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I’m a big fan of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the vital mission it has been performing since 1962: ensuring that all medications sold in the United States are both safe and effective. Everyone should want the FDA to succeed — now and in the future — because, without a strong FDA, being sick would be massively more horrible than it already is. But, although a fan, I think the FDA should change course. Specifically, the FDA should adjudicate new drug applications with a Consumer Reports approach, not its current approach, which copies Roman emperors who signaled a gladiator’s fate with either a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, and no other choice. (John Sotos, 6/29)

Earlier this year, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) delivered on a key campaign promise and made his state the 31st in the nation to adopt Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act. ... The question now is whether the number of Medicaid-expansion states will grow or shrink. South Dakota was one of a handful of states considering the policy, but Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) couldn’t overcome opposition from his own party. And then there’s Kentucky, which was celebrated as a national model for ACA success, right up until Gov. Matt Bevin (R) was elected. (Steve Benen, 6/29)

In the six years since the Affordable Care Act became law, Republicans in the U.S. House have voted dozens of times to repeal or dismantle it. Not once have they voted on legislation to replace it. Last week party leaders finally unveiled a 37-page blueprint of their alternative reforms. Written by a task force appointed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, the proposal is the fifth installment in a six-part “better way” agenda being rolled out by Republicans. It certainly does chart a new direction on health care for the country: Going backwards. The goal seems to be returning to a time when universal access to comprehensive health insurance didn’t exist. (6/29)

State leaders would gain enormous freedom to reshape their Medicaid programs under the new House Republican healthcare plan (PDF) to repeal and replace Obamacare. But that freedom likely would come at the price of a big loss of federal dollars, reduced coverage for their residents, and less money to pay providers. (Harris Meyer, 6/28)

Insurers helped cheerlead the creation of Obamacare, with plenty of encouragement – and pressure – from Democrats and the Obama administration. As long as the Affordable Care Act included an individual mandate that forced Americans to buy its product, insurers offered political cover for the government takeover of the individual-plan marketplaces. ... Six years later, those dreams have failed to materialize. Now some insurers want taxpayers to provide them the profits to which they feel entitled -- not through superior products and services, but through lawsuits. (Edward Morrissey, 6/30)

In late February, the White House asked Congress for $1.9 billion in emergency money to stem the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which at the time had been tentatively linked to birth defects in South America. Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has concluded that the virus does cause birth defects, including microcephaly. More than 2,600 people in American states and territories have been diagnosed with Zika. As of June 16, federal health officials were tracking 481 cases of pregnant women who appeared to be infected. (6/30)

On Tuesday, a woman gave birth to Florida’s first baby born with the now well-known birth defect associated with Zika. The mom, a citizen of Haiti, was infected outside of the United States, but her infant was born here with the abnormally small head that signals brain damage. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate failed to pass long-overdue legislation to fight Zika with a $1.1 billion infusion that very same day. (6/29)

Here’s how to protect yourself from Zika right now: Wear long sleeves, use EPA-approved repellent, and get rid of containers that can become mosquito breeding grounds. Self-protection basics and additional tips you can find at http://news.ifas.ufl.edu/2016/06/ufifas-expert-has-five-tips-to-reduce-mosquitoes-around-your-home/ from the University of Florida come from decades of public scientists’ focus on the world’s deadliest animal. (Jack Payne, 6/29)

In a United States Senate bitterly divided along partisan lines, senators have come together on not one but two points of rare agreement: First, members of the Senate Finance Committee all agree that Medicare drug costs must be brought under control. Second, they tacitly agreed during a hearing on Tuesday, nobody wants to take the political risk of implementing a major change that might actually help reduce spending. The hearing was meant to examine a proposal by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reduce the amount it reimburses healthcare providers for medicines, in part to eliminate a perverse incentive that could encourage doctors to prescribe more expensive medicines rather than cheaper alternatives that are just as effective. (Rob Garver, 6/29)

In March of this year, the Executive Council voted to accept the receipt of a donation of 171 naloxone, or Narcan, kits for use in each one of our high schools, and some school districts such as Manchester and Nashua have decided to accept these kits. The New Hampshire School Nurses Association has endorsed this program and school nurses and first-responders are trained to administer this overdose-reversing drug and are legally permitted to do so thanks to recent legislative action and the governor’s signature. (Joshua Bourdon, 6/30)

Police officers see a lot of tragedy, but they must feel particularly helpless as they watch Ohio’s opioid epidemic killing so many young people. The scourge reaches from rural communities to affluent suburbs and poor urban neighborhoods. Because seconds count when someone has overdosed, Columbus police are stocking cruisers in targeted areas with an antidote: Naloxone, known best by the brand name Narcan, can help an overdose victim breathe again by blocking the effects of opiates, such as heroin. (6/30)

For half a century, Planned Parenthood has been there for people in New Hampshire, no matter what. Every year, it provides care to almost 13,000 people who need access to services like counseling, contraception, and family planning. Many of these patients cannot afford to go anywhere else. Others choose the organization because it’s the provider they know and trust. (Hillary Clinton, 6/29)