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Delaware primary shows looming battle among Democrats over ‘Medicare for all.’ Nearly 20-year incumbent Delaware Sen. Tom Carper is fervently working to fend off a progressive primary challenger making Carper’s reluctance to sign on to single-payer a pivotal issue. Kerri Harris, a community organizer and Air Force veteran who is running her first statewide campaign, is attacking Carper from his left flank, and believes that her support for a single-payer “Medicare for all” system is a major advantage for her in the Democratic primary. “I think it is a defining issue,” she recently told the Washington Examiner. “It speaks across demographic lines as well as party lines. It is a unifying issue.” The Delaware battle over “Medicare for all” could play out in similar primary contests across the country this season.

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.

Ann Wagner, Marco Rubio face conservative opposition in extending Social Security to paid family leave. Many Republicans say they back some form of paid leave, but they’re not coalescing around a specific plan. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., unveiled legislation last week that would allow parents to take out Social Security early following a birth or adoption in exchange for delaying retirement — but failed to get any co-sponsors. “We’ve got some work to do,” Rubio acknowledged after rolling out his legislation, the Economic Security for New Parents Act. “I don’t think it’s disagreement on the goal.” Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., was by his side, and will introduce a House version when members return from the summer recess. She said there was “huge interest” in the lower chamber from GOP lawmakers but did not name names.

The plan has certain characteristics that could make it attractive to Republicans who would normally be skeptical of paid leave legislation. It is voluntary, for starters, and does not add taxes or new entitlement programs. Nevertheless, certain outside groups are raising the alarm about the plan. Most of all, they claim that it is a mistake to tap into Social Security, given that its trust funds are expected to run out in 2034.

Hospitals to post prices online under new Trump administration rule. Hospitals will be required to post the prices they charge for surgeries and other medical procedures online under a new Trump administration rule. The rule, finalized Thursday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is part of the Trump administration’s goal toward “value-based care,” which aims to reduce the costs of healthcare while improving outcomes. Officials hope to be able to drive down costs by showing patients more information about what different medical procedures will cost, and at times encourage them to shop around. Previously, CMS only required that hospitals make the information available to anyone who asks for it.

FDA wants more companies to develop medication-assisted treatments for opioid abuse. The Food and Drug Administration wants to get more companies to make drugs that can help treat opioid addiction. The agency sent out new recommendations on Monday for medication-assisted treatment drugs with the goal of approving more of them. The recommendations come as Congress is hoping to expand access to such drugs as a way to combat the opioid epidemic. “The evidence is clear: medication-assisted treatment works, and it is a key piece of defeating the drug crisis facing our country,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. “The FDA’s new guidances have the potential to bring new medications to market that are more closely tailored to patient needs and help give Americans facing addiction a better chance at recovery.” The regulatory guidance documents released by the FDA are meant to make it easier to conduct clinical trials for medication-assisted treatments.

Amgen freezes drug prices, credits Trump. Drugmaker Amgen, which recently said that it won’t raise prices again this year, is giving credit to the Trump administration’s effort to steady the price of drugs. The president has pushed companies to lower prices and issued a promise that many will. Amgen is one of the biggest to act since that promise.

Senate Democrats to meet with Brett Kavanaugh in August. Senate Democrats, after weeks of refusing to meet with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh until a dispute over his record is resolved, have decided to sit down with him when they return from break this month.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will meet with Kavanaugh after the Senate returns from a weeklong recess on Aug. 15. They will “demand the missing documents from him directly and question him about their content,” said a senior Senate Democratic side. They will also question him on healthcare, presidential power, and other issues, the aide said.

Latest data shows 33 dead in Congo from Ebola since May. The latest outbreak of Ebola in Congo is responsible for 33 deaths amid 43 total cases of the deadly virus, according to a new report from the World Health Organization. “The affected areas host over one million displaced people and shares borders with Rwanda and Uganda, with frequent cross border movement due to trade activities,” the report said. “The prolonged humanitarian crisis and deterioration of the security situation is expected to hinder response to this outbreak.”

Not having sex enough? Your TV may be to blame. Maybe “Netflix and chill” isn’t a millennial euphemism for having sex, but actually does refer to binge watching the latest popular show.

That’s at least what a new study circulated Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research appears to suggest. University of Delaware and Reed College economists Adrienne Lucas and Nicholas Wilson find that while owning TV won’t kill your sex life outright, it will affect how often you and your partner get intimate. The findings, which surveyed 4 million people across 80 countries and five continents, suggest people who own a TV are 6 percent less likely on any given week to have had sex.

Protect Our Care releases new ads targeting GOP senators over Kavanaugh. A pro-Obamacare group released a new wave of ads Monday targeting GOP senators to get them to oppose Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  The group, Protect Our Care, introduced TV and digital ads targeting Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine. The ads charge that confirmation of Kavanaugh could lead to the end of Obamacare’s pre-existing condition protections.  “With Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, the future of Americans’ health care for generations is once again coming down to the vote of just a handful of Senators,” Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, said in a statement. Critics have said that if Kavanaugh is confirmed to the court, he could side with Texas and 19 other states in a lawsuit charging that the entirety of Obamacare should be struck down because the financial penalty for its individual mandate will be zeroed out in 2019. The digital and TV ads urge constituents to call the targeted senators to oppose Kavanaugh. The group is also airing radio ads in Alaska.

RUNDOWN

Axios Republicans eye another ACA repeal vote if midterms go their way

The Hill Plastic surgeons say more patients coming in with ‘Snapchat dysmorphia’

Reuters FDA declines to approve Pain Therapeutics’ abuse-deterrent opioid drug

Associated Press Hospital system pays $65 million to settle Medicare billing claims

Washington Post Trump promised to fix veterans’ problems. Now they call his hotline desperate for help

STAT News Gawande says health venture is not seeking profits. But whose bottom line will it benefit?

Politico Single-payer, once shunned, makes a comeback in Colorado’s governor race