�Թϲ�����

Andy Kim decided to run against House Republican Tom MacArthur last year as he watched TV coverage of GOP efforts to repeal Obamacare while waiting in a hospital room for news on his unborn son. Kim was sparked by MacArthur’s amendment that would have let insurers charge more for patients with pre-existing conditions and his central role in helping the repeal pass the House. An ultrasound had just shown that Kim’s son was dramatically underweight, and he wondered "if my baby boy is going to have a problem for the rest of his life." (John, 4/6)

The Council of Economic Advisers was established by law in 1946 to provide presidents with objective economic advice. Naturally, as an arm of the White House, the analyses produced under each administration tend provide economic justification for a president’s policies. But they are supposed to be grounded in facts. Thus The Fact Checker was surprised to come across a three-page report issued by the CEA in March, just as lawmakers were deciding whether to add money to the omnibus spending bill to temporarily restore cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies. (Kessler, 4/6)

The Obamacare markets are proving surprisingly resilient, but experts say the latest federal enrollment numbers suggest they are increasingly becoming a destination for just highly subsidized and sick customers. Despite huge rate hikes and GOP efforts to dismantle the law, enrollment dropped just 3 percent this year, with 11.8 million individuals signing up for coverage nationwide, according to the final open enrollment report released this week by CMS. (Demko, 4/5)

Insurers dealing with the death of the Affordable Care Act's cost-sharing reduction payments may hit a stumbling block: the law's method for dealing with risk adjustment. The calculation is supposed to help carriers that bear a higher share of risk in the individual market by having those that shoulder less risk make payments to offset costs. It is a formula that has been problematic since the start for smaller plans in particular, but actuaries are on the alert that it could cause more headaches to come. (Luthi, 4/5)

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed measures on Thursday to help stabilize health insurance rates in the Maryland Health Care Exchange’s distressed individual market. Hogan signed measures to create what’s known as a reinsurance program, which protects insurers against very high claims. The exchange’s board will need to apply for a federal waiver to create the program. (Columbus, 4/5)

The legislation creates a reinsurance program that will be run by the state’s Health Benefits Exchange to protect insurers against catastrophically expensive claims. To do so, health insurers will pay $380 million in taxes over the next year to help contain surging premiums for 150,000 Maryland residents. Many insurers saw it as a reasonable price to pay to prevent a market collapse. (Dresser, 4/5)

Scott Lloyd’s unadorned job title betrays little hint of the power he has over the pregnant teenagers in his custody. As director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, he oversees the assistance program for the tens of thousands of refugees who still seek shelter in the United States, even with the Trump administration’s crackdown. But as the government official who is also responsible for the care of young, undocumented immigrants who enter the United States without their parents, he spends much of his time trying to stop those who want an abortion. (Peters, 4/5)

The idea of criminalizing abortions is not new, but a push has emerged recently among some antiabortion advocates for enacting strict penalties against women who have the procedure, and not just doctors and clinics that provide abortions. Research over the past decade, however, casts significant doubt on whether criminalizing abortion would reduce abortion rates. And data from countries where abortion is  outlawed suggests it could have serious consequences on women’s health and safety. (Wan, 4/5)

The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said Thursday the magazine was “parting ways” with newly hired conservative writer Kevin Williamson after fresh evidence emerged that he had endorsed hanging women who get abortions. Goldberg had initially defended hiring Williamson from National Review despite complaints about his previous writing, some of which critics said was racially insensitive or offensive to transgender people. Much of the criticism involved a 2014 tweet that suggested women who had abortions “should face capital punishment, namely hanging.” (Calderone, 4/5)

Even though the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other medical groups have called the treatment unproved and unethical, five states — Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Arkansas, and South Dakota — have passed legislation requiring clinics to tell women about “abortion pill reversal.” This week, Delgado and colleagues published a study using data collected through the hotline, which refers women to local doctors who prescribe a wide variety of progesterone regimens because no one knows which works best. (McCullough, 4/6)

Two employees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are no longer with the agency following a tumultuous rollout of a federal family planning program.  Cathy Deeds and Mary Vigil, who were both senior advisers at the Office of Population Affairs (OPA), are no longer employed by HHS, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday. (Hellmann, 4/5)

A three-way partnership between Amazon.com Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. has been the talk of the health-care industry, though the companies themselves have said precious little about it. That changed Thursday morning, when JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon laid out some of his ambitions for the venture in his annual letter to the bank’s shareholders, months after its January launch. Notably, Dimon said that the companies would be updating investors on their progress in “coming years,” suggesting a long timeline for the closely watched endeavor. (Tracer, 4/5)

