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Democrats prepare to introduce ‘Medicare 50.’ Democrats are set a noon today to unveil a bill that would allow people to buy into Medicare beginning at age 50, even as the majority of the caucus in the House is onboard with rolling everyone into a government-run system. The bill signals that Democratic leaders are prepared to move forward more gradually on extending the government’s role in healthcare. Under the proposal, people would have the option of buying into Medicare instead of having private health insurance. The Medicare Buy In and Health Care Stabilization Act is being introduced by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn. View livestream.

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House Democrats to consider bills that would push back on Trump’s Obamacare ‘sabotage.’ The House Energy and Commerce Committee this morning is considering various bills in a hearing titled “Strengthening Our Health Care System: Legislation to Reverse ACA Sabotage and Ensure Pre-Existing Conditions Protections.” The committee will consider bills that would boost marketing for open enrollment that the Trump administration had cut, and that would undo changes the Trump administration has made to health insurance plans available outside of Obamacare, including short-term and association health plans. Another bill would repeal guidance the administration put out that lets states opt out of certain Obamacare provisions. View the hearing live.

Kirsten Gillibrand invites President Trump to have a conversation on paid family leave. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday said she would welcome a sitdown with President Trump to talk about paid family leave, as she unveiled a proposal to fund the provision through payroll taxes. “I will sit down with any Republican who wants to talk about a paid leave plan including President Trump,” said Gillibrand, D-N.Y., at a press conference. “That’s an invitation.” Gillibrand, who is vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination to run against Trump, introduced the Family and Medical Leave Act alongside Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who is sponsoring the House version. Gillibrand’s bill allows leave for circumstances other than a new child, including if a family member gets sick or if someone needs to take time off to undergo treatment for an illness. During that time, people would be guaranteed 66 percent of their regular earnings, or up to $4,000 a month. The plan is similar to short-term disability coverage some employers offer.

Republicans plot their own entrance. Gillibrand’s latest legislative rollout comes at a time when support for paid family leave among Republicans is growing, and is even a priority for Trump. Several GOP senators have credited first daughter and senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump for this shift because over several months of conversations she helped make the case that paid family leave was both “pro-family” and “pro-workers.” Before that, only Democrats had backed the cause. Republicans met this morning with Ivanka Trump and Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Marco Rubio of Florida, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Todd Young of Indiana, and Mike Lee of Utah, according to a Senate Republican aide. By March, several Republicans are expected to unveil legislation of their own. DeLauro and Gillibrand both said they had also met with Ivanka Trump on the issue.  “It’s encouraging to see members on both sides of the aisle putting forward paid family leave proposals,” Ivanka Trump said in an statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “Twenty-five years after FMLA was passed we finally have bipartisan agreement on the importance of paid leave for working parents. Now we are seeking to build consensus around policy that can garner enough votes to be passed into law.”

Ivankacare? Trump faces conservative opposition to family leave program pushed by his daughter. Trump’s call during his State of the Union address for nationwide family leave led to applause from lawmakers and even a holler from one Republican, but conservative groups are sitting on their hands, fearing the president is about to create a new entitlement program that could quickly expand. “The biggest concern is the potential explosion of the program over time, and then having a federal program be the one source that everyone has to go to would not serve workers well,” Heritage Foundation research fellow Rachel Greszler told the Washington Examiner. “They would be far better off having a more tailored policy through their employer.” Conservative policy experts have concerns with both the proposals offered by Rubio and Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., as well as the president’s plan to use unemployment insurance as the base for paid leave.

House authorizes use of official funds to buy feminine hygiene products. The House Administration Committee on Tuesday authorized the use of official funds to purchase tampons and other feminine hygiene products and ordered the House Office Supply Store to keep them in supply. Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., Grace Meng, D-N.Y., and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., asked the committee on Monday to clarify what whether House members can use the Members’ Representational Allowance to buy the products. The MRA is an annual allowance provided to each congressional office to pay staffers, fund official travels, and purchase supplies that are considered “ordinary and necessary,” according to the Members’ Congressional Handbook. “It is past time to address outdated policies that were written without consideration of women inside the chambers of Congress,” Wasserman Schultz said. “This is a basic, but critical health concern for most women, and failing to provide access to these products reflects a disregard for the needs of women and the leadership they bring to the Capitol.”

Pro-pot activists not sure they trust 2020 Democrats claiming to favor legalization. As Democrats hurl themselves into the 2020 presidential fray, marijuana reformers are finding an unprecedented number of new friends and apologetic former enemies, some of whom they aren’t sure if they can trust. Among the new converts are Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, both former prosecutors, while vintage anti-drug warrior and former Vice President Joe Biden apologized for helping implement harsh drug penalties. “What they plan to do is more important than the role they may have played in the past,” said Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Mason Tvert, who welcomes the expanded political support after years of officials lagging far behind voters on the issue. But the new expressions of support aren’t convincing to some activists — creating a community divide resembling lingering gay-rights qualms about Hillary Clinton, who embraced same-sex marriage ahead of 2016, despite long opposing it, after popular opinion shifted. “I think they put their fingers in the wind … but which of them were talking about if before it became acceptable in the last few years? Not many,” said Douglas Hiatt, a marijuana reform activist and attorney in Washington state.

RUNDOWN

Washington Post McCarthy blames Republican loss of House majority on GOP health care bill

The Wall Street Journal New mothers at risk of depression to get counseling services, covered by insurance, under new guidelines

Baltimore Sun Proposed bill would forbid nonconsensual pelvic and other exams on unconscious, anesthetized patients

Des Moines Register Iowans could have more access to birth control under proposal from Gov. Kim Reynolds