First Edition: July 12, 2017
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Women With High-Risk Pregnancies Far More Prone To Heart Disease
Women who have high-risk pregnancies or complications in childbirth are up to eight times more likely to suffer heart disease later in life. And many mothers — and their doctors — are unaware of the danger. Emerging research shows heart disease is a long-term threat for women who develop diabetes or high blood pressure during pregnancy, for example, or those whose babies are born prematurely or precariously small. (Gorman, 7/12)
The New York Times:
G.O.P. Senators Vow To Unveil Health Bill Thursday, Despite Deep Divisions
Senate Republican leaders, facing their restive colleagues after the Fourth of July recess, vowed on Tuesday to press ahead with their effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, with a new version of their bill on Thursday and a vote next week — regardless of the deep divisions in the party. (Kaplan and Pear, 7/11)
The Associated Press:
GOP Ready To Try Pushing New Health Bill Through Senate
In the face of unanimous Democratic opposition, the health care bill will crash if just three of the 52 GOP senators oppose it. McConnell suddenly canceled a doomed vote last month on an initial version of the legislation, and at least a dozen Republicans have said they oppose the initial package or distanced themselves from it. Since his June retreat, McConnell has been reshaping the measure in hopes of winning GOP votes. Even so, no GOP leaders were yet predicting passage. (7/12)
Politico:
Reeling Republicans Take One Last Shot At Obamacare
New text of the proposal will be made public Thursday, and a Congressional Budget Office analysis is expected on Monday. “We’re in gridlock,” said Sen. John McCain of Arizona. He added sarcastically: “Now we’re going to look at a new approach. And we’re going to get a CBO estimate on Monday. Yay!” Sen. Ron Johnson, a conservative holdout, called it a "political blunder" that McConnell started the health care debate as a partisan, all-Republican effort. (Everett and Haberkorn, 7/11)
NPR:
New Senate GOP Health Care Bill To Be Released Thursday
A revised Congressional Budget Office score, showing the costs and impact on coverage of the new version of the bill, is expected on Monday or Tuesday of next week. The CBO score of the first version found that the BCRA would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026. (Taylor, 7/11)
USA Today:
Senate Republicans Delay August Recess To Work On Health Care
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday the Senate will delay the start of its summer recess to finish action on repealing Obamacare and other priority items. “In order to provide more time to complete action on important legislative items and process nominees that have been stalled by a lack of cooperation from our friends across the aisle, the Senate will delay the start of the August recess until the third week of August,” McConnell said in a statement. (Berry, 7/11)
The Washington Post:
McConnell Delays August Recess To Complete Work On Health-Care Bill, Other Issues
In addition to health care and appointments, the Senate will also devote time to passing a defense authorization bill “and other important issues,” McConnell said. The Senate will now remain at work through the week of Aug. 7. (Snell, Sullivan and Eilperin, 7/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senate Delays August Recess As Health Bill’s Fate Hangs In Balance
“We’re going to do health care next week,” Mr. McConnell told reporters Tuesday. “And then we’re going to turn to other issues,” he said, citing the annual defense policy bill, confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominees and raising the federal government’s borrowing limit among the summer’s goals. (Peterson and Rubin, 7/11)
Politico:
McConnell: Senate Will Work Through First Two Weeks Of August Recess
Agitation from the Republican rank and file to cancel at least part of the annual August recess has been building for weeks with a small group of junior GOP senators pressuring their leadership to stick around in Washington to tackle not just health care but tax reform and other items on the party's agenda. (Kim and Everett, 7/11)
The Associated Press:
McConnell Nixes Part Of Senate Vacation To Deal With Backlog
It’s not uncommon for backbench lawmakers to demand that a recess be canceled to play catch-up on unfinished work. But such efforts often amount to grandstanding, and most everybody in Washington is privately relieved when vacations aren’t canceled. “If you were going to school and you were getting failing grades in your spring semester, you better stay in school for the summer and go to summer school, not take a recess,” said freshman Sen. Steve Daines of Montana at a Tuesday news conference populated by mostly junior Republicans. (Taylor, 7/11)
