General
Health-care law more popular despite Trump’s repeated attempts to destroy it
Paige Winfield Cunningham, The Washington Post
President Trump has begun a fresh assault on the Affordable Care Act, declaring his intent to come up with a new health-care plan and backing a state-led lawsuit to eliminate the entire law. But Trump and Republicans face a major problem: The 2010 law known as Obamacare has become more popular and enmeshed in the country’s health-care system over time.
Trump’s health care blundering soothes Democratic infighting
Alice Miranda Ollstein and Adam Cancryn, Politico
House Democrats disagree sharply over where to take the nation’s health care system, but the infighting has eased — and for that they can thank President Donald Trump. The Trump administration’s renewed assault on Obamacare has quelled for the moment the simmering tensions over “Medicare for All” between Democrats’ vocal progressive wing and more moderate members and leaders.
V.A. Officials, and the Nation, Battle an Unrelenting Tide of Veteran Suicides
Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times
Three veterans killed themselves last week on Department of Veterans Affairs health care properties, barely a month after President Trump announced an aggressive task force to address the unremitting problem of veteran suicide.
CDC blames ground beef for mystery E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 100 people in 6 states
Alex Horton et al., The Washington Post
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that E. coli-contaminated ground beef was the suspected culprit in an outbreak that infected at least 109 people in six states. Investigators are a step closer to tracking down the source of contamination that has perplexed them since health officials in Kentucky and Georgia notified them on March 28.
SC inmate’s baby died in toilet: Lawsuits allege rampant medical neglect in prisons
Emily Bohatch, Greenville News
When Sinetra Johnson discovered she was pregnant, she was two days away from going to prison for a parole violation. The 24-year-old was set to deliver twins while behind bars.
Watchdogs Cite Lax Medical And Mental Health Treatment Of ICE Detainees
Sarah Varney, Kaiser Health News
It’s Saturday morning and the women of the Contreras family are busy in Montclair, Calif., making pupusas, tamales and tacos. They’re working to replace the income of José Contreras, who has been held since last June at Southern California’s Adelanto ICE Processing Center, a privately run immigration detention center.
Democratic proposals to overhaul health care: A 2020 primer
Jessie Hellmann, The Hill
All Democrats running for president say they want to provide universal health care coverage to Americans. But they have different ideas about how to get there.
Syphilis Is Spreading Across Rural America
Lauren Weber, Kaiser Health News
When Karolyn Schrage first heard about the “dominoes gang” in the health clinic she runs in Joplin, Mo., she assumed it had to do with pizza. Turns out it was a group of men in their 60s and 70s who held a standing game night — which included sex with one another.
As Measles Spreads, Schools Turn Away Unvaccinated Students
Tawnell D. Hobbs, The Wall Street Journal
Some school districts in the U.S. are booting unvaccinated students from campuses where infectious-disease cases have been confirmed, as the spread of measles accelerates in some states. Birmingham Public Schools in Michigan recently told families with students at Derby Middle School that students who are unvaccinated against measles have to stay out of school for 21 days after one child was diagnosed with the disease.
Unsuccessful abortions focus of bill in N. Carolina Senate
The Associated Press
The abortion debate is intensifying in North Carolina over a Republican measure supporters say will ensure doctors care properly for live babies delivered in unsuccessful abortions. Abortion-rights activists argue the proposal slated for state Senate floor debate late Monday is unnecessary for a non-existent problem and is designed to intimidate physicians and women who need medically necessary later-term abortions.
The disturbing links between too much weight and several types of cancer
Laurie McGinley, The Washington Post
Smoking has been the No. 1 preventable cause of cancer for decades and still kills more than 500,000 people a year in the United States. But obesity is poised to take the top spot, as Americans’ waistlines continue to expand while tobacco use plummets.
U.S. Futures Drift as Earnings Roll In; Oil Slips: Markets Wrap
Todd White, Bloomberg
U.S. equity futures drifted on Monday and stocks in Europe edged higher as traders showed caution over the latest batch of corporate earnings. Treasuries steadied with the dollar.
Payers
Why States Want Certain Americans to Work for Medicaid
Lola Fadulu, The Atlantic
Many people might soon be required to find employment in order to receive health care. But this policy has a fraught historical precedent.
How Medicare for All could impact employers
Caitlin Owens, Axios
Medicare for All could end up costing employers less than the current employer-sponsored health insurance system does, depending on how it’s structured. That certainly doesn’t mean employers are on board, partially because other concerns — like access to health care and the competitive advantage that generous benefits can create — may outweigh cost and convenience.
