SIGN UP! If you’d like to continue receiving Washington Examiner’s Daily on Healthcare newsletter, SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://newsletters.washingtonexaminer.com/newsletter/daily-on-healthcare/

Seema Verma becomes latest Trump official to attack ‘Medicare for all.’  The head of Medicare and Medicaid said Tuesday that “Medicare for all,” the left-wing proposal to expand Medicare to all Americans, was too expensive and could jeopardize the popular entitlement program. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma’s comments at the Atlantic Festival in Washington were the latest broadside launched at “Medicare for all” by the Trump administration. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar carried out a similar attack last week. Verma said that “Medicare for all” is “not something that we can afford.” She said that putting more people onto Medicare “will threaten the security of seniors.” As noted before, this line of attack — that socialized medicine is a threat to traditional Medicare — could backfire on Republicans because it reinforces the sanctity of a program that is the largest example of socialized medicine in the U.S.

Verma also defended Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirement program. Verma on Tuesday also defended a controversial Medicaid work requirements program in Arkansas that led to more than 4,000 people losing coverage, saying that the reforms have helped get people out of poverty. “It about not just saying: ‘Here is your healthcare card,’” she said. “We are trying to say that these individuals are living in poverty and they need more than that.”Arkansas is the first state to implement work requirements for Medicaid, and one of four who have received federal approval to create such a program. Verma said that the goal of the program is to give people “the skills they need and matching them with the jobs that are available.”

Welcome to Philip Klein’s Daily on Healthcare, compiled by Washington Examiner Managing Editor Philip Klein (@philipaklein), Senior Healthcare Writer Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and Healthcare Reporter Robert King (@rking_19).  Email [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list.

Trump administration overhauls Medicare website to help with plan comparisons. The Trump administration is rolling out new online tools to help seniors compare the differences between traditional Medicare plans and those offered by private health insurance.

The latest installment to the Medicare.gov website, called eMedicare, has a new feature allowing beneficiaries to chat online with government staffers to ask questions as they are looking at their coverage options, rather than obligate them to go see someone in person or to make a phone call. It also has been changed for the first time to allow people to use it through their iPhones or iPads. People can sign up for health insurance plans between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7. The CMS billed the website change as an effort to help people make the best decisions about their health insurance, and to simplify the experience.

Healthcare-driven voters more likely to vote Democrat in Missouri, Nevada. Democratic candidates for Senate in the hotly contested states of Missouri and Nevada appear to have the advantage on healthcare headed into the midterm elections, according to a poll released Monday by CNN. The poll suggests that Democratic messaging is resonating with certain voters. In Missouri, 31 percent of voters called healthcare the most important issue in deciding their vote. In Nevada, 26 percent of voters said it was the most important issue. Voters who identified healthcare as the issue that will drive their vote are more likely to vote for Democrats, the results show. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Democratic incumbent, has a 69 percent to 27 percent lead among this group in her race against Attorney General Josh Hawley. Meanwhile, Rep. Jacky Rosen, a challenger to Republican Sen. Dean Heller, has a 74 percent to 16 percent lead in the same group in Nevada. Overall, the two races are neck-and-neck. McCaskill is edging out Hawley 47 percent to 44 percent, while Rosen leads Heller 47 percent to 43 percent.

Drug distributor pays feds $625 million for improperly repackaging cancer drugs. Major drug distributor AmerisourceBergen Corporation will pay the Justice Department $625 million to resolve allegations it improperly repackaged cancer drugs and exposed cancer patients to potentially unsafe products. The settlement announced Monday concerned the company’s treatment of the excess fluid that is often included in injectable drugs to treat cancer.

FDA lays out ‘playbook’ for fighting cyber attacks on medical devices. The Food and Drug Administration released a “playbook” Monday to help hospitals and other facilities handle potential cyberattacks on medical devices. The agency announced the playbook on Monday along with two agreements with manufacturers to share information about possible vulnerabilities of medical devices. The playbook and agreements are part of an action plan the agency laid out in April to prevent cyberattacks on devices that could be hacked remotely and shut down. “The FDA isn’t aware of any reports of an unauthorized user exploiting a cybersecurity vulnerability in a medical device that is in use by a patient,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on Monday in a statement. “But the risk of such an attack persists.”

