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Mitt Romney vows to repeal Obamacare if elected to Senate. Mitt Romney on Saturday criticized his party’s record on healthcare and spending and vowed to lead a coalition to repeal Obamacare and block bloated appropriations bills if elected to the Senate in November. During three hours of grilling by grassroots conservatives gathered for a Utah GOP convention, Romney, 71, promised to use his unique stature and vast connections in Washington to accomplish an ambitious agenda that has eluded many an aspiring Republican, President Trump included. “Here’s the difference between me and a lot of other people that are thinking about running: And that is, I know how to get a group of people together, I’ve campaigned with some 40 different Republican senators — I’ve campaigned for them, with them,” Romney told one delegate. “I can get a group of them together to stand together to fight against the excessive spending that we’re seeing in Washington. I can also get Obamacare repealed.” Romney also pounded Senate Republicans for breaking their promise to repeal Obamacare. But Romney took his criticism further, saying Republicans messed up from the beginning when they decided to pursue legislation to “replace” Obamacare. Healthcare, he said, should be left to the states. “I don’t want to fix Obamacare, I want to repeal Obamacare,” Romney told another voter, making him one of the few Republicans this election cycle to revive the old GOP rallying cry. As Massachusetts governor, Romney crafted healthcare reform that served as a model for former President Barack Obama’s federal overhaul.

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Trump’s drug speech postponed. Trump was set to deliver his first major speech on drug pricing Thursday, but the event has been postponed. The speech was intended to roll out administration actions as well as requests to Congress. Heath and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has said that lowering the price of prescription drugs is one of the administration’s top priorities. A new date for the speech hasn’t been announced, and the White House did not respond to inquiries over whether the delay is because Azar had been in the hospital last week battling an infection. “President Trump’s speech on lowering drug prices previously scheduled for April 26 has been postponed to a later date in the near future,” said Hogan Gidley, deputy White House press secretary. Azar was discharged from the hospital Thursday following treatment of a digestive infection, an agency representative said Friday.

Big Pharma breaks record for lobbying in a quarter. Washington’s biggest drug lobbying group spent $10 million in lobbying the federal government in the first quarter of the year, a record for a quarter. STAT News first reported the lobbying totals. The massive spending from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America comes amid concern from the White House and Congress over high drug prices, but no big legislative push has been made to address drug prices. The advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs lashed out at PhRMA for the spending. “Patients are demanding lower drug prices, and in response, PhRMA fattened its lobbying budget, revealing the industry’s true priorities,” said Executive Director Ben Wakana Monday.

Insurers urge Trump administration to limit short-term plans to six months. America’s Health Insurance Plans wants the Trump administration to limit its planned expansion of short-term health plans to six months instead of 364 days, the insurance lobby said in comments submitted today. The deadline to submit comments to the administration is today. AHIP said it was concerned that the proposal would result in higher costs and in more people being uninsured or underinsured, meaning having health insurance that doesn’t cover what they need. The insurers said the plans may not be available to people who have pre-existing illnesses, such as cancer or diabetes, or may not cover the treatment for these conditions. The group also noted that the plans could come with no limits on annual or lifetime spending, and may not cover prescription drugs, mental health or prevention. “We urge the administration to limit the duration of short-term plans to six months, ensure clear disclosures to consumers about what short term plans do and do not cover, and inform consumers of the potential availability of discounted coverage through the marketplace,” said Matt Eyles, incoming president and CEO of AHIP.

Senate Democrats also protest short-term rules. Almost all Senate Democrats signed on to a letter Monday calling for the Trump administration to pull its expansion of short-term plans. The 47 senators said the rule would “increase cost and reduce access to quality coverage for millions of Americans, harm people with pre-existing conditions and force premium increases on older Americans.” The letter also says that people buying these “junk plans” would be forced to pay more for less care. “On average, the top two insurers who sold four out of every five short-term plans used 50 percent of premium dollars for company profits and overhead,” the letter said. Obamacare requires that an insurer selling a plan on the exchange must use 80 percent of a premium dollar for medical claims, with the rest going to overhead and profits. The only Democrats who didn’t join the letter were Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who both are up for re-election in states that Trump dominated in the 2016 election.

