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Trump extends short-term plans offered as a way out of Obamacare. The Trump administration will allow people to buy short-term health insurance for just under 12 months and extend them for up to three years, reversing an Obama administration-era rule that put a shorter limit on how long these plans can be used. The administration casts the maneuver as a way to provide alternatives to expensive Obamacare plans for consumers, but Democrats oppose the plans as “junk insurance” that bring the country to a pre-Obamacare era offering inadequate medical coverage.

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Marco Rubio to introduce paid family leave bill. Parents would be able to draw from their Social Security benefits early under a paid family leave bill to be introduced Thursday by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo. Under the proposal, the Economic Security for New Parents Act, parents have the option to receive monthly payments to help cover costs such as rent, groceries, and baby supplies. The benefit would be transferable between parents and be available to both moms and dads. In return for receiving Social Security payments early, parents would defer their retirement benefits for three to six months, or the amount of time necessary to offset the cost of their parental benefits.

About those short-term plans…how much will they cost? HHS estimates show that, in 2016, short-term policies for people who were unsubsidized cost an average of $124 a month, compared with an average of $394 a month for Obamacare plans. Prices have risen since then, and health officials said they estimated the short-term premiums would cost anywhere from 50 to 80 percent less than those offered in Obamacare for people who don’t get subsidies.

Who is likely to buy short-term plans? People who don’t receive federal help paying for their premiums and who do not have a pre-existing illness requiring more extensive coverage are most likely to turn to the short-term option. These plans are generally meant to be transitional coverage that people use in circumstances such as being between jobs or taking a semester off school. Because of how Obamacare is structured, people who make more than $48,240 for an individual or $98,400 for a family of four do not qualify for subsidies. As a result, an estimated 7 million people currently have unsubsidized Obamacare plans. HHS estimates show that roughly 200,000 people would leave the exchanges in favor of short-term plans and that more will come from other parts of the market, including the ranks of the uninsured. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that 2 million people will enroll in short-term plans.

Critics warn of inadequate coverage. The plans are not required to offer the same consumer protections under Obamacare that cover a more extensive range of medical care, and insurers who sell them may turn down people with pre-existing illnesses. For example, insurers could choose to omit coverage for diabetes, cancer, or substance abuse treatment, or could charge people more who have some of these conditions. Critics of re-extending short-term plans worry that customers will not understand what they cover, and warn that healthier people will be siphoned out of the Obamacare exchanges, destabilizing the market by leaving a disproportionately sicker population in the exchange and once again driving up the prices of premiums.

Democrats pounce on announcement, calling new plans ‘junk insurance.’ Congressional Democrats roundly decried the announcement on Wednesday, saying that the new plans will allow insurance companies to cover fewer benefits. “These new short-term plans are nothing short of junk insurance and are so dangerous for Americans that it’s no wonder not a single group representing patients, physicians, nurses, or hospitals has voiced support,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a statement. Democrats have sought to lay blame for any Obamacare premium hikes at the feet of Trump and congressional Republicans, believing the issue is a major winner for voters ahead of 2018 midterms. Democrats have pointed to the short-term plan regulation and another regulation to expand association health plans as acts of “sabotage” by Trump to destabilize Obamacare’s exchanges. “With this latest act of health care sabotage President Trump is once again putting millions of people nationwide who have pre-existing conditions at risk of being priced out of coverage they can afford or denied coverage altogether,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Republicans praise the regulation, saying it will help people harmed by Obamacare. Several Republicans, however, said that the move is an escape hatch for Obamacare plans that are more expensive. “I appreciate the Trump administration providing relief to the forgotten men and women harmed by Obamacare,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who pushed for extending short-term plans last year. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the HELP chairman, was more measured in his statement. “Millions of Americans who are between jobs and who pay for their own insurance will welcome this extended option for lower-cost, short-term renewable policies,” he said in a statement. Alexander said that short-term plans have been around since the 1990s and that during most of the Obama administration could be purchased for up to 12 months. He also said it will be up to states how to govern the short-term plans. “States will have the option to offer these policies or not, and will have the responsibility to make sure these policies benefit consumers,” Alexander said.

