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Next year’s Obamacare: More insurers but steeper prices. Health insurers are planning to expand in Obamacare amid rising profits, but the trend is coming at the expense of higher premiums for certain customers. Premiums are expected to rise by an average of 15 percent for customers whose incomes aren’t low enough to qualify them for subsidies, according to early estimates from Avalere Health. Still, the entrance by insurers into Obamacare is a reversal from years of exits.  Health insurers were fleeing Obamacare in droves around this time last year, and it looked as though people in as many as 47 counties would have no options for coverage. The Trump administration and Republicans have made several changes to Obamacare since then that Democrats call “sabotage.” President Trump ended payments to insurers, the GOP tax law will end the requirement in 2019 that people must buy health insurance or pay a fine, and people soon will be able to buy less-expensive coverage that doesn’t follow Obamacare’s rules. Yet, the Obamacare exchanges are showing an unexpected trend: No empty counties have been reported. Not only are insurers not leaving, but they’re also expanding or returning.

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.

Meet the contenders to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court. Justice Anthony Kennedy’s announcement that he will retire from the Supreme Court effective July 31 has put all eyes back on President Trump’s list of 25 possible nominees to the high court. The list’s origins trace back to the 2016 presidential campaign, when then-candidate Trump released in May 2016 a list of 11 judges he would consider to fill the seat vacated by the late Justice Antonin Scalia. The list grew to 21 in September 2016, and that expansion included the name of Neil Gorsuch, who would go on to replace Scalia on the high court. Trump’s final addition to his Supreme Court short-list came in November, when he added four more possible nominees to the high court, bringing the total to 25. The list includes 24 former and current judges on the federal and state courts, in addition to one U.S. senator. Court watchers say there a five favorites to be nominated, with several more under serious consideration. Meet the judges — and senator — that make up Trump’s list.

Trump doesn’t intend to ask Supreme Court candidates about Roe v. Wade. Trump said he does not plan to ask his candidates to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court whether they would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. During an interview with Fox News that aired Sunday, Trump was asked whether he plans to ask his prospective nominees about the 1973 landmark abortion case. “Probably not,” Trump said. “They’re all saying, ‘Don’t do that. You don’t do that. You shouldn’t do that,’ but I’m putting conservative people on.” Kennedy’s retirement has left Democrats and liberal groups fretting about the future of abortion rights in the country, as the court, with a second Trump-appointed justice, will shift to the right. Trump said he intends to select a nominee to the Supreme Court who is similar to Gorsuch. “I’m very proud of Neil Gorsuch. He has been outstanding,” Trump said. “His opinions are so well-written, so brilliant. I’m going to try and do something like that, but I don’t think I’m going to be so specific.”

Susan Collins: Neil Gorsuch wouldn’t vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is not likely to vote to overturn Roe, Sen. Susan Collins said Sunday. Collins, the Maine Republican who is likely to be a swing vote in confirming the upcoming Supreme Court nomination from President Trump, told CNN’s Jake Tapper about a conversation she’d had with Gorsuch during which he spelled out his position on judicial precedent. “I had a very long discussion with Justice Gorsuch in my office and he pointed out to me that he is a co-author of a whole book on precedent,” Collins said. “So someone who devotes that much time to writing a book on precedent, I think, understands how important a principle that is in our judicial system.” Collins was also asked about the next nominee to replace Kennedy and said it would “not be acceptable” for a justice to overturn Roe. “A candidate for this important position who would overturn Roe v. Wade would not be acceptable to me because that would indicate an activist agenda that I don’t want to see a judge have,” she said.

Top White House judicial advisor says no SCOTUS top candidates have a ‘clear position’ on Roe. A top Trump judicial adviser on Sunday said none of the reportedly top individuals on the administration’s shortlist of candidates to replace Kennedy have a clear position on whether to overturn Roe v. Wade. The White House is tapping into the same shortlist updated in November for its nomination to fill Kennedy’s seat and several of the candidates have expressed strong pro-life views. But Leonard Leo, the vice president of the Federalist Society who has again taken a leave of absence to be a Trump judicial adviser, said none “have a clear position on Roe v. Wade.” “Prospective nominees like Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Barrett, and Raymond Kethledge, and Tom Hardiman are people who have not specifically said they oppose Roe v. Wade, and their writings and their work show that they are very fair,” he told Fox News.

Schumer calls for public pressure against Trump’s court pick. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D–N.Y., on Monday called on members the public to put pressure on the Senate to reject any Supreme Court nominee that’s on President Trump’s list of potential nominees, in order to force Trump to pick someone more moderate. “If you do not want a Supreme Court Justice who will overturn Roe v. Wade and undo the Affordable Care Act, tell your senators they should not vote for a candidate from Mr. Trump’s preordained list,” Schumer wrote in the New York Times. “If the Senate rejects an extreme candidate, it would present President Trump the opportunity to instead select a moderate, consensus nominee,” he wrote. Schumer said Democrats have a chance at beating back a Trump nominee. With Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., still out, Republicans have a slim 50-49 majority, and Schumer said the votes should be there to protect Obamacare and abortion rights.

