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Medicaid work requirements become law in Michigan. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan has signed a bill into law that would require certain Medicaid beneficiaries to work or train for work as a condition for staying enrolled in the program. The bill requires recipients to clock in at least 80 hours a month at a job, training or volunteer work, or otherwise be dropped from coverage. The measure must go through public comment periods and be approved by federal officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Democrats in the legislature were nearly uniform in opposing the bill. Beneficiaries would be exempt from the program if they are in treatment for addiction, are disabled, pregnant, caregivers, children, over the age of 63, or deemed medically frail. Participants have to log their hours every month, a process that critics say will be burdensome and cause people to needlessly lose coverage. But Republicans say the program offers people an opportunity to leave Medicaid, known as Healthy Michigan in the state, for other types of medical coverage, such as private health insurance.

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.

Large majority of voters hate Trump’s bid to end pre-existing condition ban. A new poll found that 66 percent of voters disapprove of the Justice Department’s decision to support a lawsuit that would end Obamacare’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The poll published Sunday in Forbes comes as Democrats and Obamacare allies are seeking to seize on the Justice Department’s decision ahead of the 2018 midterms. The Trump administration announced a few weeks ago it would no longer defend Obamacare in court. It also is supporting a lawsuit filed by Texas and 19 other states that claim the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions should be eliminated because the law’s individual mandate penalty will be repealed as of next year. The poll was of 1,000 registered voters and did not list a margin of error.

Planned Parenthood sues Trump administration for abstinence-only focus. Planned Parenthood affiliates are suing the Trump administration for focusing on abstinence-only education in awarding grants to prevent teen pregnancy. The Department of Health and Human Services suggested in April that it may prioritize Teen Pregnancy and Prevention Partnership grants to groups that focus on teaching abstinence. Planned Parenthood argues in its lawsuits that the move would go against congressional intent, which was to focus on the most effective, proven ways to prevent pregnancy. The organization said that programs focusing only on abstinence “ignore reality” because most people have sex by the time they are 18 and the median age for a first marriage is in the late 20s. Mark Vafiades, spokesman for the HHS Office of the Secretary for Health, said the agency couldn’t comment specifically on pending litigation. “The reason we adjusted the funding criteria is as follows: to produce results that will actually help teens and wisely steward tax dollars,” he said. “As numerous studies have shown, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program is not working.”

HHS creates task force to assist with illegal immigrant family reunification. HHS has created a new task force to assist with the reunification of illegal immigrant families, according to Politico. HHS’ assistant secretary of preparedness and response will lead the reunification effort. “The secretary of Health and Human Services has directed the assistant secretary of Preparedness and Response to assist the ACF Office of Refugee Resettlement with Unaccompanied Children Reunification,” according to the document. The report comes hot on the heels of news saying that Customs and Border Patrol is working to reunite all migrant children in their custody with their families.

Democrats ask GAO to evaluate how states combat maternal mortality. The Government Accountability Office has been asked to study how states are using federal funds to combat maternal mortality in a way that addresses racial disparities. Twelve Democrats in the Senate, led by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., sent in the request late last week. It isn’t clear why pregnancy or childbirth-related deaths in the U.S. are happening, but the numbers appear to be rising — a trend not observed in other developed countries — and many are linked to conditions involving bleeding or high blood pressure. “Families across the country deserve to know what is being done to address this urgent crisis and help keep mothers and their children healthy,”  the senators wrote. The HELP Committee is expected to vote on a bill Tuesday to help states review maternal mortality cases and improve care in hospitals.

An unlikely group could get Oklahoma to approve medical marijuana: Evangelical Christians. Danny Daniels, an evangelical Christian in the rural Oklahoma town of Lindsay, is reliably conservative on just about every political issue. The 45-year-old church pastor is anti-abortion, voted for President Trump and is a member of the National Rifle Association who owns an AR-15 rifle. He also came of age during the 1980s and believed in the anti-drug mantra that labeled marijuana as a dangerous gateway drug. But his view on marijuana changed as his pastoral work extended into hospice care and he saw patients at the end of their lives benefiting from the use of cannabis. Daniels is among a growing group of traditionally conservative Republican voters in Oklahoma who have shifted their position on the topic. Their support for a medical marijuana measure on Tuesday’s ballot could ensure Oklahoma joins the growing list of states that have legalized some form of pot.

GOP senate hopeful seizes on Indiana Obamacare rate hikes. GOP nominee Mike Braun blasted Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., for high Obamacare rates in Indiana, saying he would work to fully repeal Obamacare. Braun’s statement on Monday comes as Democrats are seizing on rate increases across the country. Democrats say Republicans and Trump are to blame because of repealing the individual mandate penalty in the tax code overhaul and pursuing regulations to expand access to cheaper but low-quality health plans. Braun, a businessman, is in a tight race to unseat Donnelly, who is one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for re-election this fall. Braun said Donnelly has bragged about being the vote to pass Obamacare.” But not all Republicans believe that Obamacare rate hikes will be the political cudgel that they have relied on in the past. For instance, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has said Republicans will likely get blamed for rate hikes if they don’t go back to Obamacare repeal this year, which the Senate GOP has shown no appetite to do so far. Indiana’s two Obamacare insurers are seeking an average hike of 5 percent in 2019. The pro-Obamacare group Protect Our Care released a statement last week blasting the rate hike as the latest evidence of the GOP and Trump’s “deliberate, aggressive campaign to undermine healthcare.”

Cocaine production rises in 2017. Production of cocaine exploded in Colombia in 2017, with greater demand in the United States a key reason, according to the White House. The White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy released a report Monday that showed cultivation of coca leaves was at an all-time high and production of pure cocaine is also up. In 2017, Colombian coca cultivation reached an all-time high, increasing 11 percent from 188,000 hectares in 2016 to 209,000 hectares in 2017. The pre cocaine production also increased by 19 percent from 772 metric tons in 2016 to 921 tons in 2017, according to a report released Monday. Production of pure cocaine also increased by 65 percent from 2013, when 320 metric tons were produced, the report said.

RUNDOWN

Axios GOP tries to balance focus on healthcare costs, Obamacare repeal

Associated Press Nearly 400 people used California’s assisted death law in 2017

New York Times Medicare allows more benefits for chronically ill, aiming to improve care for millions

Politico Reversal of fortune: Obamacare rate hikes pose headache for Republicans

Bloomberg Amazon-Berkshire-JP Morgan healthcare venture takes aim at middle man

Washington Post Robotic surgery is no better than traditional surgery to treat bladder cancer, study finds

Kaiser Health News Fearing deportation, immigrant parents are opting out of health benefits for kids