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Molina CEO considers returning to some Obamacare markets. Molina Healthcare is leaving open the possibility of returning to two Obamacare marketplaces the company left in 2017 after heavy losses. Chief Executive Officer Joseph Zubretsky told investors today that the insurer may resubmit price proposals for Utah and Wisconsin, but is still developing preliminary bids due in June. Molina withdrew from the two states and sought to cut 1,500 jobs after a net loss of $230 million in the second quarter of 2017. “We have decisions to make in Florida and New Mexico,” he said. “The other states are performing well, so there is no reason to believe we wouldn’t still be successful.” Industry experts have warned that premiums costs across all Obamacare plan levels may continue to jump in 2019. The plans start at bronze, with the lowest premium payments and highest treatment costs, and continue through silver, gold and platinum with progressively higher payments and increased coverage.

Maine governor sued for blocking ​Medicaid expansion. Maine Gov. Paul LePage was sued today for not expanding the Medicaid program in the state, after residents passed it during a ballot measure in November. The lawsuit is being led ​in Superior Court by Maine Equal Justice Partners​, an anti-poverty organization. ​LePage, who vetoed five bills that reached his desk to expand Medicaid to low-income people under Obamacare, has said that he won’t pass expansion until the legislature finds a way to pay for the program. The law, passed under the ballot measure, says an expansion plan must head to the federal government by April 3 and that by July 2 the state expansion is supposed to occur. An estimated 70,000 people would be covered under the provision.

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White House on Ronny Jackson: ‘No personnel announcements at this time.’ The White House today pushed back on reports that Dr. Ronny Jackson wouldn’t be returning to his role as President Trump’s doctor after he withdrew himself from consideration to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary. The reports said Dr. Sean Conley, the Naval officer who replaced Jackson as President Trump’s personal doctor, would continue to treat Trump. “Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson is currently on active duty, assigned to the White House as deputy assistant to the president,” said Raj Shah, White House principal deputy press secretary. “Despite published reports, there are no personnel announcements at this time.” Jackson withdrew his VA secretary nomination after unverified reports were made to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee concerning his behavior in previous management positions. The complaints included working drunk on the job and over-prescribing pain sleep and medication. Trump and the White House have defended Jackson in the wake of the allegations. On Saturday, Trump called for Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., the ranking member on the panel who spoke publicly about the accusations, to resign. “The great people of Montana will not stand for this kind of slander when talking of a great human being. Admiral Jackson is the kind of man that those in Montana would most respect and admire, and now, for no reason whatsoever, his reputation has been shattered. Not fair, Tester!” Trump tweeted. During his speech in Michigan later in the day, Trump said: “I know things about Tester that I could say too. And if I said them he’d never be elected again.”

Republicans tarnish Manchin with Mylan layoffs, EpiPen scandal. The Republican National Committee is attacking vulnerable West Virginia Senate Democrat Joe Manchin for accepting donations from drug maker Mylan, which his daughter Heather Bresch heads. The RNC bashed Manchin Thursday after Mylan announced it was laying off 500 people at a plant in West Virginia. Manchin has taken heat before from his opponents over Mylan’s decision a few years ago to jack up the price of allergy drug EpiPen by 500 percent. “Amidst the layoffs and scandals, Mylan has continued to contribute to Manchin’s war chest for his upcoming election,” an RNC bulletin said. “Mylan executives and employees contributed more than $50,000 to Manchin’s campaign in the first quarter of 2018.” Manchin is considered to be one of the most vulnerable senators up for re-election in November, seeking another term in a state that Trump won by 20 percentage points in the 2016 election.

Democrat introduces bill to allow auto-enrollment in Obamacare. A California Democrat has introduced a proposal for Obamacare that Senate Republicans backed within the context of their repeal and replace efforts last year. The legislation from Rep. Ami Bera would allow states to set up programs that automatically enroll people in Obamacare plans or in Medicaid, depending on which programs they qualify for. People would have 60 days to opt out of the health insurance.

