “not medically necessary” and that, because his patients did not know his real identity, they were incapable of providing authorization or consent for any medical procedures. (McKinney, 1/3)
NPR:
Paramedics And EMTs Confront Unconscious Racial Bias In Medical Care
A recent study out of Oregon suggests emergency medical responders — EMTs and paramedics — may be treating minority patients differently from the way they treat white patients. Specifically, the scientists found that black patients in their study were 40 percent less likely to get pain medication than their white peers. (Foden-Vencil, 1/3)
The New York Times:
The Unbearable Heaviness Of Clutter
Do you have a clutter problem? If you have to move things around in order to accomplish a task in your home or at your office or you feel overwhelmed by all your “things,” it’s a strong signal that clutter has prevailed. And it might be stressing you out more than you realize. (Lucchesi, 1/3)
The New York Times:
Cholesterol May Be Higher After The Holidays
The holiday season may confer an unwanted gift: higher cholesterol. Danish researchers studied 25,764 people in Copenhagen whose average age was 59. All had blood drawn regularly to test lipid levels. None were on cholesterol-lowering medicines. Average total cholesterol in the group over the whole year was 205, just over the recommended guideline of 200. Average LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, was 116, just above the 100 level considered healthy. (Bakalar, 1/2)
Stat:
Friends Ask Where James Watson's Attitudes About Race Came From
[James] Watson’s many odious comments over the decades might be blamed on age (he is 90), or irascibility, or a privileged white man’s raging at a world that no longer winks at remarks like “some anti-Semitism is justified.” But in interviews with STAT, longtime friends offered another explanation for how Watson can believe something refuted by rigorous research, and how someone who cares deeply about history’s verdict can hold so tenaciously and publicly to unrepentant racism and sexism. (Begley, 1/3)
NPR:
Parents Feel Forced To Relinquish Custody To Get Their Child Mental Health Treatment
When Toni and Jim Hoy adopted their son Daniel through the foster care system, he was an affectionate toddler. They did not plan to give him back to the state of Illinois, ever. "Danny was this cute, lovable little blond-haired, blue-eyed baby," Jim says. Toni recalls times Daniel would reach over, put his hands on her face and squish her cheeks. "And he would go, 'You pretty, Mom,' " Toni says. "Oh my gosh, he just melted my heart when he would say these very loving, endearing things to me." (Herman, 1/2)
The New York Times:
Where Doulas Calm Nerves And Bridge Cultures During Childbirth
Maria Hussein, who escaped the war in Syria, was many hours into labor in a Swedish hospital when the midwife realized her fetus was in distress, and called in an obstetrician to help. The doctor began giving Ms. Hussein instructions and reassurance in Swedish. Oksana Kornienko, who works as a doula culture interpreter for a nonprofit organization serving pregnant immigrant women, listened attentively, leaning over Ms. Hussein’s shoulder and translating the doctor’s words into Arabic. (Anderson, 1/2)
CNN:
Mediterranean Diet Named The Best For 2019
If you're a fan of the Mediterranean diet, get ready to do a victory dance. For the first time, the Mediterranean diet has won the gold as 2019's best overall diet in rankings announced Wednesday by US News and World Report. The analysis of 41 eating plans also gave the Mediterranean diet the top spot in several subcategories: best diet for healthy eating, best plant-based diet, best diet for diabetes and easiest diet to follow. (LaMotte, 1/2)
The New York Times:
Excess Weight Contributes To More Than 7 Percent Of Cancers
More than 7 percent of cancer cases in the United States are attributable to excess body weight, a new study reports. Previous studies have established an association between body fat and at least a dozen cancers, with the highest risks for liver, uterine and esophageal cancers. (Bakalar, 1/2)
The Washington Post:
Transplant Links Baltimore Homicide Victim To Western Maryland Retiree
Charles McAtee turned 60 last month, and he hasn’t felt this good in years. He’s back to pushing a snowblower around his Western Maryland home. He feels half his age. In fact, his heart is. This holiday season, McAtee holds dear a Baltimore County woman responsible for the best gift he ever received: her son’s heart.In three hours and three minutes, that heart went from her son’s chest into McAtee’s. The two men matched height, weight and O Positive blood — that’s all. One was 27, one 57; one black, one white; one aspired to be a rapper, one retired from the Internal Revenue Service. Who could have expected the bond that would follow? (Prudente, 1/2)
The Associated Press:
First Flu Deaths Of Season Reported In Delaware
Public health officials are reporting the first flu-related deaths in Delaware in the 2018-2019 flu season. Authorities said Wednesday that a 65-year-old man who was infected with Influenza A died last week, making him the first flu fatality. Officials say a 73-year-old man and a 77-year-old woman also died within the past few days after being infected with Influenza A. (1/2)