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The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives and 20 Democratic-led states asked the Supreme Court on Friday to declare that the landmark Obamacare healthcare law does not violate the U.S. Constitution as lower courts have found in a lawsuit brought by Republican-led states. The House and the states, including New York and California, want the Supreme Court to hear their appeals of a Dec. 18 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that deemed the 2010 law's "individual mandate" that required people to obtain health insurance unconstitutional. (Hurley, 1/3)

“Because of the practical importance of the questions presented for review and the pressing need for their swift resolution by this Court, petitioners respectfully request that the Court consider the petition on an expedited schedule,” says a filing brought by 20 states and the District of Columbia. It may seem paradoxical for Democrats to seek a swift resolution to a case that could upend a signature achievement of the Obama presidency. But keeping the case alive — and in the public eye — may help them politically, by sharpening the contrast between the two parties on an issue of great concern to voters. Democrats could return to themes that helped propel them to a House majority in 2018, promising to preserve the health law’s popular protections for Americans with pre-existing health conditions. (Sanger-Katz, 1/3)

The U.S. House of Representatives, which is also defending Obamacare in court, filed a similar petition on Friday asking for immediate Supreme Court review. “Every day that Republicans’ anti-health care lawsuit is allowed to endure is a day that American families will be forced to live in uncertainty and fear," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. (Luthi, 1/3)

There was no immediate reaction from the Trump administration. President Donald Trump had hailed the appeals court ruling, calling it “a win for all Americans.” But many congressional Republicans want to avoid another election-year battle over the ACA, after their unsuccessful effort to repeal it helped flip the House back to the Democrats in 2018. While finding the health law's individual mandate to be unconstitutional, the 5th Circuit made no decision on such popular provisions as protections for people with preexisting conditions, Medicaid expansion, and coverage for young adults up to age 26 on their parents' policies. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/3)

The ruling, by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, had little immediate effect on the nation’s consumers because the section the judges invalidated — the requirement that most Americans carry health insurance — was all but removed two years ago by a Republican-led Congress. But in sending the rest of the law back to the Texas judge who ruled all of it unconstitutional, the appeals court left in limbo significant changes the ACA has brought about in the nation’s health-care system. They include an expansion of Medicaid in three dozen states, insurance subsidies for millions of people with coverage through ACA marketplaces and the ability of young adults to stay on parents’ insurance policies until they are 26. And most politically volatile: consumer protections for people with preexisting medical conditions. (Goldstein and Barnes, 1/3)

The Supreme Court previously upheld the law in 2012 and 2015. The justices don’t have to hear the case now, and may have some reluctance to add another high-profile dispute to a term that already includes cases on abortion, gay rights, immigration and President Trump’s financial records. All are set to be decided by late June. The court would have the option to wait and hear the case during its next term, which begins in October 2020, or it could deny the petitions and wait until the lower courts say with certainty what parts of the ACA, if any, remain valid. (Kendall, 1/3)

Robert Henneke, general counsel at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and lead counsel for the individual plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said the Blue states' decision to seek an expedited Supreme Court review is political. The next U.S. presidential election takes place in November. "This is a tactic that reeks of desperation in showing how eager the Democrats are to move the narrative away from the Medicare for All discussion … Their reason for the timing of these filings has more to do with the political calendar than the merits of the case," he said. (Livingston, 1/3)

Most observers in both parties assume the current makeup of the Supreme Court would uphold the Affordable Care Act, given the skepticism over the arguments in the lawsuit challenging the law. But if the fight in the lower courts drags on and Trump is reelected with the chance to replace one of the liberal justices, it would throw the future of ObamaCare into more doubt. “Whether Trump is reelected may a have a lot do with how the courts rule in this case,” said Nicholas Bagley, a law professor at the University of Michigan. (Sullivan, 1/5)

“Hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents have access to affordable healthcare as a result of the ACA. No one wants to return to the days where insurers discriminated against patients with so-called pre-existing conditions like diabetes, childhood cancer or pregnancy,” [Connecticut Attorney General William Tong] said Friday. “No one wants thousands of young people, or hundreds of thousands of Medicaid patients kicked off their plans overnight. The consequences in this case are literally life and death for far too many people in Connecticut.” In Connecticut, 250,000 residents have benefited from the expansion of Medicaid, Tong said. Thousands of people younger than 26 have health insurance through their parents’ plans here, and nearly half a million residents with pre-existing conditions have coverage due to ACA protections. (Carlesso, 1/3)