Pro-Obamacare group launches web ads blaming Trump administration for Obamacare prices. The pro-Obamacare group Protect Our Care is launching digital ads today that aim to blame the Trump administration and congressional Republicans for premium prices on Obamacare plans.  “From the moment he took office, President Trump has launched attack after attack on our healthcare, and congressional Republicans have been eager to help,” said the group’s campaign director, Brad Woodhouse.

Top Democrat questions CDC chief salary. Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, sent a letter last week to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar asking for more information about whether the agency properly used a special hiring mechanism to bring on Dr. Robert Redfield as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Redfield was hired in March through a provision known as Title 42, which allows government workers to receive higher salaries when they have a particularly valuable area of research they specialize in. Redfield, an expert in HIV/AIDS, makes $375,000 a year, more than his recent predecessors and more than other current officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

Supreme Court agrees to hear case of man on death row with rare medical condition. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving a Missouri man on death row with a rare disease who is challenging the state’s method of execution. The justices stayed the execution of Russell Bucklew, 49, last month pending the court’s decision to consider the case and said Monday they would hear Bucklew’s appeal. Bucklew was scheduled to die by lethal injection March 20. But his lawyers argue that his rare medical condition would cause him to experience “the excruciating pain of prolonged suffocation” in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Bucklew has a tumor in his throat, caused by cavernous hemangioma, that often blocks his airway. Bucklew likely would struggle to breath during the injection procedure, causing the tumor to rupture, his lawyers say.

Illnesses from eating romaine lettuce rise to 98, CDC says. Federal health officials found another 14 cases of sickness linked to contaminated romaine lettuce from Yuma, Ariz., increasing the total to 98 illnesses in 22 states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not change its advisory for consumers to stay away from romaine lettuce grown in Yuma because of the outbreak of E. coli. It also has warned that consumers should not eat romaine if they cannot identify where it came from.

Alfie Evans mourned by Pope Francis. Prominent international figures mourned the death of Alfie Evans on Saturday after the 23-month-old British boy was taken off life support. Evans, who had a terminal illness because of a degenerative brain condition, was taken off life support five days before he died after multiple courts in Britain ruled that keeping him alive was not in his best interest. His parents had drawn the support of Pope Francis and waged a legal battle to take their son to the Vatican children’s hospital for treatment, but doctors in Rome concluded that Evans couldn’t be treated. “I am deeply moved by the death of little Alfie,” Francis tweeted. “Today I pray especially for his parents, as God the Father receives him in his tender embrace.”

FDA chief: Calorie labeling rule could help Americans shed up to five pounds a year. The head of the Food and Drug Administration said a requirement for restaurant chains to post calorie counts would reduce their caloric intake by 30 to 50 calories. “That turns out to be about 3-5 pounds a year that you can lose by having better information,” Gottlieb said in an interview on Fox News on Sunday. He added that the menu labeling requirement is “pro competition” because restaurants “are gonna probably reformulate their foods to make them more healthful. Some consumers are still gonna opt for the high calorie optio but they will know what they are getting.” The menu-labeling rule requires any restaurant with 20 or more locations to post calorie information on food items. The agency extended the compliance date for menu labeling requirements from May 5, 2017, to May 7, 2018.

RUNDOWN

New York Times For cancer centers, proton therapy’s promise is undercut by lagging demand

Axios What Veterans Affairs needs to fix its deeper issues

The Hill Bill Gates: Trump ‘super interested’ in universal flu vaccine

Bloomberg This court battle will decide who will make fortune from gene-editing tech

Politico ‘Who the hell is this person?’ Trump’s Mar-a-Lago pal stymies VA project

Associated Press Drugmakers push back against lawmakers’ calls to tax opioids

Washington Post Miracle cures or modern quackery? Stem cell clinics multiply, with heartbreaking results for some patients