The Associated Press:
Analysis: GOP Confronts No-Win Situation On Health Care
Republicans find themselves in a no-win situation as they struggle to pass health care legislation in the Senate: Success could alienate a majority of the population, but failure could anger the crucial group of GOP base voters the party relies on to build election victories. (7/12)
The Associated Press:
GOP Health Bill: Benefit Cuts For Poor, Tax Cuts For Rich
America's poorest families would lose thousands of dollars in health benefits so that millionaires could get huge tax cuts under the Senate Republicans' health bill, according to an independent analysis released Tuesday. (7/11)
The Washington Post:
The GOP Health Bill Would Cut Benefits For Very Poor Households By An Average Of $2,500 A Year, Economists Say
The typical household with more than $200,000 a year in income would pay $5,500 less annually in taxes under the recent plan put forward by GOP senators. By contrast, households earning less than $10,000 a year would lose out on an average of about $2,600 in federal benefits annually, according to the analysis published Tuesday by the nonpartisan Urban Institute and Brookings Institution. (Ehrenfreund, 7/11)
The Associated Press:
New GOP Health Bill Likely Keeping Obama Tax Boosts On Rich
A revised Senate Republican health care bill will likely retain a pair of tax boosts President Barack Obama imposed on wealthier Americans that have helped finance his law's expansion of coverage, a leading Senate Republican said Tuesday. (7/11)
The Washington Post:
McConnell May Be About To Break A Crucial GOP Promise On Obamacare
Last month, McConnell tried to advance a bill that would have cut future revenues by $700 billion over 10 years by eliminating a number of tax provisions in the ACA. This included a $172.2 billion cut over 10 years by repealing the “net investment tax” and another $58.6 billion by repealing the Medicare Tax Increase. Both of those tax cuts would primarily benefit wealthier Americans. The 3.8 percent net investment tax applied to capital gains and other investments for individuals making more than $200,000 in annual income or married couples making more than $250,000. (Paletta and Ehrenfreund, 7/11)
The Associated Press:
Senate Consumer Choice Idea Could Raise Premiums For Sick
A health care proposal from Senate conservatives would let insurers sell skimpy policies provided they also offer a comprehensive plan. It's being billed as pro-consumer, allowing freedom of choice and potential savings for many. But critics say it would split the sick and the healthy, leading to unsustainably high premiums for people with medical problems and pre-existing conditions, who may get priced out of the market unless taxpayers bail them out. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/11)
The New York Times:
What’s Dividing Republican Senators On The Health Care Bill
As Republican leaders plan to release a revised health care bill on Thursday, at least a dozen senators have expressed concerns about several major issues in the current draft. (Singhvi and Parlapiano, 7/11)
The Washington Post:
The Senate Health Bill Is Almost An Orphan With Few Real Supporters
The Senate did not author the proverb about success having many fathers while failure is an orphan, but the words often typify how senators react to legislation that is struggling to win approval. On Tuesday, after a roughly 90-minute huddle with his caucus, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) began his weekly news conference on “the news of the day” — the struggling effort to pass health-care legislation that would repeal and replace portions of the Affordable Care Act. (Kane, 7/11)
Politico:
Graham Drafting Alternative Heath Care Plan
Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Tuesday that he’s working with other senators to draft an alternative plan to replace Obamacare — and he hopes to win Democratic support. The surprising comments by the South Carolina Republican come as Senate GOP leaders struggle to come up with the 50 votes necessary to pass their bill to repeal and replace the 2010 health law. (Wright, 7/11)
Politico:
Republican Voters To GOP: Keep Working On Obamacare Repeal
The Republican base wants Senate GOP leaders to continue trying to repeal Obamacare despite recent setbacks, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. A clear majority of Republican voters, 67 percent, want the GOP to continue to work to repeal and replace the health care law, compared to only 21 percent who want party leaders to move on. Among all voters, 40 percent want congressional Republicans to continue to work on a new health care bill, and 47 percent want them to move on. (Shepard, 7/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Obamacare 101: Is There A Smaller Fix For The Affordable Care Act?