Anthem’s patience is going to pay off. Talks between Walmart and health insurer Humana, if successful, would be the latest in a string of splashy deals in the insurance sector. Pharmacy chain CVS Health has announced it plans to buy Aetna, while Cigna has plans to purchase the pharmacy-benefits manager Express Scripts Holding. The largest publicly traded insurer, UnitedHealth Group , has been bulking up its pharmacy benefit management business for years and has recently bought surgical care centers and physician staffing groups. (Grant, 4/6)

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday night unveiled a proposal to lift limits on Medicaid paying for opioid treatment. The proposal could be one of the more significant and costly steps that Congress takes to fight the opioid epidemic, but there are concerns about how to pay for it.  (Sullivan, 4/5)

CVS Health will offer a discount on the anti-overdose drug Narcan to uninsured customers, the company announced Thursday. CVS will apply a manufacturer’s coupon for Narcan nasal spray for patients without insurance. It will reduce the cost to $94.99, which the company said is the lowest price available for people without insurance. (Weixel, 4/5)

A slim majority of Americans see prescription drug addiction as a disease that requires medical treatment, but most would not welcome those suffering from the problem into their neighborhoods, workplaces or families. New survey results reveal Americans’ complex view of addiction as the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history ripples through communities nationwide. More than 1 in 10 Americans say they have had a relative or close friend die from an opioid overdose, according a recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (Perrone, 4/5)

The US government will dispatch disease trackers to Massachusetts to investigate a puzzling cluster of new HIV infections in Lawrence and Lowell among people who inject drugs, a spike that could portend a resurgence of the deadly virus. The state Department of Public Health announced Thursday that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agreed to the state’s request for help in detecting how 52 new HIV cases arose last year in the state’s northeast region, up from 32 in 2016. (Freyer, 4/5)

A new addiction treatment center has opened to provide services for people struggling with substance abuse in New York's Southern Tier. State officials announced the grand opening of the facility on Thursday. Located at the former Broome County Developmental Center in Binghamton, the 50-bed center will focus on short-term detoxification efforts for individuals before they begin a recovery program. (4/6)

Several state agencies are participating in a new initiative to help schools across New York prevent and address substance use disorder among students. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that the departments of Health, Education and Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services are making flash drives available for coaches, teachers, school nurses, and other educators. (4/6)

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams wants more Americans to routinely carry naloxone, the drug that can stop an opioid overdose, especially if they know someone taking opioids. Now there's a way for most Missourians to get it shipped to their homes for free, although in some cases insurance companies would see a hefty tab. (Marso, 4/5)

Dr. Jerome Adams said people at risk of an opioid overdose, as well as their family and friends, should keep the antidote on hand. That includes anyone who's prescribed a painkiller for chronic or acute pain. (DeMio, 4/5)

Georgia is one of 13 states receiving the highest mark from the National Safety Council for taking comprehensive actions to eliminate opioid overdoses and help protect residents. The state rose from a “failing’’ designation in 2016 to “improving’’ in the new report on the opioid crisis, released this week in conjunction with National Rx Drug and Heroin Summit, held in Atlanta. (Miller, 4/5)

As the opioid crisis was spiking in Wisconsin, a pain management clinic in Wauwatosa was prescribing thousands of oxycodone tablets for cash-paying patients who likely didn't need them and appeared to be reselling the pills, according to investigators. Two nurse practitioners who admitted improperly prescribing at the clinic were merely reprimanded by the state Board of Nursing. (Vielmetti, 4/5)

A Metairie woman pleaded guilty Thursday (April 5) to creating fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone as part of a scheme to distribute the drug on the black market, according to U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans' office. Danielle Lesslie, 30, was convicted of a federal drug conspiracy charge, admitting that her fraudulent prescriptions led to the illegal distribution of more than 312,050 milligrams of oxycodone pills, court records show. (McKnight, 4/15)

He’s a professor at Harvard Medical School, but in many ways, Dr. Victor Gurewich is an outsider. ... So it’s perhaps not surprising that, more than 20 years after figuring out a combination therapy that he believes is a safer, more effective way to treat heart attacks and strokes, he’s had little success getting anyone to listen. (Weintraub, 4/6)