2020 presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren defends her transition period to Medicare for All, refusing to say directly whether most private insurance would be illegal by the end of her first term under her plan. (1/5)

Elizabeth Warren said Saturday that a big change in the U.S. health-care system would make a lot of people “uneasy,” emphasizing she wouldn’t immediately push a full Medicare for All plan until people have three years to try it. At a town hall in Manchester, Iowa, one voter asked Warren why her Medicare for All plan would take three years to implement rather than putting it in place right away. She said the phase in would give her administration enough time to secure the congressional votes she would need to enact it and give people time to try it out. (Egkolfopoulou, 1/4)

Expect to hear a lot about health care in 2020 from Democratic congressional candidates in Kansas and Missouri, but don’t expect them to have the same message as their party’s most progressive presidential contenders. Democrats captured a House majority in 2018 with a message focused on health care. In 2020, the party looks to retain those seats and continue its expansion into once solidly-Republican suburban districts now trending blue. (Lowry and Hancock, 1/6)

Kaiser Health News: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: How Do Other Countries Pay For Health Care?

Many proponents of creating a “Medicare for All” system in the United States say it would make this country more like other industrialized nations. But, in fact, other countries structure their systems in a wide variety of ways. Some have a Medicare for All-type system, with private providers and public payment. But some systems are closer to government-run, while others include large roles for private insurance. (1/2)

Experts predict a large number of women will again run for office in 2020 like they did in 2018, and child care remains a hurdle for many of them. A congressional candidate in New York successfully petitioned the Federal Election Commission in 2018 to allow campaign money to help cover child care costs. But it applies only to those running for federal office. That leaves women in many states who are running for the Legislature, statewide positions like attorney general or local offices to find another way to pay for child care as they campaign, which often requires night and weekend work. (Whitehurst and Cassidy, 1/1)

The surging popularity of vaping among young Americans is driving lawmakers to use one of their favorite tools to discourage unwanted behavior: taxes. In December, the Massachusetts legislature passed a 75 percent tax on all e-cigarettes. Twenty states have already done so, along with the District of Columbia, and several more are considering similar policies. The House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill last year that would make federal tobacco taxes apply equally to cigarettes and vaping products that deliver nicotine, the addictive drug in tobacco. (Sanger-Katz, 1/6)

Public health groups are outraged by President Trump's limited vaping ban, arguing the new policy is short-sighted and will not stop a surge in youth vaping. Health advocates are also accusing the president of bowing to political interests in an election year. The administration’s decision, announced Thursday, is a major reversal from its promise in September to completely ban the sale of most e-cigarette flavors. The move also came after an intense pressure campaign by the vaping industry. (Weixel, 1/5)

The Trump administration announced Thursday that it will ban the sale of flavored e-cigarette cartridges or disposable “pods,” but will allow menthol- and tobacco-flavored pods and flavored nicotine liquids sold for open-tank systems at vape stores. Pod-based systems, such as Juul, have grown popular with teenagers in part because of their convenience, smaller smoke clouds, and thumb-drive size compared to the larger open-tank devices. Consumers in Massachusetts won’t be affected because state law already is more restrictive than the new federal policy, which begins next month. But other New England states with less stringent policies will see changes. (Martin, 1/3)

For a moment — before his campaign almost immediately walked it back — Bernie Sanders appeared to call Saturday for the vaping industry to be “shut down.”Responding to a question about the youth vaping epidemic at a town hall meeting here, the Vermont senator said, “The answer is, I think we shut down the industry if they’re causing addiction and if the evidence is that people are getting sick as a result or inhaling a lot of bad stuff.” Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ longtime political adviser, told POLITICO following the town hall that Sanders was “certainly not talking about shutting down the industry tomorrow.” (Owermohle, 1/4)

The city of Atlanta’s ban on smoking and vaping in most public places went into effect on Thursday. In July, the Atlanta City Council approved legislation prohibiting smoking and vaping indoors, including bars and restaurants, with a 13-2 vote.Cigar bars and hookah lounges are exempt from the ban. (Deere, 1/3)

The world desperately needs new antibiotics to tackle the rising threat of drug-resistant superbugs, but there is little reward for doing so. Instead, the companies that have stepped up to the challenge are going bust. Makers of newly approved antibiotic drugs are struggling to generate sales because doctors prescribe the treatments sparingly. The new drugs compete with older, cheaper products, and patients typically take them for only a week or two at a time. (Roland, 1/5)