With Senate Republicans struggling to find votes for sweeping legislation to roll back the Affordable Care Act, several GOP lawmakers have raised the prospect of a more limited bill — passed with help from Democrats — to stabilize health insurance markets around the country. That may be heresy for conservative Republicans who’ve spent seven years demanding the full repeal of Obamacare, as the law is often called. (Levey, 7/12)
The Wall Street Journal:
Alaska Gets Approval For Plan To Bolster Health Insurance Markets
The Trump administration on Tuesday approved a plan letting Alaska set up a federally funded reinsurance program to shore up the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace, a model that other states will likely emulate. The state sought a waiver to use ACA money to reimburse insurers for their costliest customers. Customers receiving the subsidies wouldn’t know the government is footing the bill. (Hackman, 7/11)
The Washington Post:
Justice Department Reaches First Settlement With Opioid Manufacturer
The Justice Department and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals reached a $35 million settlement Tuesday to resolve allegations that the company failed to report signs that large quantities of its highly addictive oxycodone pills were diverted to the black market in Florida, where they helped stoke the opioid epidemic. (Bernstein and Higham, 7/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Ex-Insys Saleswomen Plead Guilty In Opioid Prescription Kickback Schemes
Two former pharmaceutical saleswomen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to bribing doctors in exchange for prescribing a powerful fentanyl medication made by Insys Therapeutics Inc., the drugmaker facing multiple investigations by state and federal prosecutors. (Walker, 7/11)
The New York Times:
Oscar Health To Join Humana In A Small Business Venture
For the last five years, Oscar Health has sought to portray itself as a new kind of health insurer, taking an approach that set it apart from its more traditional competitors. Now, Oscar plans to work with one of those rivals on a new venture. (de la Merced, 7/12)
The Associated Press:
Michigan Imposes Prison Term For Female Genital Mutilation
Doctors, parents and others involved in female genital mutilation in Michigan will face up to 15 years in prison under new laws signed Tuesday that were sparked by an ongoing criminal case involving six young girls. The legislation stemmed from a federal case against six people connected to an India-based Muslim sect called Dawoodi Bohra who are accused of being involved in the genital mutilation of two girls from Minnesota and four from Michigan. The procedures were allegedly carried out by a doctor at a clinic in suburban Detroit. (7/11)
The Associated Press:
Judge Clears Florida City In Hospital Wrongful Death Lawsuit
A federal judge has thrown out most of a lawsuit filed by the family of a black woman who died in December 2015, while police forcibly removed her from a Florida hospital where she sought treatment. (7/11)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
UW-Madison Scientists Make Breakthrough In Artery Cell Research
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Morgridge Institute for Research have taken the first step toward developing laboratory-made arteries that could eventually be used to help combat heart disease. (Luz, 7/11)
The Washington Post:
First Gene Therapy — ‘A True Living Drug’ — On The Cusp Of FDA Approval
When doctors saw the report on Bill Ludwig’s bone-marrow biopsy, they thought it was a mistake and ordered the test repeated. But the results came back the same: His lethal leukemia had been wiped out by an experimental treatment never before used in humans. “We were hoping for a little improvement,” remembered the 72-year-old retired New Jersey corrections officer, who had battled the disease for a decade. He and his oncologist both broke down when she delivered the good news in 2010. “Nobody was hoping for zero cancer.” (McGinley, 7/11)
USA Today:
Syphilis Rates Are Rising, And Dating Apps May Be Playing A Role, Experts Say
Syphilis, a disease most people associate with the past, has returned with a roar, and public health experts think the rise in rates can be attributed at least partly to social media. Infection rates are the highest they have been in 20 years, said David Harvey, the executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. From 2014 to 2015 alone, the number of syphilis cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rose by 17.7%, from 63,453 to 74,702. (Toy, 7/11)