Do we continue to add new neurons to our brain circuitry throughout our lives? Or does our neuron count remain fixed once we reach adulthood? The scientific debate rages on. In a report published Thursday in Cell Stem Cell, scientists from Columbia University present new evidence that our brains continue to make hundreds of new neurons a day, even after we reach our 70s, in a process known as neurogenesis. (Netburn, 4/5)

President Barack Obama signed legislation in 2010 giving the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate cigarettes and banning the flavored varieties known to hook young people. That is, except for menthol, the minty choice that is particularly popular among black smokers and is a cash cow for Altria, the cigarette maker whose support enabled passage of the 2010 law. Now, ironically, it’s Donald Trump’s FDA that says it is seriously looking at banning menthol. The 2010 law gave the FDA authority to do so and three years later the agency said it had determined that menthol did cause more people to start smoking and made it harder for them to later stop. But it never did anything about it. (Zeller, 4/9)

By the time Thomas Hodorowski made the connection between his marijuana habit and the bouts of pain and vomiting that left him incapacitated every few weeks, he had been to the emergency room dozens of times, tried anti-nausea drugs, anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants, endured an upper endoscopy procedure and two colonoscopies, seen a psychiatrist and had his appendix and gallbladder removed. The only way to get relief for the nausea and pain was to take a hot shower. (Rabin, 4/5)

When Amber Dodson needs a break from her rigorous workout regimen, she steps nearly naked into a high-tech machine that looks like a giant energy drink can. Only her head is visible as the temperature in the chamber plummets to minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit for three minutes, liquid nitrogen vapor billowing down the sides. "I tend to get extremely inflamed and I don't like taking days off," said Dodson, 36, who pays $299 a month for up to 30 sessions at Coast Cryo in Marina del Rey. "It's been a lifesaver because I can't deal with sore muscles and bad sleep." (White, 4/5)

Kaiser Health News: To Treat Pain, PTSD And Other Ills, Tennessee Vets Try Tai Chi

Every week in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Zibin Guo guides veterans in wheelchairs through slow-motion tai chi poses as a Bluetooth speaker plays soothing instrumental music. “Cloudy hands to the right, cloudy hands to the left,” he tells them, referring to the move traditionally known as “cloud hands.” “Now we’re going to open your arms, grab the wheels and 180-degree turn.” (Farmer, 4/6)

Disability from chronic back pain can hurt a person's ability to earn a living. One of the Lancet studies found that among rural Nigerian farmers, half reduced their workload because of back pain — an example of how the disability could contribute to the cycle of poverty in countries that lack benefits such as sick days or a social safety net. (Shaikh-Lesko, 4/5)

The body of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employee who went missing two months ago was found in a river in Atlanta on Tuesday, the authorities said on Thursday. In February, the authorities announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the disappearance of Timothy J. Cunningham, 35. But on Thursday the authorities said there did not appear to be any signs of foul play in his death. (Stack, 4/5)

Authorities said that there was no indication that there had been foul play, however, the circumstances surrounding Cunningham's death are still largely a mystery. Authorities said during a news conference Thursday that it appears Cunningham drowned, but they have not yet determined whether his drowning was accidental or intentional. (Bever and Horton, 4/5)

Gorniak added that the condition of Cunningham's body is "consistent" with having been in the water since the day he went missing and that there were no signs of trauma or underlying medical conditions. Officials said Cunningham's body was recovered Tuesday evening. Since his disappearance, Cunningham's friends, family and CDC co-workers had been questioned and a $10,000 reward offered. (Held, 4/5)

Cunningham vanished Feb. 12. after telling colleagues at CDC headquarters he was not feeling well. According to the Atlanta Police Department, he had recently spoken to a supervisor about why he was passed over for a promotion. The CDC denied that report, but Atlanta police stood by its statement. (Weixel, 4/5)

Hawaii became the latest liberal-leaning state to legalize medically assisted suicide Thursday as the governor signed a measure into law allowing doctors to fulfill requests from terminally ill patients to prescribe life-ending medication. "It is time for terminally ill, mentally competent Hawaii residents who are suffering to make their own end-of-life choices with dignity, grace and peace," Gov. David Ige said. (4/5)

A group of health care advocates and a Democratic state lawmaker are seeking a 0.25 percent sales tax increase in Denver to raise money for mental health and substance abuse treatment in the city, which they say is lacking. The proposed November ballot measure would raise $45 million in its first year and continue for 10 years. (Paul, 4/5)

Dr. Michael Mayo-Smith was the leader of the VA new England Health Care System until last month, when he abruptly retired. He says the VA chose to take a no-response approach and wait for public interest in the allegations to wane. (Biello, 4/5)

