Committee indefinitely delays confirmation hearing for Trump VA pick…White House stands by him. White House physician Ronny Jackson maintains President Trump’s support to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, the White House said Tuesday, hours after the Senate indefinitely delayed Jackson’s confirmation hearing because of damaging allegations about his drinking habits and accusations that he improperly handed out medication. “Admiral Jackson has been on the front lines of deadly combat and saved the lives of many others in service to this country,” deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “He’s served as the physician to three presidents – Republican and Democrat – and been praised by them all. Admiral Jackson’s record of strong, decisive leadership is exactly what’s needed at the VA to ensure our veterans receive the benefits they deserve.” Jackson was due to appear before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Wednesday to field questions about his ability to lead the second-largest Cabinet agency, which lawmakers have long viewed as one of the least efficient and most corrupt executive departments. Sen. Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the committee, requested the hearing be pushed back to investigate the allegations. Jackson had been facing criticism for his glowing review of Trump’s health in January and his lack of management experience.

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HELP Committee advances opioid legislation. A key Senate committee unanimously advanced a wide-ranging bill aimed at tackling the opioid epidemic. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted Tuesday to advance the Opioid Crisis Response Act, a compilation of 40 proposals from members of both parties. The bill includes provisions to reduce illegal drug trafficking, limit the number of pain relievers doctors can prescribe, and channel research toward finding non-addictive pain medication. The committee voted down an amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to penalize drugmakers found to be accountable in causing opioid addiction of prescription painkillers because they falsely marketing their products as non-addictive.

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More healthcare bills advance unanimously. Other bills that advanced this morning include the Over-the-Counter Drug Safety, Innovation, and Reform Act, which was introduced by Sens. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Bob Casey, D-Pa. The bill would overhaul the way that over-the-counter medicines are regulated and brought to the market. It would for the first time allow the Food and Drug Administration to collect user fees on over-the-counter drugs, which proponents say would encourage the development of new products and cause new medicines to come to market faster. Casey and Isakson are behind another bill also approved, the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize a hospital graduate medical education program for pediatricians for five years. The legislation was enacted in 1999 and provides funding to more than 50 children’s hospitals. The committee also advanced the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act, which would create a national registry for firefighters who have been diagnosed with cancer. Research shows that firefighters, who are exposed to harmful toxins in their work, have an increased risk for several types of cancer, including testicular, stomach, and brain cancers. The legislation was introduced by Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Robert Menendez, D-N.J.

Congress angry about inferior treatment for opioid abuse. Congress is growing impatient with the Trump administration for not cracking down on insurers that don’t offer affordable mental health and substance abuse coverage. A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently called for the administration to do a better job of enforcing parity for mental health and substance abuse treatment, as required under the Mental Health Parity Act passed in 1996. For instance, the law requires that insurance coverage for visiting a therapist must be the same as going to a doctor for treating a chronic condition. The 21st Century Cures Act, passed in 2016, required several federal agencies to issue guidance for insurers by December 2017 on how to comply with the requirements and to create action plans on better enforcement. But the lawmakers are upset that the Trump administration hasn’t met those requirements and wrote to the heads of HHS as well as the departments of Labor, and Treasury last week urging action. Read more in this week’s magazine.

Poll finds public doesn’t want to cut Medicaid. Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling found that 66 percent of voters don’t want to cut Medicaid, while 19 percent support the cuts. The results released Tuesday comes as Democrats aim to hammer Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections for pushing cuts to Medicaid as part of their efforts to repeal Obamacare. The poll found that 74 percent of Democrats and independents oppose cuts and 49 percent of Republicans oppose them. Only 34 percent of Republicans want to cut the program, according to the poll. A slight majority of voters (52 percent) want to expand Medicaid compared with 35 percent who do not. Many voters want to keep the Affordable Care Act, with 66 percent wanting to keep what works and fix what does not and 29 percent wanting to repeal it and start over. The poll was based on interviews with 741 registered voters and has a margin of error of 2.1 percentage points. The pole was conducted for the pro-Obamacare group Protect Our Care and the Service Employees International Union.

