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Remember the debate over the Obama administration’s contraception mandate, the requirement for employer-provided health benefit plans to include free birth control coverage? ... A short-handed court threw up its hands and put the best minimalist face it could on a dispute evidently beyond its institutional capacity to resolve. Although the outcome was ambiguous to say the least, the religious organizations that had sued for an exemption from the mandate were quick to declare victory. ... Not quite so fast — maybe. It’s just possible that the Supreme Court’s post-Scalia deadlock has given the administration the opportunity it needs to lift the verbal fog. (Linda Greenhouse, 9/14)

Back at the start of this year, Republican leaders were full of promises that Congress could overcome inaction and partisan stalemate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said, “Some thought the Senate could never be cured of its dysfunction and its gridlock. . . . We believed the Senate could be restored to a place of high purpose again.” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) declared, “We need to raise our gaze.” Well, gentlemen, it is now September, a dangerous virus has hit U.S. shores, and all Congress has contributed so far is bickering. Definitely time to raise your gaze — and do something constructive. (9/14)

In Michael Fielding’s line of work, you have to think and act fast. Fielding works in the population health section of the Columbus Public Health department. By the time central Ohioans hear about a health crisis like the Zika virus, he and his colleagues already are hustling to get out in front of it. ... But if local health departments are, by necessity, 11-speed road bikes in the race to beat Zika, Congress lazes at the back of the pack, clunking along in a single gear on under-inflated tires while dreaming of other races, most likely the kind that always end in November. (Theodore Decker, 9/15)

The details left many left-of-center think tanks, women's groups and child-care advocates cold. They complained, for example, that Trump's plan would only allow mothers paid leave from work, not fathers, possibly widening the gender-pay gap and signaling that women are solely responsible for staying home to care for newborns (read: forgoing salaries and career advancement). They also criticized Trump for not doing enough for low-income families and for failing to say how he'd pay for it all. They're right on all scores. But the bigger picture is of a Republican presidential nominee proposing a new entitlement program for working mothers, a new tax deduction for middle-class parents and decent improvements on an existing tax credit for the working poor. (Paula Dwyer, 9/14)

Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka promised during the Republican National Convention that her father would offer more help to working families, and this week the elder Trump laid out more of the specifics: six weeks of paid maternity leave for new mothers and a new approach to tax breaks for child-care expenses. Perhaps the best that can be said is that it’s refreshing to see a Republican presidential candidate advocate for federal paid family leave policies and financial assistance to help working parents afford the tremendous costs of raising children. The plan itself? Like so much of what Trump has said during the campaign, the proposal falls short on details, including how to pay for these new benefits, and it’s woefully out of touch with the needs of many families. (9/15)

It’s no secret that our health care system is undergoing transformational change. We are proving that the traditional mode of thinking — that lowering costs would adversely impact health — is simply wrong. Driven by policy and technology, our government, the private sector, and everyday citizens are upending an outdated, inefficient system that performs poorly and deprives millions of Americans access to the care they need, yet costs more than that of other developed nations. Amid all the gridlock in Washington, there’s one thing everyone can agree on: We need new ways of delivering health care that are high performance, high value and provide quality care for all. (Tom Daschle, 9/15)

The adult population of the United States will soon have a different primary care experience than we’ve been used to. In the primary care practice of the future, the physician’s role will increasingly be played by nurse practitioners (NPs). In addition, the 150 million adults with one or more chronic conditions will receive some of their care from registered nurses (RNs) functioning as care managers. (Thomas Bodenheimer and Laurie Bauer, 9/15)

Among the seven states where the Census Bureau found that more than 12 percent of people still didn’t have coverage last year, six were states that rejected the Medicaid expansion. The three biggest holdouts are Florida, Georgia and Texas. Two of the others are also in the South, in which Republicans dominate. ... The result is a disparity in how many people have insurance, from state to state. And although that disparity existed even before Obamacare, for a variety of reasons, now the disparity is getting wider, as analysts at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities noted on Tuesday. (Jonathan Cohn, 9/13)

On November 8, most eyes will be on the historic presidential contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. But the pharmaceutical industry will be focusing on another vote: Proposition 61, a California public referendum that could become the first initiative to truly draw blood from drug makers, which have largely refused to change their pricing habits despite an ongoing political firestorm over the issue. (Sy Mukherjee, 9/14)

Sorry ladies and new parents, but California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed bills that would exempt diapers and tampons from sales tax. Those bills were among seven bills that got the gubernatorial ax because they gave tax breaks that Brown said would have collectively sucked about $300 million out of the state’s budget. I’m not going to be popular with my female friends or family for saying this (especially my sisters who have four boys in diapers among them), but it was the right thing to do. (Mariel Garza, 9/13)