Providers
Sutter Health to pay $30M to settle upcoding allegations
Alex Kacik, Modern Healthcare
Sutter Health agreed to pay $30 million to settle allegations that the Sacramento, Calif.-based health system submitted inflated diagnosis codes to the CMS for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Pharma, Biotech and Devices
Study finds diabetes drug may prevent, slow kidney disease
Marilynn Marchione, The Associated Press
A drug that’s used to help control blood sugar in people with diabetes has now been shown to help prevent or slow kidney disease, which causes millions of deaths each year and requires hundreds of thousands of people to use dialysis to stay alive.
Medicare Aims to Expand Coverage of Cancer Care. But Is It Enough?
Robert Pear, The New York Times
In a major test case, Medicare is poised to cover a promising but expensive new type of cancer treatment, with significant restrictions meant to hold down the cost. Cancer patients, doctors and drug companies are urging the Trump administration to remove the restrictions and broaden coverage so more patients can benefit from the treatment, known as CAR T cell therapy, or CAR-T.
For some in Ga. prisons and jails, diabetes has meant a death sentence
Danny Robbins, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A first-of-its-kind investigation by the AJC shows how at least a dozen inmates have died — and died horribly — because they didn’t get the medication or help they needed
Supporters Sue To Open Safe Injection Site In Philadelphia, Citing Religious Freedom
Bobby Allyn, NPR News
A nonprofit group in Philadelphia is fighting in court to be allowed to open the first facility in the country for people to use illegal opioids under medical supervision. The group, called Safehouse, has the backing of local government, yet faces a legal challenge from federal prosecutors.
A mysterious condition makes marijuana users violently ill, and it reveals a hidden downside to the drug’s growing popularity
Erin Brodwin, Business Insider
Alice Moon once reviewed marijuana edibles for a living. So when a doctor told the 29-year-old Californian that she had to stop using cannabis because of a newly discovered syndrome, it threatened to turn her world upside down.
Democrats feud over drug pricing policy, as progressives push pragmatists to be bolder
Lev Facher And Nicholas Florko, Stat News
Democratic leadership and the party’s progressive flank are feuding over how best to lower drug prices. In recent weeks, tensions between the two camps have escalated, and some fights have even spilled into public view.
Health IT
How Can We Be Sure Artificial Intelligence Is Safe For Medical Use?
Richard Harris, NPR News
When Merdis Wells visited the diabetes clinic at the University Medical Center in New Orleans about a year ago, a nurse practitioner checked her eyes to look for signs of diabetic retinopathy, the most common cause of blindness. At her next visit, in February of this year, artificial intelligence software made the call.
Amazon Alexa is luring health developers, but it will be a while before we use it to call a doctor
Christina Farr, CNBC
If you want to schedule a doctor’s appointment or check on the status of a medication without picking up the phone, Amazon Alexa can help. As of this week, the voice assistant is HIPAA compliant, which means Amazon can work with hospitals and other health providers that manage protective health data to share personal information on an Echo.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Ending Rebates Is the Right Thing to Do for American Patients
Scott Newman, Morning Consult
This week, the Senate Finance Committee questioned executives from the top pharmacy benefit managers (to understand why drug prices have risen so drastically over the last several years. Coincidentally, the day before, on April 8, the public comment period closed for a proposed new Health and Human Services rule calling for the elimination of drug manufacturer rebates to PBMs under Medicaid managed care and Medicare Part D.
Biologics Are Natural Monopolies (Part 1): Why Biosimilars Do Not Create Effective Competition
Preston Atteberry et al., Health Affairs
Mirroring legislation facilitating the introduction of generic drugs to compete with branded small-molecule drugs, policymakers created a path for approval of “biosimilars” to reduce prices by competing with branded biologics after their market exclusivity expires. Yet biosimilar entry into the US market has been slow, rare and minimally effective at lowering prices.
Research Reports
Cost-Effectiveness of the US Food and Drug Administration Added Sugar Labeling Policy for Improving Diet and Health
Yue Huang et al., Circulation
Excess added sugars, particularly from sugar-sweetened beverages, are a major risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration mandated the labeling of added sugar content on all packaged foods and beverages. Yet, the potential health impacts and cost- effectiveness of this policy remain unclear.
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