Healthcare groups plea with Trump administration to nix short-term plans. A wide array of doctor, insurer and other major healthcare groups pleaded with the Trump administration to nix plans to expand short-term insurance plans. But outside conservative groups said the plans are an escape hatch from Obamacare. Healthcare groups said in comments to the proposed regulation, which were due Monday, the plans are no better than “junk insurance” that erode patient protections. The regulation would expand the duration of the short-term plans from 90 days to nearly 12 months. Short-term plans do not have to abide by the same requirements as plans sold on Obamacare’s exchanges, including covering essential health benefits and not charging sick people more money. Bypassing such patient protections is exactly what healthcare groups are worried about. The top doctor’s group in Washington, the American Medical Association, said in comments the proposed rule would result in “substandard, inadequate health insurance coverage.” A collection of 21 patient groups, including the AMA and the Cancer Society, sent a letter Monday to Trump administration officials demanding the rule be pulled.

Koch-backed groups are pushing for the rule, though. Proponents of the rule said it is integral to giving affordable options for people on Obamacare who are stuck paying double-digit premiums. “These plans offer much-needed choice to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who continue to feel trapped between paying skyrocketing costs and dropping health insurance coverage altogether,” said Nathan Nascimento, executive vice president of the Koch Brothers-backed Freedom Partners. Other Koch-backed groups Americans for Prosperity, Generation Opportunity, and LIBRE Initiative filed comments in favor of the proposed rule alongside Freedom Partners. “Short-term, limited-duration insurance plans fill an essential hole in the healthcare market created by the restrictions and barriers of Obamacare,” said Brent Gardner, Americans for Prosperity’s chief government affairs officer.

FDA cracks down on e-cigarette sales to minors. The Food and Drug Administration has cited 40 retailers for selling e-cigarettes to minors as part of a major blitz to prevent sales to kids. The agency announced Tuesday it sent warnings to the 40 retailers that sold JUUL brand e-cigarettes to minors. The warning letters call for the retailer to stop sales or else face major fines or even having its license pulled to sell any tobacco products. The FDA also announced a “large-scale, undercover nationwide blitz” to crack down on sales to minors at both brick and mortar stores and online retailers. The crackdown is focusing on the JUUL brand, which is a small pod about three inches long. The agency is concerned that the products are hard for parents or teachers to recognize or detect.  

CDC chief nets higher salary than predecessors, other health agency officials. Dr. Robert Redfield is making $375,000 as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an Associated Press report. Redfield, a leading expert in HIV/AIDS, is being paid under a salary program called Title 42, which was established to attract health scientists with rare and critical skills to government work. Hundreds of such employees are at the CDC and at the National Institutes of Health. Redfield’s salary is nearly twice that of Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, who made $197,300 and who held the post for six months before stepping down amid questions about her financial investments. The amount is also higher than the $199,700 salary of Alex Azar, who runs HHS, which oversees health agencies including the CDC.

Wounded veteran receives first penis, scrotum transplant. Surgeons at Johns Hopkins have performed the first penis and scrotum transplant in the world on a U.S. veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan. The procedure involved nine plastic surgeons and two urological surgeons. The surgery lasted 14 hours and was conducted March 26. The patient is expected to be released from the hospital this week.

RUNDOWN

The Hill Senate panel to vote next month on maternal mortality bill

Axios The latest on Amazon, Berkshire and JP Morgan’s healthcare company

STAT News DEA plan to stem the supply of prescription drugs draws skepticism

Politico Legal marijuana’s big moment

Forbes Advanced hackers infect x-ray machines in healthcare espionage

Healthcare Dive Court allows class-action CSR lawsuit

Associated Press Opioid treatment gap in Medicare: methadone clinics

Kaiser Health News 4 new ways to avoid fines for not having health insurance