SIGN UP! If you’d like to continue receiving Washington Examiner’s Daily on Healthcare newsletter, SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://newsletters.washingtonexaminer.com/newsletter/daily-on-healthcare/

Exclusive: Here are details of new plan to revive Obamacare repeal. A group of more than 40 right-of-center healthcare experts led by the Heritage Foundation is expected to release recommendations to Congress next month on a new plan to overhaul Obamacare. The recommendation would convert Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion and insurance subsidies into a system of block grants to the states, according to a source familiar with the plan, with the exact growth formula to be determined by Congress. But, unlike previous Republican healthcare plans, it would not make changes to the funding or structure of traditional Medicaid. The plan would allow states that get the block grant to waive rules requiring plans to have essential health benefits and to maintain a single risk pool and it would give more leeway to insurers to charge more based on age. States that waive the requirements would have to include another program to make sure those with serious conditions could get coverage, such as invisible risk sharing or high risk pools. The group said it was open to reforms to traditional Medicaid that had been part of previous plans, such as converting traditional Medicaid funding to a per capita cap or a block grant aimed at curbing growth of the program and giving more flexibility to states. But those reforms are not in the opening proposal as the group works with allies on Capitol Hill to garner support for another healthcare reform push, with one source telling the Washington Examiner that nobody has told them “hell no” on the recommendation. Any bill could have a steep climb in the Senate, where due to the loss of the Alabama Senate seat, Republicans have at least one less vote than they did the last time a healthcare bill failed to win a majority (not including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has been away as he undergoes treatment for brain cancer). That means that they are unlikely to get something done even if Republicans manage to pass a budget resolution with reconciliation language allowing them to pass a healthcare bill with 50 votes (plus Vice President Mike Pence as the tiebreaker).

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.

Democratic Louisiana governor signs 15-week abortion ban. Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed into law Wednesday a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks. Louisiana became one of 20 states to enact the 15-week ban, but it will have to survive any potential legal challenge. The anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List made a point of congratulating Edwards, who is an abortion rights Democrat, for his signature. “Louisiana is leading the way in the bipartisan effort to bring our nation’s laws into line with basic human decency,” the group said. Mississippi also adopted a 15-week abortion ban this year, but a federal court put that ban on hold while it faces a legal challenge from the state’s lone abortion clinic. Iowa went a step further by adopting a six-week abortion ban. The local Planned Parenthood affiliate has vowed to fight the ban in court.

Virginia on path to become 33rd state to expand Medicaid. Virginia’s state legislature has adopted a budget that includes expanding Medicaid under Obamacare to 400,000 low-income residents. The budget deal passed on Wednesday now goes to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who pushed for the expansion. The provision, created under Obamacare, will allow people who make less than roughly $16,643 a year to enroll in Medicaid, a health insurance program the government pays for. Residents will be allowed to start signing up for the program beginning Jan. 1. The Medicaid compromise includes establishing work requirements and mandating some beneficiaries contribute to premiums. Other than Virginia, the District of Columbia and 32 other states have moved to expand Medicaid. Maine voters passed a ballot measure last year that expands it, but Republican Gov Paul LePage has blocked the move.

New Jersey reinstates penalty for going uninsured. Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law Wednesday that brings back the individual mandate, the unpopular provision in Obamacare that requires most people to buy health insurance or pay a fine. Beginning in 2019 in most states, the fine will zero out because of a provision in the Republican tax bill signed into law in December by President Trump. The fine from New Jersey will take hold beginning Jan. 1. The only other state with a mandate is Massachusetts, which passed in 2006, years before Obamacare was made law. Under the New Jersey plan, the money for the fine goes into a pool that helps pay medical claims of people who are very ill. New Jersey expects that $90 million to $100 million in penalties will be collected.

Doctors reduce opioid prescribing: Study. Doctors have reduced the prescribing of opioid painkillers for the fifth year in a row, the nation’s largest physician group has announced. The American Medical Association found that between 2013 and 2017, the number of opioid prescriptions fell by more than 55 million, a 22.2 percent drop. Doctors also became more likely to use the prescription drug monitoring program. The findings, detailed in a report from the AMA, show that in 2017 doctors and other medical providers used the databases more than 300.4 million times, a 121 percent increase from 2016. Physicians also became more likely to be involved in overdose prevention and treatment. Doctors increased the prescribing of naloxone, a drug used to reverse an opioid overdose, from 3,500 to 8,000 a week. The upward trend appears to continue in 2018, with weekly prescriptions at. 11,600.

Trump teases big announcement of voluntary drops in drug prices. Trump said Wednesday that some big companies in two weeks will announce voluntary massive drops in prices. Trump said during the bill signing for the Right to Try Act that we are “seeing a tremendous improvement” in the cost of prescription drugs since he announced his blueprint to ease drug prices. But Trump did not identify which companies would reduce prices or by how much. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Wednesday dodged a question about what Trump meant, saying only that more policy ideas on drug prices could be announced in the coming weeks.

Groups sue Pentagon to keep HIV-positive troops. Two rights groups have filed lawsuits against the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis aimed at blocking the military from potentially kicking out HIV-positive troops who cannot deploy overseas. A lawsuit filed in a Virginia federal district on Wednesday focuses on Army Sgt. Nick Harrison, who wants to join the Judge Advocate General Corps with the D.C. National Guard, but was turned away because he is HIV-positive. A second suit represents an anonymous HIV-positive plaintiff who was denied an officer commission after attending the Air Force Academy, according to Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN. But the cases could have wider repercussions as the Pentagon weighs a new “Deploy or Get Out” policy that would force the separation of any service members who are unable to deploy overseas or to war zones for 12 months or more.

Texas governor announces plan addressing mental health to curb school shootings. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas announced 40 recommendations to enhance school safety as part of a School and Firearm Safety Action Plan on Wednesday, a move that comes after a school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, this month. The plan will enhance campus security programs, bolster firearm safety, and support mental health assessments to help determine if students could harm others.

Melania Trump shuts down media speculation about her health. First lady Melania Trump, who has not been seen in public since May 10, responded to rampant speculation about her health Wednesday, saying she is at the White House. Conjecture has swirled about Trump’s whereabouts since she had surgery May 14 for a “benign kidney condition.” She stayed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for five days to recover before returning to the White House. “I see the media is working overtime speculating where I am & what I’m doing,” she tweeted Wednesday. “Rest assured, I’m here at the @WhiteHouse w my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people!” Amid her hospital stay, numerous doctors were quoted in news reports questioning the length of her hospitalization for a procedure they said typically warranted a one-day stay. The White House has released little information about Trump’s kidney condition, asking the media to respect her privacy.

RUNDOWN

Politico Trump’s drug price comments appear to catch industry off guard

Axios Employers say Trump administration enforcing ACA too aggressively

Buzzfeed Triclosan, chemical found in hand sanitizers and cookware, linked to gut problems in new study

NPR For some hard-to-find tumors, doctors see promise of artificial intelligence

Wall Street Journal Driving-fatality tests find opioid, pot use rising

New York Times U.S. struggles to stop smuggling of mail-order opioids

Reuters In China, industry pushback snubs out anti-smoking gains