Most of us know by now we shouldn't overuse antibiotics so we don't end up with bacterial infections that the drugs can't treat. But it's interesting to know that more than 12 million pounds of medically important antibiotics sold in this country are not for use in humans; they're for livestock. And the antibiotics are driving the spread of drug-resistant bacteria in the animals that can get passed on to us through food if we don't cook and handle it properly. Yet it's almost impossible to get on the farms to conduct inspections and stop infection outbreaks from spreading, even for public health officials. (Stahl, 1/5)

A federal judge dealt the pharmaceutical industry a setback by declining to block a new California law that bans so-called pay-to-delay deals between drug makers, prompting an industry trade group to pursue an appeal with a higher court. The move comes after the Association for Accessible Medicines filed a lawsuit two months ago to thwart the state law, which was the first in the nation to outlaw pay-to-delay deals. California officials explained the step was necessary in order to prevent drug companies from thwarting competition and maintaining higher prices for medicines. (Silverman, 1/3)

Drugmakers raised prices on more than 400 drugs in the early days of 2020, including two blockbuster cancer treatments that have been top-expenditure drugs in Medicare Part B, according to healthcare analysts and CMS data. The CMS attributed an increase in Part B premiums and deductibles in 2020 to increased spending on physician-administered drugs. Part B premiums and deductibles both rose 7% compared with 2019 levels. (Cohrs, 1/3)

In August, President Trump proudly proclaimed that he had directed the Department of Veterans Affairs to buy “a lot” of a drug known as esketamine, the first new major depression treatment with a novel mechanism to hit the U.S. market in decades. ... As of mid-December, the VA had treated just 15 veterans across the country with the drug. The nasal spray, which was developed by Janssen and named Spravato, was only available at seven of the agency’s facilities — out of more than 1,200. The VA treated its first patient with Spravato in June. (Thielking, 1/6)

The heritage of handcrafted stringed instruments runs deep in this tiny Appalachian village (pop. 770) stretched along the banks of Troublesome Creek. The community has been known as the homeplace of the mountain dulcimer ever since a revered maker, James Edward (“Uncle Ed”) Thomas, pushed a cartload of angelic-sounding dulcimers up and down the creek roads, keeping a chair handy to play tunes for passers-by. Music is the region’s lifeblood: Locals like to say that “you can toss a rock and hit a musician.” But these strong cultural roots have been tested by the scourges that devastated Eastern Kentucky, an early epicenter of the opioid crisis. (Brown, 1/3)

Kaiser Health News: Effort To Control Opioids In An ER Leaves Some Sickle Cell Patients In Pain

India Hardy has lived with pain since she was a toddler — ranging from dull persistent aches to acute flare-ups that interrupt the flow of her normal life. The pain is from sickle cell disease, a group of genetic conditions that affect about 100,000 people in the U.S., many of them of African or Hispanic descent. Sitting in the afternoon heat on her mom’s porch in Athens, Georgia, Hardy recollected how a recent “crisis” derailed her normal morning routine. (Whitehead, 1/6)

In 7% of U.S. households, at least one person delayed medical care during the previous year because of worry about cost, according to results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2018 National Health Interview Survey. Delaying care can hurt health outcomes and result in higher health care costs.'Yet, for many, skipping treatment isn’t a choice. (Christ, 1/5)

Thousands more of Ohio’s youngest children had no health insurance coverage in 2018, reversing a multi-year decline in the rate of uninsured children younger than 6. The Buckeye State’s uninsured rate for infants, toddlers and preschoolers climbed to 5% in 2018 from 3.6% in 2016, a 40% jump that ranked as third-highest in the nation. Ohio had 41,642 children without health coverage, an increase of nearly 12,000 in two years, according to a recent study by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. (Candisky, 1/6)

Iowa health officials are withholding $44 million from an insurance company that provides health coverage to Iowans under the state’s privatized Medicaid program, pointing to unresolved issues with payments to health providers. Iowa Department of Human Services staff told Iowa Total Care representatives Friday that the state will withhold about a third of the amount it would have otherwise paid the company this month. (Rodriguez, 1/3)

Oscar Health stopped covering Walgreens, plus some Duane Reade and Rite Aid locations, as part of its New York pharmacy network Jan. 1. Instead it is directing New York members to CVS as its preferred retail pharmacy and startup pharmacy Capsule, which it formed a partnership with last month. Its network also includes independent pharmacies. (Lamantia, 1/3)

Revelations about wage theft and abusive treatment of caregivers in America’s senior care-home industry have prompted tougher enforcement, a congressional hearing and plans for new state legislation in 2020. Responding to a series of stories by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Va., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said he intends to hold an oversight hearing early this year in which he will press Labor Department officials to crack down on widespread exploitation in the booming industry. (Gollan, 1/3)