Kansas officials are attempting to expedite their takeover of 15 financially troubled nursing homes, saying they need to move quickly to protect hundreds of elderly and disabled Kansans who reside in the facilities. Normally, the state would need orders from 15 separate judges to take control of the facilities, which are scattered across the state. But the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services is hoping to accelerate the process by consolidating all the cases under a single Johnson County District Court judge. (McLean, 4/5)

The none-too-euphoniously named “California Limits on Dialysis Clinics’ Revenue and Required Refund Initiative” needs 365,880 valid signatures to go before the voters in the fall. While the large number of raw signatures makes it likely the measure will qualify, it probably be at least a month before the secretary of state can make that official. The initiative, sponsored by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, argues that dialysis companies are overcharging patients and insurance outfits, even as patient care is suffering, especially in low-income communities. (Wildermuth, 4/5)

The Maryland state senator opposed a bill to ban “gay conversion therapy” for minors. On the Senate floor, Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel), who also opposed same-sex marriage, suggested that families should be able to use “loving” conversion therapy. What he did not say last week was that he and his wife recommended that their daughter — Del. Meagan Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel) — seek counseling when she told them she was bisexual. The 27-year-old told her story on the floor of the House of Delegates on Wednesday, shortly before the House gave final approval to the bill to ban conversion therapy. (Chason, 4/5)

When his adopted son, then 10 years old, started to hear voices and act violently, Matthew Timion knew the boy needed psychiatric help. He did not realize how difficult it would be to pay for it. Timion, a computer programmer who at the time lived in Oak Park and now lives in Moline, said he was in a continual fight with his private insurance and the state to fund his son’s stays at numerous psychiatric hospitals. (Elejalde-Ruiz, 4/5)

As suicides have risen in Virginia - including a 29 percent increase among children in 2016 - Gov. Ralph Northam has signed legislation calling on state officials to report how they are addressing the problem. House Bill 569, introduced by Del. Wendy Gooditis, D-Clarke, requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to report annually its progress and activities on suicide prevention. The report will go to the governor and General Assembly. (Malone, 4/5)

Allina Health, one of Minnesota’s largest clinic and hospital systems, suffered a computer network failure on Wednesday night, but officials said medical care was not affected and there is no evidence that it was caused by a malicious hack or external tampering. “We have no evidence that this was the result of anything coming from outside our systems,” Allina said in a written statement provided by spokesman David Kanihan. He said the organization is still trying to pinpoint the cause. (Olson, 4/5)

A California lawmaker is calling for $22.7 million in state funding to help prevent unwarranted arrests of abused and neglected children in the state’s residential foster-care facilities — a disturbing practice exposed in a Chronicle investigation last year. The three-year budget proposal, to be introduced next week by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson (Los Angeles County), comes as arrests continue across the state at county children’s shelters, despite pledges of reform. (de Sá, Dizikes and Palomino, 4/5)

Ascension Wisconsin will no longer provide surgical and other services at St. Joseph hospital as part of a long-term plan to lessen its financial losses and transform the Milwaukee hospital’s role in the largely low-income neighborhood. The health system will continue to operate its emergency department — one of the busiest in the state — and will continue to provide obstetric care, including operating its neonatal intensive care unit, at the hospital. (Boulton, 4/5)

New York City's comptroller isn't giving up on his uphill battle to get proxy access to for-profit hospital chain Universal Health Services. Scott Stringer is the custodian of about 136,000 UHS shares owned by five New York City public employee pension funds and retirement systems. For the third consecutive year, his office is calling upon fellow shareholders to vote for a change to the company's bylaws that would let certain outside shareholders with at least 3% ownership for at least three years nominate up to 25% of its board members. (Bannow, 4/5)

Faith Linthicum, the nurse who wrote that Stephon Clark "deserved it," launched a GoFundMe page Saturday and already has surpassed her fundraising goal of $25,000. She said she will use the funds to help pay for rent, food and other expenses. (Anderson, 4/5)

In its first hearing on the proposal, the Senate Finance Committee heard from a bipartisan group of lawmakers, an economist and even a doctor urging them to endorse a paid family and medical leave program. But they also heard from the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Employment Security, Richard Lavers, who cautioned that setting up such a program would require a significant time, money and staff resources. (McDermott, 4/5)

