Top Stories

• Planned Parenthood intends to spend $45 million on 2020 elections, supporting candidates who back abortion rights at the presidential, congressional and state levels, according to the executive director of the group’s political action committee. Planned Parenthood’s largest-ever electoral push will target nine key states — Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — with the goal of reaching 5 million voters. (CBS News)

• Across 27 states and the District of Columbia, 60 people have now died from vaping-related lung illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with 2,668 confirmed hospital cases recorded in all 50 states plus D.C. and two American territories. The rate of new cases has slowed since the height of the epidemic in August, but the CDC said the decline can be partially attributed to a reporting delay early last month. (Axios)

• An Urban Institute analysis found that premiums for the lowest-cost silver-tier plans on the Affordable Care Act exchange dropped in 31 states for 2020 coverage, with an average decline of 3.5 percent for non-smoking 40-year-olds. The average premium for the cheapest silver plan — the most competitive among ACA exchange plans — experienced an almost 30 percent spike in 2018 followed by a 0.4 percent drop last year. (FierceHealthcare)