The accusations in a new lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson sound familiar: The consumer goods giant knew for decades that its baby powder and other talc-based products were contaminated with carcinogenic asbestos, but continued to market the items. What makes this case different is that it was brought by a state. Hector Balderas, the attorney general of New Mexico, accused Johnson & Johnson on Thursday of misleading consumers, especially children and black and Hispanic women, about the safety of its talc products. (Hsu, 1/3)

Hundreds of Delta Air Lines employees are suing Wisconsin-based clothing company Lands' End, claiming uniforms made by the company have caused serious health problems. The first class-action lawsuit was filed in October, and the second was filed Tuesday in Madison, Wis., the Wisconsin State Journal reported on Friday. The filings allege that the uniforms — unveiled in May 2018 — caused multiple Delta employees to suffer from a variety of health problems, including skin rashes, hair loss, low white blood cell counts, migraines and breathing difficulties. (Johnson, 1/4)

The worsening flu season may spell good news for hospitals that take in sick patients and bad news for health insurers that have to pick up the tab, Evercore ISI said. The end of 2019 brought another upswing in doctor visits from patients with flu-like symptoms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the last week of December, 6.9% of patient visits were due to influenza-like illness, up from 5.1% in the prior week. That’s worse than most recent years and not far behind the record 2017-2018 season, Evercore ISI analyst Michael Newshel told clients in a note. (Flanagan, 1/3)

This flu season is shaping up to be one of the worst in decades, according to the United States' top infectious disease doctor. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, said while it's impossible to predict how the flu will play out, the season so far is on track to be as severe as the 2017-2018 flu season, which was the deadliest in more than four decades, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Cohen and Bonifield, 1/3)

Public health officials say a type of flu virus that’s usually less prevalent is being reported more frequently in Virginia this year. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that of the more than 1,800 cases confirmed by lab reports since the start of the 2019-2020 flu season, 75% have been identified as type B, according to the Virginia Department of Health. That trend is in line with national statistics. (1/5)

Northeast Ohio doctors are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of patients in emergency rooms and urgent care offices this year, often with a combination of flu symptoms, upper-respiratory problems and nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Symptoms and diagnoses overlap, but often problems are related to a virus, said Baruch Fertel, the Cleveland Clinic’s director of quality and operations for its emergency departments. (Bamforth, 1/3)

An emergency room patient has a broken bone. Could she suffer from human trafficking, too? Thanks to a growing call to treat trafficking as a public health problem, an ER worker who treats a trafficking victim might be able to connect the dots. Trafficking occurs when someone exploits someone else sexually or makes them perform labor against their will. According to the United Nations’ International Labor Organization, an estimated 24.9 million people are being trafficked worldwide. The vast majority are women, and 1 in 4 victims are children. (Blakemore, 1/4)

Water is pretty boring, as far as beverages go. It doesn’t have a catchy jingle, a secret family recipe or even a taste, really. Yet people can’t seem to get enough of it. “I get people in my office every day, every week, saying something like, ‘I’m concerned I’m not hydrated,’” said Lauren Antonucci, a nutritionist in New York City. Their concerns may be based on conventional wisdom. One well-known recommendation suggests drinking eight glasses of water a day; another warns that if you feel thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. (LeClair, 1/4)

Australia’s capital, Canberra, has been blanketed by a thick haze of smoke from nearby fires for more than a week. The city recorded its worst air quality day on Jan. 2, with readings of dangerous fine particulate pollution spiking to over 200 micrograms per cubic meter on average during the worst hour, according to Berkeley Earth, a nonprofit research group that aggregates data from air-quality monitoring sites. (Popovich, 1/3)

In December, the American Academy of Pediatrics put out a new clinical report on autism, an extensive document with an enormous list of references, summarizing 12 years of intense research and clinical activity. During this time, the diagnostic categories changed — Asperger’s syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder, diagnostic categories that once included many children, are no longer used, and we now consider all these children (and adults) to have autism spectrum disorder, or A.S.D. (Klass, 1/6)

Linda Poskanzer was having a tough time in her late 60s. “I was not doing well emotionally,” she recalled. “Physically, I didn’t have any stamina. I was sleeping a lot. I wasn’t getting to work.” A therapist in Hackensack, N.J., Ms. Poskanzer was severely overweight and grew short of breath after walking even short distances. Her house had become disorganized, buried in unsorted paperwork. The antidepressant she was taking didn’t seem to help. Her son, visiting from Florida, called his sisters and said, “Mommy needs an intervention.” (Span, 1/3)

