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Trump to have second medical checkup as president on Friday.  President Trump will have his annual physical on Friday, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. The checkup will occur at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The exam is likely to be overseen by Dr. Sean Conley, the White House doctor. Sanders did not immediately elaborate on whether Trump, 72, would release the records to the public. No law obligates presidents to do so, and throughout history presidents frequently have released only partial records or, in some cases, masked severe medical conditions from the public. When Trump underwent his first physical as president on Jan. 12, 2018, he received a glowing bill of health from Dr. Ronny Jackson, the White House doctor who also worked under former President George W. Bush and former President Barack Obama.  While Jackson said Trump needed to lose weight, he also said Trump had passed an assessment used to measure possible early signs of dementia and that he had “incredibly good genes.” Jackson declared Trump “fit for duty.” In the months that followed, Jackson faced questions about the credibility of his assessment. In April 2018, after Trump nominated Jackson to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, the doctor became the subject of rumors from anonymous sources who said he would get drunk on the job and was improperly prescribing medications to White House staff. Jackson fiercely denied the accusations but eventually withdrew his name from consideration.

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Trump to emphasize bipartisanship in State of the Union, including on healthcare costs. President Trump will offer a “visionary” State of the Union speech Tuesday, emphasizing the possibility of bipartisanship in Washington and “choosing greatness” for the nation, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Friday. “Together we can break decades of political stalemate, we can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future,” Trump will declare. Among the goals for bipartisanship will be a call for Congress to work on legislation that will lower the cost of healthcare. Despite rancorous partisanship, the official asserted that “there’s a lot of common ground” on various issues, including healthcare and infrastructure, and that legislating is “doable and practical.” The speech is expected to be approximately 80 minutes long, similar to Trump’s speech in 2018. Special guests will be announced this afternoon.

Ben Sasse presses Senate to bring his abortion bill to the floor. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., is pressing the Senate later today to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act by unanimous consent. The bill builds on the 2002 Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which clarified that “every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development” is a “person” for all federal law purposes. That law was intended to clarify that a babies were supposed to receive protections if they survived an abortion, and Sasse’s bill further clarifies what level of care they are supposed to receive, including being immediately transferred to a hospital. If that protocol isn’t followed, then the doctor performing the abortion would face criminal prosecution. The legislation follows comments by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Virginia Delegate Kathy Tran, both Democrats, who appeared to indicate they supported a state bill that would allow abortion at the time of birth. Anti-abortion groups rallied this weekend in Virginia in protest of the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hasn’t yet set the schedule for the week.

Justice Alito halts Louisiana abortion law, citing need for more time. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito temporarily blocked abortion restrictions in Louisiana from going into effect on Friday, pushing off the question for another week as to whether the high court will soon be forced to weigh in on the issue of abortion rights. Alito stayed the law until Feb. 7, saying that filings were only completed on Friday and that justices needed more time to review them. “This order does not reflect any view regarding the merits of the petition for a writ of certiorari that applicants represent they will file,” Alito said. The justice handles emergency requests from the 5th Circuit and can therefore act alone on the case, but may refer it to the full court to make a final determination. The Louisiana law requires doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital in case anything goes wrong during an abortion. The Supreme Court in 2016 struck down similar laws in Texas in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, but the 5th Circuit upheld Louisiana’s law.

Trump appoints Jackson as his chief medical adviser. Trump has appointed  Jackson to serve as assistant to the president and chief medical adviser, according to the White House. Trump tapped 40 staffers for promotions and new jobs Saturday, including Jackson, whose name was in the middle of the long list. Jackson has remained out of the spotlight since last spring. Trump had picked the then-White House doctor to take over the VA, but shortly after doing so, Jackson was accused of drinking on the job and inappropriately giving out prescription-strength medicine. He withdrew from the nomination in late April and denied all allegations. Last June, the Pentagon opened an investigation into Jackson because the allegations were about his time working in the Pentagon.

Covered California asks policymakers for individual mandate, more funding. California lawmakers should re-institute a fine on the uninsured and should pour state funds into paying for private health insurance so that people will pay less for Obamacare coverage, according to a report that Covered California presented to policymakers on Friday. Covered California also wants the state to ask for reinsurance, which would funnel funds into the insurance market to lower premiums, and which would need the sign-off of the Trump administration. Officials at Covered California worked with economists over several months to come up with the requests, which mirror those by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Covered California was given the greenlight by lawmakers to conduct the analysis as part of last year’s budget, under the former governor and at a time when the Trump administration had made several changes to the law nationwide. The report estimates that 750,000 more people in California would get health insurance if all the changes are made by 2021. “Health care is expensive and so is living in California,” Peter Lee, Covered California executive director, said in a statement. “We know that affordability remains a major challenge for many. These options demonstrate that state investments could bring coverage within reach for more people and move us closer to the goal of universal coverage for California.”

Advocates hit Utah lawmakers over actions to roll back Medicaid expansion supported by voters. Utah Decides Healthcare ran a TV ad this weekend urging voters to call state lawmakers so they would reject a move to roll back the Medicaid expansion voters supported under a ballot measure in November. “Utahns are outraged that politicians are striking backroom deals designed to overturn the clear will of the voters,” Andrew Roberts, spokesman for Utahn Decides, said in a statement. “We voted to expand access to healthcare and bring our tax dollars home from Washington, and we won’t settle for a bill that does the opposite.” The plan by lawmakers would expand Medicaid to people making 100 percent of the federal poverty level, rather than those making 138 percent of the federal poverty level as Obamacare establishes. Such a proposal hasn’t moved forward elsewhere and would need the approval of the Trump administration. According to a state fiscal analysis the scaled back version of the expansion is expected to cost $72 million more over the next two years.

19 indicted for ring that brought ‘thousands’ to give birth in US. Nineteen people have been indicted for their roles in an international “birth tourism” ring that brought “thousands” of pregnant women mainly from China to southern California so they could give birth in America and have a U.S. citizen child, according to federal prosecutors. The 17 charges unsealed Thursday marked the first time criminal charges have been filed in federal court in a birth tourism case, the Justice Department said in a news release. The Justice Department said federal and local law enforcement on Thursday arrested three main suspects — Dongyuan Li, Michael Wei Yueh Liu, and Jing Dong — who ran USA Happy Baby, Inc. The three ran birthing and maternity houses where women who had paid between $15,000 and $50,000 each would live before and after the baby was born. The houses were raided in 2015.

RUNDOWN

New York Times Medicare for All emerges as early policy test for 2020 Democrats

Politico How your health information is sold and turned into ‘risk scores’

Washington Post Battle over Virginia abortion measure roils multistate plans by advocates to lock in rights protections

CBS News Bill would eventually make Hawaii first state to ban cigarette sales

Idaho Statesman Idaho Republicans consider restrictions to Medicaid expansion that could delay launch