A Washington state woman is suing an Idaho fertility doctor after discovering through an online ancestry website that the man had secretly fathered her. Kelli Rowlette and the parents who raised her, Sally Ashby and her then-husband Howard Fowler, filed the lawsuit in Idaho district court in March against Dr. Gerald Mortimer, his wife and the Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates of Idaho Falls. (4/5)

Baptist Health South Florida owns both Fishermen’s and Mariners, and plans to rebuild a $40 million campus at the Marathon hospital’s location. But that could take up to three years, said Rick Freeburg, CEO of both hospitals. (Filosa, 4/5)

A state agency has refused to provide a county sheriff and prosecutor in Oregon with a list of medical marijuana grow sites, marking the latest friction over marijuana between local and state officials. On March 13, Oregon Health Authority official Carole Yann told Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel and Sheriff Shane Nelson that the law doesn't permit the agency to provide the list. (4/5)

In a clash of deeply felt testimony, parents in tears pleaded with Colorado lawmakers on Friday to pass a bill allowing their children with autism to use medical marijuana as a treatment.“ ...Psychiatrists and the head of the state Health Department, though, opposed writing such a permission into law, saying there isn’t enough evidence to know that cannabis would do more good than harm, even though they sympathize with the frustration families feel. (Ingold, 4/5)

Our study represents one of the first applications of reclassification analyses to psychosocial research in a pediatric population. The result is a theoretically informed, empirically based algorithm that can adequately estimate the likelihood of physical and sexual TDV perpetration during vulnerable developmental periods. These findings can immediately aid emerging preventive initiatives for this increasing public health concern. (Cohen et al, 4/2)

The potential of marijuana liberalization to reduce the use and consequences of prescription opioids among Medicaid enrollees deserves consideration during the policy discussions about marijuana reform and the opioid epidemic. (Wen and Hockenberry, 4/2)

Each year, influenza-associated pediatric deaths are reported. Young children have the highest death rates, especially infants aged <6 months. Increasing vaccination among children, pregnant women, and caregivers of infants may reduce influenza-associated pediatric deaths. (Shang et al, 4/2)

With deaths from opioid overdose rising steeply in recent years, and a large segment of the population reporting knowing someone who has been addicted to prescription painkillers, the breadth of the opioid crisis should come as no surprise, affecting people across all incomes, ages, and regions. About four in ten people addicted to opioids are covered by private health insurance and Medicaid covers a similarly large share. (Cox, Rae and Sawyer, 4/5)

In this randomized clinical trial of 92 men with physical functional limitations, changes in lean body mass, muscle strength and power, and physical function did not differ between men who consumed controlled diets containing the recommended dietary allowance and men who consumed a higher amount of protein (1.3 g/kg/d) for 6 months. (Bhasin et al, 4/1)

In the early 1880s, legend has it that Daniel B. Wesson, a co-founder of Smith & Wesson, the gun manufacturer, heard about a child who injured himself by cocking the hammer and pulling the trigger of one of his firm’s revolvers. Wesson, known as D. B., was so distraught about the accident that he and his son, Joseph, developed a more child-safe revolver that they called the .38 Safety Hammerless. Wesson was also my great-great-great-grandfather. Though it has been half a century since my family was involved with Smith & Wesson, I feel a twinge of responsibility every time a mass shooting occurs. ...I would start by asking the parent company of Smith & Wesson, American Outdoor Brands Corporation, to push for gun-violence research. Since 1996 the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been severely restricted in researching gun violence. If gun manufacturers are truly responsible organizations, they should wholeheartedly want to back this research as a public health concern. (Eliza Sydnor Romm, 4/5)

Part of the tragedy of 7-year-old Jermon Perry’s death, believed to be at the hand of his 5-year-old brother who got hold of their father’s loaded gun while looking for candy, is that Missouri lawmakers might have been able to prevent it. Laws are on the books in 11 states regarding children’s access to guns and punishments for not storing firearms safely. But those laws don’t exist in Missouri. (4/5)

This March, the New York City Board of Health put a proposal up for public review that would require preschool teachers and daycare staff to assist children with brushing their teeth with fluoride toothpaste. “Tooth decay is the most common disease in childhood,” Deputy Health Commissioner George Askew said. “And it is preventable.” He noted that 42 percent of NY City school kids suffer from tooth decay by the third grade. It’s an unprecedented move for the city, but it’s necessary and N.Y. is not alone; other municipalities are doing this, and it’s time for a national program. (Jonathan Fielding, 4/5)