If you live with or work with someone who suffers from migraine, there’s something very important you should know: A migraine is not “just a headache,” as many seem to think. Nor is it something most sufferers can simply ignore and get on with their lives. And if you are a migraine sufferer, there’s something potentially life-changing that you should know: There are now a number of medications available that can either prevent or alleviate many attacks, as well as a newly marketed wearable nerve-stimulating device that can be activated by a smartphone to relieve the pain of migraine. (Brody, 1/6)

The HPV vaccine is highly effective against the cancer-causing types of human papillomavirus, but only half of teenagers and young adults have gotten all three of the doses recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now a new study in women ages 18 to 26 suggests that one shot might be enough. The analysis, in JAMA Open Network, included 1,620 women whose average age was 22. The prevalence of HPV infection was much higher among the 62 percent who were unvaccinated, but there was no significant difference between rates in those with a single dose versus those who had more. (Bakalar, 1/6)

When Uber driver Oguzhan ­Beliren picks up passengers in his Hyundai Sonata, they almost always buckle up in the front seat, and if they don’t, he reminds them to. But that’s not the case in the rear. “I’d say that 70 to 80 percent of my passengers don’t put on a seat belt in the back seat,” Beliren said during a ride in Washington last month. “People don’t think they’re required to, and I don’t ask them to do it in back, unless there are kids sitting there or if the weather is bad.” (Bergal, 1/4)

If ever there was a time to up your fitness game, the arrival of the new year and the new decade is it. But after the allure of the new gym membership wears off, our sedentary habits, more often than not, consume our promise of daily workouts. It doesn't have to be this way, says health psychologist and author, Kelly McGonigal. In her new book, The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage, the Stanford University lecturer offer new motivation to get moving that has less to do with how we look, or feeling duty-bound to exercise, and everything to do with how movement makes us feel. (O'Neill, 1/4)

The three organizations on Monday announced the launch of a five-year, $5-million clinical trial of a retinal screening process that could help detect Alzheimer’s more than two decades before symptoms appear. The study is seeking 300 volunteers between the ages of 55 and 80. (Fitzpatrick, 1/6)

Michelle Williams took home a best actress Golden Globe Sunday night, but not before shining the spotlight on abortion rights. The actress used her time on stage to advocate for a "woman's right to choose" — a right she said enabled her to be where she is today. ... "As women and as girls, things can happen to our bodies that are not our choice. I've tried my best to live a life of my own making, and not just a series of events that happened to me," she said. "... And I wouldn't have been able to do this without employing a woman's right to choose. To choose when to have my children and with whom." (Cohen, 1/6)

Williams, who has been an active participant in Hollywood’s Time’s Up movement, went on to declare that she could not have lived the life she’s had without the guarantee of a women’s right to choose, and of knowing she would be able “to choose when to have my children, and with whom.” “I know my choices might look different than yours,” Williams said. “But thank god or whomever you pray to that we live in a country founded on the principle that I am free to live by my faith and you are free to live by yours. So, women, 18 to 118, when it is time to vote, please do so in your own self-interest. It’s what men have been doing for years.” (Grady, 1/5)

Her speech comes at a time when multiple states have taken action to restrict access to abortion services and pressure from Congress to overturn Roe v. Wade is rising. Williams is set to star in This Is Jane, an Amazon Studios drama about women who provided abortion services before they were legal. Speaking to reporters after accepting her award on Sunday, Williams said she was inspired by the response to her Emmy Awards speech in September in which she addressed the gender pay gap in Hollywood. (Wells, 1/5)

Virginia Democrats, who hold full control of state government for the first time in a generation, want to ban assault-style rifles. They want to get rid of statutes honoring Confederate leaders in dozens of Virginia cities. They intend to give undocumented people licenses to drive. And they want to do it all in the next 60 days. (Williams, 1/6)

Gun rights advocates and militia members from around the country are urging thousands of armed protesters to descend on Virginia's capital later this month to stop newly empowered Democrats from passing gun-control bills. What began as a handful of rural Virginia counties declaring themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries” has jumped the state’s borders and become an Internet phenomenon. Far-right websites and commenters are declaring that Virginia is the place to take a stand against what they see as a national trend of weakening gun rights. (Schneider and Vozzella, 1/5)