Republicans eye weekend vote on Kavanaugh, public release of FBI discoveries. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said a final vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh could take place by the weekend if he clears an ongoing FBI background check into decades-old sexual misconduct allegations. “The leader wants to get this wrapped up this week,” Cornyn, of Texas, told reporters Monday night. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, announced Monday afternoon the Senate would vote “this week” on Kavanaugh after the FBI wraps up a probe that is limited to a week in duration. Cornyn said lawmakers must first see the FBI report and suggested that it should at least partly be made public. “There is going to have to be some sort of announcement about what this supplemental investigation has yielded because now these allegations have been made, so far unproven, and there needs to be some way to announce that,” Cornyn said. The background checks are normally confidential and Cornyn said in this instance, “it presents a novel situation,” because of the now public nature of the sexual misconduct allegations, which were first revealed after being leaked to the press. Cornyn seemed to reject a call for an all-Senators briefing about the FBI report, which was suggested by Senate Minority Whip Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “There needs to be a report, and my guess is the report will reveal what we know now, which is no new information,” Cornyn said.

Voter opposition toward Kavanaugh confirmation grows after hearing. A growing number of U.S. voters don’t want the Senate to confirm Kavanaugh after he defended himself in public against sexual misconduct allegations, according to a new poll released Monday. A Quinnipiac University National Poll released Monday said 48 percent of voters oppose Kavanaugh’s confirmation, up 6 points from a poll taken before to his appearance last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Support for the federal appellant judge rose slightly to 42 percent.

The increase in opposition to Kavanaugh reported by the study was driven by Democrats, women, and minority voters, echoing findings of a CBS News/YouGov Poll also published Monday.

New poll suggests Heidi Heitkamp may be in trouble if she votes against Kavanaugh. A new poll shows Republican challenger Rep. Kevin Cramer leading Sen. Heidi Heitkamp by a 10- point margin, with North Dakotans overwhelmingly in favor of confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Losing a race in North Dakota would make it significantly more difficult for Democrats to retake the Senate. The poll, from Mason Dixon and North Dakota’s NBC affiliate, shows Cramer opening up a 51 percent to 41 percent lead over the Democratic incumbent. The poll also finds North Dakotans support the confirmation of Kavanaugh by a 60 percent to 27 percent margin.

Bill bans schools from ‘lunch shaming’ students who can’t pay. A House Democrat introduced legislation last week that would ban schools from shaming students who fall behind in their school lunch accounts. Current federal law already requires school cafeterias to keep serving students who fall behind on their school lunch payments. But some schools have been known to take steps to shame those students, including by throwing their lunches away once they’re served, or making them do chores to make up for their failure to pay. The No Shame, No Blame Act from Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Minn., would prevent schools from taking those steps, and would require all discussions about school lunch payments to be held between the school and parents or guardians, not the students themselves. “In the greatest food producing nation in the world, no child should ever be punished or denied a healthy and nutritious meal because of their parent’s or guardian’s inability to pay,” Nolan said in a statement late last week when he introduced the bill.

RUNDOWN

Washington Post Claire McCaskill’s promise to save pre-existing conditions could save her job

Axios ACA competition dwindles under Trump

Wall Street Journal Texas hospital giants Baylor Scott & White and Memorial Hermann announce plans to merge

STAT News African-Americans are disproportionately enrolled in studies that don’t require informed consent

Kaiser Health News Drugmakers play the patent game to lock in prices, block competition

Baltimore Sun Report: Millions in Maryland could lose health coverage or pay more because of feds’ Obamacare stance

The Hill GOP Senate Candidate Hawley: No regrets on backing anti-Obamacare lawsuit

NPR and ProPublica A tough negotiator proves employers can bargain down healthcare prices