Short-term health plans have big gaps in benefits, analysis finds. Short-term health insurance plans don’t offer the same benefits of Obamacare plans, a new analysis found. A study from the health research firm Kaiser Family Foundation found that 43 percent of current short-term plans do not cover mental health services and 62 percent don’t cover substance abuse treatment. Another 71 percent do not cover outpatient prescription drugs and none of the plans covered maternity care. The study looked at 24 short-term plans marketed in 45 states and the District of Columbia through the eHealth and Agile Health Insurance companies.

White House nervous Ronny Jackson won’t be confirmed as VA secretary. White House officials and key senators are worried that Dr. Ronny Jackson, Trump’s nominee to replace David Shulkin as Veterans Affairs secretary, won’t be confirmed by the Senate, according to a report. Despite Trump aides investing time and energy into preparing Jackson for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday, some are concerned he doesn’t have the managerial experience to lead the second-largest federal government agency, per Axios. Similar fears have been expressed by Republicans serving on the panel, including Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. The White House also is investigating the legitimacy of complaints made to Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., the ranking member of the committee, regarding Jackson’s conduct in the U.S. Navy.

State Department: Abortion ‘is not a human right.’ Abortion “is not a human right” under international law, a U.S. diplomat emphasized Friday as he explained why the State Department human rights report doesn’t monitor “restrictions” on abortion around the world. “We don’t report on it, because it’s not a human right,” Ambassador Michael Kozak told reporters at the State Department. The State Department has been criticized over the decision to remove the term “reproductive rights” from the annual report, one of the most widely read documents produced by U.S. diplomats. The term first appeared in the human rights reports in 2010, but Kozak said the decision to replace the term with “coerced family planning” sharpens the State Department’s focus on forced abortions, as required by law.

Off-label antipsychotic drugs rise among older patients with dementia: Study. Use of off-label antipsychotic drugs has increased for dementia patients who are living at home, versus in a nursing home, according to a study by AARP Public Policy Institute. The trend is worrisome, AARP says, because the drugs can increase the chances of stroke or death. The share of people living in the community with dementia who are 65 and older, and taking antipsychotics, increased from 12.6 percent in 2012 to 13.4 percent in 2015. The use was highest among women, people 75 and older, and people who live in the South. “It’s concerning that the use of antipsychotic drugs is not decreasing among these dementia patients during a time when antipsychotic use has reportedly dropped substantially among nursing home residents with dementia,” said Elizabeth Carter, AARP Public Policy Institute senior health services research adviser. Examples of the prescriptions include Abilify, Clozaril, Haldol, Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa. The drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Tourette syndrome, or Huntington’s disease, but doctors prescribe them off-label to treat psychosis that comes with dementia.

‘Tips from Former Smokers’ campaign heads into seventh year. The campaign from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention kicks off six months of ads beginning today. The 15- and 30-second ads are set to run nationally on TV, online and in print. Markets that have higher rates of cigarette smoking will have additional airings and advertisements for increased awareness, according to the CDC. The ads will feature four former smokers, including an air force veteran who had a heart attack and lung cancer, women with oral cancer and throat cancer, and a woman who quit because she wanted to live for her daughter. Smoking is the largest cause of preventable death in the U.S., and federal officials say the ads have caused more than 5 million people to try quitting and at least 500,000 people to quit for good.

RUNDOWN

Axios Some Democrats want to punish opioid makers

New York Times Trump plan would cut back healthcare protections for transgender people

Wall Street Journal U.S. hospital firms, hungry to expand, look to China

Washington Post Opioid deaths prompt Ohio to reimagine classroom lessons, starting with kindergarten

Politico Trump challenges Native Americans’ historical standing

The Advocate Officials aim for reinsurance program to prop up Louisiana’s individual market

Associated Press It’s time for Trump’s doctor to be re-examined, for VA chief

NPR Anxiety relief without the high? New studies on CBD, a cannabis extract