Los Angeles Times:
With Diabetes Rising At Alarming Rate, California Puts Money Behind Prevention Campaign
California officials decided this week to dedicate $5 million to prevent people at high risk for diabetes from getting the disease, hoping to stem the huge numbers of Californians expected to be diagnosed in the coming years. Currently 9% of Californians have diabetes, but a study last year found that 46% of adults in California have prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetic. (Karlamangla, 7/11)
The New York Times:
Tobacco Gets More Screen Time In Blockbuster Movies, Study Shows
Tobacco is appearing more in blockbuster movies, raising public health concerns, a new study finds. Depictions or suggestions of tobacco use in top-grossing movies rose 72 percent from 2010 to 2016, according to the report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The increase was especially large among top-grossing movies with R ratings, which saw a 90 percent rise in tobacco-use imagery, though researchers noted with special concern that movies rated PG-13 also saw a sizable increase: 43 percent. (Chokshi, 7/11)
Los Angeles Times:
To Combat Teen Smoking, Health Experts Recommend R Ratings For Movies That Depict Tobacco Use
The study’s primary aim was to assess Hollywood’s progress in keeping “tobacco incidents” out of the movies most likely to be seen by America’s kids and teens. Researchers who focus on this area define such incidents as “the use or implied use of a tobacco product (cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookah, smokeless tobacco products, and electronic cigarettes) by an actor.” If two characters are smoking during a conversation, that counts as two tobacco incidents. If one of those characters is holding a pack of cigarettes in another scene, that qualifies as another incident. (Kaplan, 7/11)
NPR:
Paid Peer Support Is Helping To Fill Treatment Gaps For Some With Serious Mental Illness
Recovery coaches and peer mentors – known in Alcoholics Anonymous as "sponsors" — have for decades helped people who are addicted to alcohol or drugs. Now, peer support for people who have serious mental illness is becoming more common, too. Particularly in places like Texas, where mental health professionals are in short supply, paid peer counselors are filling a gap. (Silverman, 7/11)
USA Today:
Mental Health Day Tweet Shows What's Wrong With Mental Health Care
The Internet is fixated on a boss’s reply to an employee who took time off for her mental health, and the viral response reveals much of what is right and wrong about mental health care in America. Madalyn Parker, a Michigan web developer at live-chat platform Olark, who suffers from depression and anxiety, sent an email to her team saying she’d be off for two days to focus on her mental health. Afterward, her boss thanked her for the candor. She shared the exchange on social media in late June, and it's now been retweeted more than 12,000 times. (Dastigar, 7/11)
The New York Times:
High-Intensity Workouts May Be Good At Any Age
Abbreviated, intense workouts may help people of any age become healthier, a new study of old mice that ran on treadmills suggests. Although the experiment involved rodents, not humans, the study found that old mice can tolerate high-intensity interval training and rapidly gain fitness and strength, even if they start off frail and exercise for only a few minutes a week. (Reynolds, 7/12)
USA Today:
Nelsan Ellis Tragedy Shows How Alcohol Withdrawal Can Be Deadly
It seemed like a good idea. Rather than remain addicted to alcohol and drink in large quantities, actor Nelsan Ellis, who starred in the HBO series True Blood, decided to quit. And it killed him. (Diebel, 7/11)
The Washington Post:
Real-Time Testing Of Drugs At Music Festivals Shows ‘Molly’ Often Isn’t ‘Molly’
Scientists, public health experts and volunteers working with them have started to show up at music festivals, concerts, raves and other public gatherings where illicit drugs are frequently used. Equipped with special chemical testing kits, they help attendees test pills and powder for purity in real time so that people can make better-informed decisions about whether to take them. (Cha, 7/11)