Insurance lobby concerned about new regulation. America’s Health Insurance Plans, the leading insurance trade group, bashed the short-term plan rule. “Consumers deserve more choices, particularly those who do not qualify for federal subsidies and must pay the full premium,” AHIP President Matt Eyles said in a statement. “We remain concerned that consumers who rely on short-term plans for an extended time period will face high medical bills when they need care that isn’t covered or exceed their coverage limits.” AHIP was also concerned that consumers may not fully understand what a plan does and doesn’t cover. “The new requirement for short-term plans to make clearer disclosures to consumers is an important improvement,” Eyles said. AHIP also praised giving states more power to regulate the plans, including limiting the duration if they want.

Justice Department questions AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson on wartime business in Iraq. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson say the Department of Justice is looking into their wartime business in Iraq, where a separate lawsuit alleges the companies and others inadvertently funded terrorist activity by funneling money to the Iraqi Ministry of Health in exchange for contracts for drugs and medical supplies. AstraZeneca, Pfizer, J&J and other drug and medical device makers were named as defendants in a complaint filed in October 2017 by veterans wounded in the Iraq War from 2005 to 2009 as well as families of soldiers killed during the period. The lawsuit claimed – based on the accounts of confidential witnesses – that the companies bribed terrorist groups running the Iraqi health ministry to obtain lucrative deals, ultimately supporting terrorist activities that led to the deaths of U.S. military members.

According to the complaint, officials running the health ministry’s import subsidy under Saddam Hussein’s regime routinely pushed foreign suppliers for kickbacks on deals awarded through the United Nation’s Oil-for-Food program. After Hussein’s government fell, the ministry was controlled by a Shiite terrorist group known as Jaysh al Madhi, and the suit claims the payments continued.

Doctors group opposes Trump push to defund Planned Parenthood. The American Medical Association on Tuesday urged the Trump administration to roll back a proposal to cut federal funds to Planned Parenthood or other facilities providing abortions. The group was also concerned about new rules that would “prohibit in most cases referrals for abortion and restrict counseling about abortion services.” Other issues include directing new funding to “faith-based and other organizations that promote fertility awareness and abstinence as methods of family planning rather than the full range of evidence-based family planning methods.” AMA noted that the law behind the family planning grants, called Title X, already states that no federal funding should go towards covering abortions. The comments were submitted ahead of the Tuesday deadline soliciting information from outside groups.

What others have said about the Title X rule. Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., called for the Trump administration to extend the comment period for the proposed regulation. “Given that the Department acknowledges that there is no statutory or other legal requirement to issue the rule, along with the fact that the rule conveys no quantifiable benefit, we are alarmed and confused by this expedited timeframe,” they said in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar last week. But anti-abortion groups praised the Trump administration’s move. The proposal draws a “bright line between abortion and family planning in the Title X program,” according to anti-abortion groups Susan B. Anthony List, Charlotte Lozier Institute, and Life Issues Institute.

Bill funding medicines for pets and livestock heads to Trump. A bill that funds new medicines for pets and livestock is headed to Trump just in time for a critical Wednesday deadline. The legislation, collectively known as the Animal Drug and Animal Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2018, or ADUFA, passed the Senate Tuesday by voice vote after passing the House the same way July 22. As with drugs used in humans, the Food and Drug Administration charges fees for drug and device applications and uses that money to speed up their review. That way, products can head to market faster, and animal owners can have less expensive or more effective drugs to use on animals who fall ill. Trump must sign the bill into law by today, or the 115 staff who work in the unit to review the drug and device applications will be notified that they will lose their jobs by Oct. 1.

Medicare drug plan premiums to fall next year. Premiums for Medicare Part D, the program’s prescription drug plan, are expected to fall slightly in 2019 for the second year in a row.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on Tuesday that projected monthly premiums for Part D plans would be on average $32.50 in 2019. That is a slight drop from the $33.59 premium this year. CMS attributed the decline to recent moves by the Trump administration to tackle high drug prices. “The actions that [Health and Human Services] and CMS are taking to increase competition in order to drive down costs for patients are working,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a statement Tuesday.