Such measures to limit access to tobacco products can have a meaningful health impact on African-Americans who are more likely than average to develop lung cancer, and more likely to eie from it — even though the rate of smoking among African-Americans is no higher than average. (Marc H. Morial And Harold P. Wimmer, 4/4)

There are more than 200,000 deaths in the United States each year from heart disease, stroke, and hypertensive disease that could be avoided by timely and effective preventive medical care. The risk of avoidable cardiovascular deaths among black men is 80% higher than that among white men or black women. The combination of a high prevalence of hypertension and poor blood-pressure control is a major contributor to the high rates of cardiovascular death and disease among black men. Despite the high priority for finding ways to improve blood-pressure treatment in black men, few unequivocal success stories have been reported. (Karen L. Margolis, 4/4)

Despite repeated calls in recent years to simplify clinical trial criteria, they continue to grow more complex. In a study my colleagues and I published last year, we found that over the past 30 years, the average number of eligibility criteria in lung cancer trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute grew by 50 percent to an average of more than 25. Why is this occurring? As treatments for cancer become more targeted, the protocol for selecting participants must be refined by the trial’s investigators and sponsors, who are often academic researchers or pharmaceutical companies. (David Gerber, 4/5)

A British man has been diagnosed with what some are calling the world’s “worst-ever” case of gonorrhea – a strain that is reportedly resistant to all antibiotics normally used to treat the disease. This report is a confirmation of one of our greatest fears — untreatable gonorrhea could be on the very near horizon at a time when rates of the infection and of STDs overall are at record highs in this country. When we see a case like this in the U.K., it’s not a question of if, but when we’ll see it in the U.S. And once it’s here, it could spread quickly. (David Harvey, 4/5)

While many Democrats mourned what could be the first signs of a looming death for their party’s signature legislation, others plotted to create state-specific legislation that would keep the individual mandate in place. National Public Radio reported in early March that at least nine states — including California, Connecticut, Maryland, and Washington — as well as the District of Columbia have been working on plans to save the individual mandate. Although many of these efforts have already stalled, one proposal making its way through Maryland’s state legislature has garnered significant attention from liberals who believe it could present the most palatable model for bringing the unpopular individual mandate back to life. (Justin Haskins, 4/4)

Each morning, Marie Noella Kango walks over to the local clinic here and takes her spot behind the main desk by 8 a.m. Often, mothers and their children are already waiting in a line outside. One by one, the mothers meet with Ms. Kango and describe their children’s symptoms: fever, diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pains. These are all symptoms Ms. Kango can easily diagnose as malaria or parasites, the two most common ailments in this village. Then she prescribes a treatment plan. (Tyler Pager, 4/5)

Children with diabetes face a lifetime of challenges. If insurers continue to exclude more and more diabetes-related medications and supplies from coverage, diabetic children could be saddled with a lifetime of exorbitant out-of-pocket costs as well. The rate of diabetes has steadily increased in Kentucky. Over 13 percent of Kentuckians have been diagnosed with the disease, making Kentucky’s rate of diabetes the fifth highest among all states. (Stewart Perry and Jeff Hitchcock, 4/5)

Pallbearers were not needed at the funeral of Baby Hope in September 2016. A DuPage County official carried her small casket in his two hands as she was laid to rest surrounded by loving strangers. A month earlier, landscaping crews discovered her body inside a black backpack near a driveway in rural Wheaton. The coroner determined she likely had been there for a day and that she took at least one breath before she died. ...We have written extensively on Illinois' Abandoned Babies Act, which lawmakers approved in 2001. Since then, 126 babies have been saved in this fashion. But 82 others were illegally abandoned, such as Baby Hope, and of those 43 died. (4/5)

It is difficult to believe Kasich is aware of the decision by the cost-cutters at the Ohio Department of Medicaid and Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services to harm Positive Education Program (PEP) Connections. (Brent Larkin, 4/5)

This issue of unpaid family leave is compounded by shamefully low pay for educators in Arizona. As we fight for increased teacher pay and support #RedforEd, we must also consider broader family needs. (Kathy Hoffman, 4/5)

The D.C. Council is raising questions about $300 million included in Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s proposed budget for construction of a hospital east of the Anacostia River. Questions about such a sizable capital cost need to be asked. But instead of wondering why the proposed hospital can’t be built sooner or asking whether it is big enough, council members would do well to address more fundamental issues. First and foremost: Is a costly new hospital at taxpayer expense the most effective way to address the health needs of underserved Southeast residents? (4/5)