Mississippi prisons remained on lockdown Sunday as officials sought to reassert control in the correctional system after eruptions of violence over the past week left five inmates dead. The state corrections department said earlier in the day that one inmate was back in custody after two had been discovered missing from the Parchman prison during an emergency count on Saturday. Pelicia Hall, the corrections commissioner, said Sunday afternoon that conditions in the prisons were stable and that officials were “being very mindful and watchful.” (Campo-Flores, 1/5)

More than 1,400 Seattle Public Schools students are still at risk of being excluded from school if they don't provide verified vaccination records by Wednesday, school system spokesman Tim Robinson said. That's down from last month when 2,200 needed to update their records. Robinson said he expects the number will keep declining as the January 8 deadline approaches. (Maxouris and Erdman, 1/5)

A woman with severe disabilities who was raped and gave birth at a Phoenix health facility late last year has filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona and two of her doctors. The 30-page lawsuit filed by the woman and her parents in Maricopa County Superior Court does not name a dollar amount but it follows the family's $45 million notice of claim filed against the state in May. Gov. Doug Ducey's office is reviewing the lawsuit, but does not comment on pending litigation, spokesman Patrick Ptak wrote in an email. (Innes, 1/3)

Cancer survivors and their loved ones who attend meetings of the Prostate Network in Kansas City have talked for years about a radiation treatment called proton beam therapy. They know it’s expensive and controversial. Some doctors and healthcare experts say it’s no more effective than standard X-ray radiation, and costs twice as much. But some of the network’s own members have used proton therapy and swear by the results. (Shelly and Margolies, 1/3)

Gov. Laura Kelly said Thursday that a troubled unit within Osawatomie State Hospital was “not a therapeutic environment” for the seriously mentally ill and promised plans for improvement. The hospital has been plagued by challenges for years, including a decision by federal officials to decertify it – a move that cost the facility of millions of dollars a year. A 60-bed unit in the hospital, called Adair Acute Care, was recertified in 2017. (Shorman, 1/3)

With its deluxe suites, A-list patients and world-class art collection that includes works by Picasso and Chagall, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s nickname is “hospital to the stars.” But starting this year, it is making a change for its poorest patients. Effective Jan. 1, the Los Angeles hospital loosened the income cap for patients to qualify for free or discounted care. Previously, the nonprofit hospital’s financial assistance policy allowed patients with household incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level to qualify for free care, which amounts to $24,980 for an individual or $51,500 for a family of four, based on 2019 figures. (Almendrala and Rowan, 1/3)

A large majority of the country’s governors have told the Trump administration that their states will continue accepting refugees, but with less than three weeks left to make up his mind, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hasn’t made clear if he’ll add his name to that list. Governors, mayors, county judges and other elected officials have until Jan. 21 to notify the U.S. State Department if they will continue participating in the refugee resettlement program. (Aguilar, 1/6)

Wyoming is once again the state with the highest rate of workplace-related deaths according to a new report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Wyoming's Workforce Services. Last year, it was third. 31 workers died on the job in 2018 compared to 20 the year before. (Edwards, 1/3)

Industry officials told Georgia Health News on Friday that the nonprofit Piedmont system, which is based in Atlanta, isn’t happy about the GHA leadership’s lack of support among key lawmakers and the Governor’s Office. Lobbying state government is a big part of the group’s function.GHA, which now represents more than 170 hospitals in the state, said Piedmont is trying to save money by not renewing its GHA membership for 2020. (Miller, 1/3)

The Georgia Hospital Association has split, losing Piedmont Healthcare and its 11 Georgia hospitals. Piedmont’s loss is a significant blow to the association, which lobbies for the state’s hospitals. GHA has been for years their heavyweight fighter in the battle between nonprofit hospitals and for-profit businesses such as Cancer Treatment Centers of America over state protections for the nonprofits. (Hart, 1/6)

Nonprofit Central City Concern closed its publicly funded Northeast Portland facility where intoxicated people were brought to sober up as an alternative to jail on Friday and ended its roving van service that transported people there. The agency said the sobering station and the Central City Concern Hopper Inebriate Emergency Response Service, also known as CHIERS, are no longer available. There currently isn’t a plan in place to replace them. (Bailey, 1/3)

A screening tool developed by Bay Area pediatricians to identify adverse childhood experiences, ranging from homelessness and food insecurity to physical and sexual abuse, will now help doctors statewide address trauma affecting patients’ health. The California Department of Health Care Services approved the tool — called PEARLS, for Pediatric ACEs and Related Life-Events Screener — last month. As of Jan. 1, its use is covered by Medi-Cal, and it will be available to pediatricians at 8,800 California clinics. (Allday, 1/5)

