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Supreme Court sides with anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers Tuesday, saying a California law that requires anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide patients with notices disclosing information about state-provided abortion and family-planning services is unconstitutional. The court split 5-4 along ideological lines in the case, which sat at the intersection of free speech and abortion. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Anthony Kennedy were in the majority. Tuesday’s ruling from the Supreme Court could affect similar laws enacted in other states, including Hawaii and Illinois. With the court’s decision, a ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was reversed. The key question in the case was whether the Reproductive FACT Act, signed by California’s Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown in 2015, violated the free speech rights of anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers.

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.

Azar grilled over fate of migrant minors in HHS care. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday faced tough questions from senators on President Trump’s border policy, saying parents whose children were separated from them at the border should be able to reunite with them. Azar, whose agency oversees care for the separated youths, told members of the Senate Finance Committee that more than 2,300 children have been separated at the border from their parents under Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy to detain all illegal immigrants. He said of the 2,300 minors, 247 have been united with other family members in the U.S. He added that the parents remain in detention, so HHS cannot reunite them with their children. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked how many parents have been told where their child is. Azar responded that every parent has access to information to find their child. He said the agency’s Office of Refugee Resettlement’s database can show where the child is, and they can use a hotline and have access to case managers to help parents learn the location of their child.

Azar hopes for good news from drug companies on prices next week. Many Democrats on the committee pivoted to asking Azar about high drug prices and the Trump administration’s blueprint to lower them, the focus of the hearing. He rattled off several actions the administration has made to combat prices, including naming companies that are blocking generic drug competition. But Azar said he was “disappointed” that several drug companies raised prices after President Trump’s speech in May outlining the blueprint. He added that July 1 is traditionally the time when companies release price increases, and he hopes that things will be different by next week.

McCaskill says Obamacare stabilization bill could get 60 votes. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., blamed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for blocking a bill aiming to stabilize Obamacare’s exchanges. McCaskill, one of the most vulnerable Democrats seeking reelection, said during the Senate Finance Committee hearing that if that bill was put on the floor, it would get more than 60 votes, but McConnell hasn’t done so. “Those bills are sitting there and they have votes,” McCaskill said, referring to two bills that would fund insurer payments called cost-sharing reduction payments and reinsurance to cover the highest claims from insurers. Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, interrupted McCaskill to say that McConnell tried to insert the legislation into the March omnibus but Democrats blocked it. Hatch is correct as bipartisan talks over the legislation broke down due to a disagreement on adding a requirement that none of the new funding would go to cover abortions. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., tried to add it to the omnibus, but Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who had been working with Republicans on the bill, objected to it and the legislation has died. McCaskill said she didn’t know about Democratic objections but believes the legislation should be brought to the floor anyway. “I can’t imagine there is any Democrat who would vote against that,” she said.

Senate Democrats call White House drug prices plan much too thin. ​Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee released a report Tuesday outlining the drivers of high drug costs and how the Trump administration’s blueprint to combat the problem is inadequate. The report notes that the administration’s blueprint, issued last month, has some encouraging policies such as combating “gag rules” that prevent pharmacists from informing a consumer when it is cheaper to buy a drug with cash than through insurance. But the blueprint’s policies “are not sufficient to reduce costs significantly for Americans. Few of the administration’s proposals seek to meaningfully limit drugmakers’ ability to set or raise list prices with impunity.” It added that most of the plan is simply a request for information seeking public comment on ideas to tackle high prices. “In light of the thinness of the president’s blueprint, it does not appear that this administration is willing to make the fundamental changes necessary to fix this otherwise broken system,” the report says.

San Francisco first city to ban e-cigarette flavors. San Francisco became the first city in the country to ban the flavored liquids used in e-cigarettes, unwilling to wait for the Food and Drug Administration to take federal action. And New York state is not far behind. San Francisco voters approved a ban on liquids that come in flavors such as cotton candy and cookies and cream, while New York’s state legislature is considering a similar ban. Activists and lawmakers say flavored e-liquids can entice minors to take up e-cigarettes. The push for local bans comes as Congress is demanding the FDA do more to crack down on use of e-cigarettes among minors.  Read more in the Washington Examiner magazine.

