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Saying that “surprise” medical bills for emergency room visits are unfair to patients, Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the practice. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine last month found that many patients around the nation were being hit with big out-of-network bills even though they had taken care to go to hospitals that their insurers considered in-network. Such billing occurred in about 22 percent of visits covered by one large commercial insurance company alone, the study found. (Margot Sanger-Katz and Reed Abelson, 12/3)

On the surface, it looks like every healthcare special interest and their 1,400 lobbyists won an early Christmas present courtesy of the 21st Century Cures Act, which passed the House of Representatives by a whopping 392-26 margin last week and appears headed for Senate passage and enactment. The deeper ramifications of this behemoth bill will only emerge over time. The final details of the 996-page legislation (that's 600 pages longer than the original bill and 90 pages longer than the Affordable Care Act) weren't known until five days before it passed. While there's an old saying in politics that you should hold onto your wallets when the legislature is in session, taxpayers needn't be too concerned. The bill's provisions that captured headlines—new funding for the National Institutes of Health and long overdue attention to mental health and the opioid crisis—offered far less than advertised. (Merill Goozner, 12/3)

Since 1999, the number of deaths attributed to opioid overdoses has nearly quadrupled. In several states, drug overdose has become a leading cause of injury-related death. ... Those on the front lines of this fight have made it clear they need more resources. I heard them, and in February I proposed $1 billion in new investments to address the crisis. ... It will build upon steps we have already taken to expand overdose prevention strategies, improve opioid prescription practices, and ensure more Americans seeking addiction treatment can get the help they so desperately need. Those devastated by the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic cannot wait any longer. They need help now, and we need to help turn the tide of this epidemic. (President Barack Obama, 12/2)

California, thankfully, has never been the epicenter of the country’s opioid epidemic, but even in the state’s agricultural hubs, such as Stanislaus County, the number of people hooked on prescription painkillers and heroin is truly staggering. There, roughly 1,100 are in treatment and 400 more are waiting to get in. The story is the same all over the Central Valley and in the sparsely populated rural north, where many voters picked Donald Trump but never would have been able to afford help curbing their addictions without the Affordable Care Act that the president-elect so detests. (12/4)

Each day thousands of Texas patients see their health care provider for services ranging from the common cold or flu to delivering a new baby to geriatric care to mental health services. And for more and more Texans, it is highly trained and specialized nurses who provide this level of personalized care. Advanced Practice Nurses, or APRNs, perform many of the same duties as a physician, which is good news for our state’s health care provider shortage. The bad news for patients is that our current regulatory climate is restricting the ability of APRNs to practice to the full extent of their licensure and training. (Bill Hammond, 12/4)

D.C. officials have long, and rightly, complained about their inability to tax residents of Maryland and Virginia who work in the city. That these workers essentially get a free ride in city services galls leaders of the District, as does the fact that many other jurisdictions are allowed to impose commuter taxes. So it would seem contradictory — indeed, other words come to mind — that the District would even think about taking $250 million annually in new tax money from District residents to pay a benefit that will largely go to people who live outside the city. That, though, is exactly what will happen if the District presses ahead with a half-baked scheme to provide paid family leave. (12/4)