Candidates campaigning in the final stretch of the New Hampshire presidential primary are redoubling their focus on environmental issues that have long been priorities for local voters. New Hampshire has its own sense of urgency about climate change – which will threaten coastal communities and the ski industry – and drinking water contamination, from industrial chemicals like PFAS that have affected towns statewide. (Ropeik, 1/3)

Hours after a person stabbed a man to death Friday in South Austin, Gov. Greg Abbott speculated on Twitter that the suspect was homeless.“ When all facts are revealed I bet you’ll learn that the killer was a homeless man with prior arrests,” Abbott tweeted. “If so Austin’s reckless homeless policy puts lives in danger to murders like this. Austin leaders must answer for their perilous policies.” Austin police have not publicly confirmed whether the suspect is homeless. (Hall, 1/3)

Twice last year, Gov. Greg Abbott drew ire from Austin city officials when he suggested that crimes were the result of the city's new approach to homelessness, in which it has relaxed ordinances prohibiting camping or otherwise posting up in public spaces.Not only was it an unfair, they said, but neither of the crimes were committed by people experiencing homelessness — and one of them happened before any policy changes took effect. (Garnham, 1/4)

Electric scooters started showing up on city streets and college campuses in Georgia a year and a half ago, but the General Assembly has yet to figure out how to regulate them. A state Senate study committee has released a report recently on how to approach the issue that is expected to become the starting point for a bill lawmakers will consider during the 2020 session that kicks off Jan. 13. (Williams, 1/3)

The last decade began with the narrow passage of the Affordable Care Act — President Barack Obama’s signature health-care legislation — over the strenuous objections of Republicans. It ended with most of the 2020 Democratic presidential field pushing for even more substantial change to a system the ACA only began to fix, and with Republicans once again in opposition. The debate continues. Under Obamacare, more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans now have health coverage, and many more have robust consumer protections. That has helped turn what was a controversial electoral weakness for Democrats in 2010 into a strength — so much so that failed Republican efforts to repeal the law helped Democrats take back the House majority in the most recent midterm elections. (Max Nisen, 1/5)

As the calendar flips to 2020, we’re coming up on a decade since the passage of ObamaCare. But Democrats aren't celebrating 10 years of the Affordable Care Act, signed into law March 23, 2010. That's largely because President Obama’s signature legislative achievement hasn’t yielded the affordable care Democrats promised. (Sally Pipes, 1/6)

With legislation in Congress likely to be blocked by partisan division and interest group opposition, much of the real action in health care this year will be in the states. The big picture: States don’t have the money or purchasing power the federal government does, but their decisions nevertheless affect millions of people, and they could signal the future of federal reform. What to watch: Colorado and Washington are implementing public insurance options that could be a model for Democrats at the federal level. (Drew Altman, 1/6)

Surprise medical bills have become the bane of many Americans who are seen in emergency departments. These bills arise because hospital-based physicians, who are mostly employed by private equity-owned staffing firms, decline to join insurers’ provider networks. These doctors double dip by getting paid by insurers and then collecting a balance from patients. They also use their ability to bill out of network to negotiate higher fees when they do sign contracts. Business and consumer advocates have focused on legislative solutions to this problem, but efforts in Congress have stalled. (Jackson Williams, 1/6)

President Trump has used his executive authority to make positive reforms that are bringing affordable health insurance to consumers and small businesses. However, for many people, access remains a challenge. More than half of all Americans routinely delay getting proper care because of worries about costs. Through additional executive actions, President Trump can resolve to make three crucial health care changes in 2020 — changes that will lower costs and improve efficiency. Should the president fulfill them, these New Year’s resolutions would bring excellent benefits to the American people.  (Roger D. Klein, 1/3)

Spending on U.S. health care is out of control, expanding steadily from 5% of GDP in 1960 to 18% in 2018. There are, however, ways to curb the explosion in costs from both the demand and the supply side.Health care costs per capita in the U.S. are almost double those of other developed countries, but life expectancy is lower than many, even South Korea, according to the CIA and Eurostat. Without restraint, costs will accelerate as more and more postwar babies age. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects Medicare spending alone will leap from 3% of GDP to 8% by 2090. (A. Gary Shilling, 1/3)