FDA approves chemical in marijuana to treat seizures. A chemical derived from marijuana has become the first of its kind to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration and will be delivered to patients suffering from epilepsy in the form of a strawberry-flavored syrup. The FDA announced Monday that it had approved the drug, cannabidiol, which is one of 80 active chemicals in marijuana, to treat seizures from epilepsy. It is the first time the agency has approved a purified drug substance that comes from marijuana. The drug, which is formally known as Epidiolex, will be allowed to be prescribed to infants as young as age 2 for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, two rare and severe forms of epilepsy. It is made by GW Pharmaceuticals, a company based in the United Kingdom.

Maine governor suggests tax on hospitals to pay for Medicaid expansion. Republican Gov. Paul LePage is proposing to add a tax on hospitals to pay for Medicaid expansion in Maine, according to the Associated Press. The expansion had been voted into law through a ballot measure and is mired in a legal battle because LePage has said he would not expand the program unless lawmakers find a way to pay for it. He had previously said he would not increase taxes, but several other states have funded their expansions with hospital taxes, while others have taxed insurers.

Cocaine production jumped 19 percent in 2017. Production of cocaine soared in Colombia in 2017, partly because of rising demand in the United States, according to the White House. The White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy released a report Monday that said production of pure cocaine rose 19 percent from 772 metric tons in 2016 to 921 tons in 2017. It also said Colombian coca cultivation hit a record high after rising 11 percent from 188,000 hectares in 2016 to 209,000 hectares last year. Total production of pure cocaine in Colombia has increased by nearly three times since 2013, when 320 metric tons were produced, the report said.

Walgreens pharmacist declines to fill prescription to end pregnancy for Arizona woman about to miscarry. A Walgreens pharmacist declined to fill a pregnancy-terminating drug for an Arizona woman who learned she was about to miscarry, due to his moral views. Nicole Arteaga found out last week during a 10-week ultrasound that the fetus inside her had no heartbeat and was not going to continue developing. As a result, her doctor told her she could have a surgical procedure or take prescription medication. According to Arteaga, a pharmacist at Walgreens cited his “ethics” as the reason for not filling the prescription. Eventually, Arteaga said that the pharmacist said he would move the prescription to a different Walgreens. Walgreens confirmed that the incident occurred to NBC News and said that its policy allows pharmacists to refuse filling a prescription due to moral views. “It’s important to note in that situation, the pharmacist also is required to refer the prescription to another pharmacist or manager on duty to meet the patient’s needs in a timely manner,” Walgreens added in a statement. Arizona is one of six states that permits pharmacists to decline filling prescriptions due to moral or religious beliefs, according to the National Women’s Law Center. Walgreens said pharmacists will undergo additional training on how to respond to these situations.

In times of crisis, Red Cross fills in the government’s gaps. The government and its private-sector partners are preparing for worst-case scenario relief efforts as the U.S. moves into hurricane season, especially after last year’s storms pounded Houston, Puerto Rico and the Florida Keys. During these times and throughout the year, the American Red Cross has been a partner with the government by providing shelter, volunteers, and blood drives, filling needs that would otherwise go unmet. The organization also has taken on the cause to reduce house fires, and has historically helped military families in times of crisis. President and CEO Gail McGovern has been overseeing these efforts for a decade, helping the organization through a changing environment in which fewer people are donating blood and as technology has transformed the way the country responds to disasters. Read her interview in the latest edition of our weekly magazine.

Republican: HHS failed to connect conference call, so ‘I’m concerned with their ability of connecting kids.’ Republican Rep. Will Hurd says he is concerned about HHS’s ability to handle children separated from their families at the border because the agency’s phone number didn’t work during a conference call. “We were supposed to have a conference call yesterday with members of Congress and their staff to talk about this process and the phone number didn’t work, so if they can’t do that with us, then I’m concerned with their ability of connecting kids,” the Texas Republican said. Hurd expressed concerns that immigrant children are not being reunited with their families as quickly as they should be. “We are still operating under the Florence settlement that says that the government can’t hold kids for more than 20 days, so we may not be separating families at the border, but when they have them in custody, that means HHS or potentially DOJ might be taking these families after those 20 days if we don’t figure out an alternative,” he said.

RUNDOWN

ProPublica FDA repays industry by rushing risky drugs to market

Wall Street Journal GE to spin off healthcare business in latest revamp

Axios How one lawsuit could upend home medication delivery

The Hill Defying predictions, Obamacare insurers see boom times ahead

Kaiser Health News Thinking about an association health plan? Read the fine print

Bloomberg Sky-high deductibles broke the U.S. health insurance system

Associated Press Pharmacist denies woman miscarriage drug on moral grounds

Columbus Dispatch Cost of opioid addiction stretching Medicaid safety net