Pro Obamacare group charges SCOTUS nominee will gut pre-existing condition protections. A pro-Obamacare group released a new TV ad on Monday that charges President Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy would overturn Obamacare’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The ad from Protect Our Care comes as a lawsuit from Texas and 18 states charges that the repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate penalties means that the law’s requirement to purchase insurance can no longer be justified as a constitutional exercise of Congressional taxing power, and thus must be struck down along with other parts of the law. The Justice Department has decided to not defend Obamacare, and has argued that the pre-existing conditions ban must go because it is inextricably linked to the mandate. The group said that the Trump administration plans to install a Supreme Court justice to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy that will side with the lawsuit. The ad is airing nationally and in Maine and Alaska, the homes of centrist GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Both senators support abortion rights and opposed repealing Obamacare last year alongside Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Judge blocks Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky. A federal judge has blocked a law that would require certain Medicaid beneficiaries in Kentucky to work as a condition of staying enrolled in the program. The requirements would have gone into effect Sunday. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin had threatened to discontinue Medicaid expansion if the requirements were struck down. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, stated in his ruling that the Trump administration’s decision to add work requirements was “arbitrary and capricious” because it did not consider whether it would help bring medical care to citizens, which is one of the goals of the program under Obamacare.

Kentucky cuts Medicaid benefits after court ruling. Gov. Matt Bevin, R-Ky., has cut dental and vision benefits under Medicaid in response to a court ruling Friday that blocked his push to install work requirements. Bevin cut benefits to nearly half a million Medicaid recipients starting on July 1, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.

Kellyanne Conway amazed at how Democrats only focus on abortion. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Monday accused Democrats of only caring about abortion when it comes to public policy, and said Democrats seem to want to only discuss abortion in the context of President Trump’s pending Supreme Court nomination. “I’m just amazed how yet again, the Left boils every single thing, including a Supreme Court justice, down to one issue, abortion,” Conway said on Fox News. Conway said Trump is not asking nominees “specific questions on cases,” and is looking for nominees with the experience and intellect to sit on the nation’s highest court. She also said nominees will have to decide several other cases dealing with other issues aside from abortion.

Doctors, teaching hospitals got nearly $9B from drug, device industry last year. Drug and device companies shelled out $8.4 billion to doctors and teaching hospitals in 2017, including payments to doctors for meals and travel. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday released the 2017 payment data for doctors and teaching hospitals. Doctors and teachers received $8.4 billion, which is slightly below the total in 2016. The biggest amount, $4.7 billion, went to research. Coming in second was $2.82 billion for general payments, which include items such as meals, travel to speaking events, and speaking fees. Doctors also received $927 million in ownership stakes in companies, CMS said. Overall, 628,000 physicians and 1,158 teaching hospitals received payments from 1,525 companies. The $8.4 billion was slightly below $8.81 billion in payments in 2016. In 2015, there were $8.42 billion in payments.

Iowa judge strikes down 72-hour waiting period for abortion. Iowa’s state Supreme Court on Friday struck down a state law that required women to wait 72 hours before getting an abortion, arguing it violates the state’s constitution. The 5-2 decision reversed a ruling from a district court upholding the law that had been passed last year. It is the latest anti-abortion legislation to be struck down, as a controversial law that bans abortions after six weeks also was reversed by a federal judge this year. The ruling said the state has a “legitimate interest” in informing women about abortion. However, the law that requires the waiting period “does not meaningfully serve that objective,” the ruling said. “Because our constitution requires more, we reverse the decision of the district court.” Planned Parenthood of the Heartland had challenged the state law.

House Democrats call on three IGs to investigate zero tolerance policy, family separations. A group of five congressional Democrats is asking the internal watchdogs at three federal agencies to investigate the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that has led to children and parents being separated at the southern border. The House Democrats sent a letter Friday to the inspectors general of the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services calling for the examination. “We strongly oppose these misguided and destructive policies,” the Democrats wrote. They want the agency watchdogs to investigate “legal, logistical, coordination, and public information issues,” and issue a report explaining how the Trump administration’s efforts “were deficient or could have been improved.”

House and Senate agree: No eating cats and dogs. The 2018 farm bill is headed for a contentious battle in a conference committee made up of House and Senate lawmakers who passed different versions of the legislation in their respective chambers this month. While lawmakers negotiating a final farm bill agreement may end up fighting like cats and dogs, they will least agree no one should eat them. A provision banning the consumption of cat and dog meat in the U.S. was added to the Senate farm bill by Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., before it passed Friday.

RUNDOWN

Politico The truth behind Bob Casey’s ‘pro-life’ stand

The Hill July vote to repeal medical device tax may bolster vulnerable GOP lawmaker

Axios The Kentucky Medicaid ruling is a setback for Trump

New York Times Bulwark against an abortion ban? Medical advances

CNBC Why telemedicine has been such a bust so far

Kaiser Health News A baby was treated with a nap and a bottle of formula. The bill was $18,000

STAT News Signaling concern over industry funding, Congress presses for transparency at groups supporting NIH, CDC

Washington Post Opioid addiction and overdoses in children devastate their parents