My pager emits the same urgent beep no matter the occasion. That afternoon, it was the local preoperative clinic to say my 80-something patient, Lily, had been given an electrocardiogram (EKG) “just to be safe” before a minor office procedure. The EKG was a little off, the page went on. Could I take a look? Lily (I’m identifying her by only her first name at her request) felt fine. No chest pain. No trouble breathing. But now that the irregularity was out there, the procedure would be delayed until we had answers. (Ishani Ganguli, 1/5)

Young and old people are struggling to take care of themselves and increasingly each other at a time when blame and resentment flows both ways. But winner-take-all, generational warfare neglects our shared interests and challenges. We need to work together to forge policies that simultaneously improve the fortunes of all generations. As “Ok, Boomer” becomes the latest cultural putdown, growing conflict between younger and older people reflects dwindling resources and misunderstanding across the generational spectrum. (Stacy Torres, 1/3)

A U.S. appeals court last month declined to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, which has already been wounded by a decade of Republican undermining. By keeping what’s left of Obamacare alive, the court has granted a reprieve for the patients who rely on it. But make no mistake: Millions of Americans with preexisting medical conditions are still threatened by the GOP’s continued campaign of destruction. (1/5)

The subtitle of this editorial could be “Please look past Cuyahoga County government’s clumsy nonsense and vote to help those in our community who are hurting.” Yes, we are frustrated by how regularly County Executive Armond Budish’s administration screws up. Yes, we are disappointed by the administration’s inexcusably bad messaging in rolling out a proposal to raise our taxes. But, yes, we wholeheartedly endorse this tax increase. It will help so many troubled people – the mentally ill, senior citizens, people battling addiction, babies, the hungry and more. It is worthy of your approval March 17. (1/5)

In an important sense, the political new year won’t start in North Carolina until November. The General Assembly’s Republican majority can’t be expected to turn over a new leaf. It’ll follow the now tattered and discredited plan it has executed since taking control in 2011 — pushing tax cuts that favor the wealthy and big corporations, resisting Medicaid expansion, reducing environmental protections and business regulations and conducting public education on the cheap. But, as North Carolina is becoming painfully aware, ignoring needs doesn’t make them go away. Despite the tunnel-vision of the legislature’s leaders, it’s worth taking a broader look at what North Carolina should do in 2020. No. 1: Expand Medicaid. (1/5)

Fentanyl is a powerful opioid analgesic with great medical benefits for those suffering from cancer pain — and great potential for improper and illicit use. That potential had fortunately gone mostly unrealized in the United States before 2013, at which point drug users discovered fentanyl as an alternative to heroin and other prescription opioids, and the number of deaths from synthetic opioid (primarily fentanyl) overdose skyrocketed, according to government data, reaching 28,466 by 2017 — or nearly half of all opioid-related deaths that year. (1/5)

The Title X gag rule is indeed fulfilling the president’s war on abortion, unfortunately it poses serious battles relating to family planning coverage amongst our teenagers and women of low income. Access to affordable contraception is proven to benefit society in a variety of ways including a decrease in unintended pregnancies, abortions, preterm births, and maternal mortality rate. (Megan Honaker, 1/3)

The prescriptions began in the wake of my father’s sudden death when I was 15: Wellbutrin XL and Effexor XR for anxiety and depression, two separate doses of Synthroid to right a low-functioning thyroid, a morning and nighttime dose of tetracycline for acne, birth control to regulate the unpleasant side effects of womanhood, and four doses of Sucralfate to be taken at each meal and before bedtime — all given to me by the time I was old enough to vote. (Brooke Siem, 1/5)

Teenagers and young adults in the United States are being ravaged by a mental health crisis — and we are doing nothing about it. As of 2017, statistics show that an alarming number of them are suffering from depression and dying by suicide. In fact, suicide is now the second leading cause of death among young people, surpassed only by accidents. After declining for nearly two decades, the suicide rate among Americans ages 10 to 24 jumped 56 percent between 2007 and 2017, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Richard A. Friedman, 1/6)

The 2020 Census has begun, and even with a count-skewing citizenship question off the table, obtaining an accurate count will be a challenge. The risk factors range from tricky technology updates to cybersecurity snafus to misinformation campaigns. For the last of those threats, at least, Facebook is trying to give the country one less thing to worry about.Facebook recently announced it will bar misrepresentations about the decennial survey from its site, whether they appear in everyday posts from ordinary users or in paid advertisements from politicians usually exempt from fact-checking. The policy is stricter than the platform is usually willing to be with falsehoods, and, paired with action on medical misinformation, it may be a sign that companies are increasingly grappling with how what happens in their online worlds affects what happens in what we used to call the real world. (1/4)