Agency points to blueprint as key driver in lower premiums. The agency touted several changes made in May when the administration laid out a blueprint for tackling prices. These changes include enabling greater use of generic drugs to lower costs. Another change sought to increase competition “among plans by removing the requirement that certain Part D plans have to ‘meaningfully differ’ from each other, making more plan options available,” CMS said. Other parts of the blue print are still in the works. For instance, the administration is toying with moving some drugs covered under Medicare Part B into Part D. Under Part B, Medicare reimburses a doctor or healthcare provider for drugs administered in a doctor’s office. These include drugs like chemotherapy or vaccines. But there aren’t any private plans that negotiate for lower drug prices, which currently happens in Medicare Part D. The administration wants to move some drugs from Part B to Part D in order to lower the price through private plan negotiation, but have not decided which drugs to move.

Letting Medicare negotiate drug prices could save nearly $3 billion: Democratic report. Giving Medicare the power to negotiate directly with drug makers to lower prices could save the federal government $2.8 billion a year for the most commonly prescribed drugs, according to a new report from Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. The report, released Wednesday, comes after the Trump administration declined to endorse the reform in its drug pricing blueprint released in May. “Getting bulk discounts is something every business does, and the fact that the federal government is prohibited from doing it for Medicare is unconscionable,” said McCaskill, one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for re-election this fall.

Molina still considering returning to Obamacare in Utah and Wisconsin. Health insurer Molina is considering providing Obamacare plans in Wisconsin and Utah for 2019, after taking a one-year hiatus from these states, company executives said in an earnings call Wednesday. Molina left these states for 2018 after suffering $230 million in overall losses and undertaking 1,500 planned layoffs. Company executives said in April that they would consider re-entering the market, and on Wednesday they said they were still evaluating how the plans are performing in the states where they still have Obamacare customers. “I’m inclined to say that we would re-enter, but we have until the end of the summer to decide,” said Joseph Zubretsky, the company’s CEO.

Humana raises forecast amid strong sales in Medicare Advantage. Membership for Humana’s Medicare Advantage plans rose by 6.6 percent, to about 3 million, according to its second-quarter earnings report. Company executives now say they expect 2018 adjusted earnings of about $14.15 per share, compared to a previous forecast of $13.70 to $14.10 per share. Revenue rose 5.4 percent to $14.26 billion, above the average estimate of $14.16 billion.

Study suggests more people could die in heat waves by 2080, encourages policies to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. A study released Tuesday by the journal PLOS Medicine found that in some regions, more people will die due to heat waves by 2080, given policymakers around the world do not make significant policy changes regarding the reduction of greenhouse gasses. The heat wave death increase would be more drastic in tropical and subtropical areas, and would also affect places like Australia, Europe, and the United States. Using mathematical modeling, the study found, for example, that Australia and the U.S. could experience five times more excess deaths from heat waves between 2031 and 2080.

Ebola returns to Congo just one week after outbreak declared over. Health officials have declared another outbreak of Ebola in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, just one week after declaring the outbreak over in the northwest part of the country. Congo’s health ministry confirmed publicly on Wednesday that four people have tested positive for Ebola in North Kivu province, which is near the border with Uganda and more than 1,550 miles from the previous outbreak. An additional 20 have hemorrhagic fever, one of the symptoms of the illness that affects blood clotting. “I call for calm and prudence,” North Kivu Gov. Julien Paluku wrote in French on Twitter.

RUNDOWN

Wall Street Journal Why Americans spend so much on healthcare

STAT News Series of ethical stumbles tests NIH’s reliance on private sector for research funding

Modern Healthcare Providers ramp up preparation for drug shortages

Kaiser Health News To tame prescription drug prices, HHS dips a toe into drug importation stream

Axios The data showing drug pricing games

Associated Press Judge: Arkansas Planned Parenthood funding to remain blocked