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Will it never end? Crucial emergency funding to fight the spread of the increasingly scary Zika virus, which causes birth defects in unborn babies, has gotten mired in the same tiring partisan fight over contraception and reproductive health that is on endless repeat in Washington. ... Prospects for a compromise appear slim, as there’s only one week left before Congress breaks for nearly two months. Without new funding, top health officials warn, vital preventive measures may have to be cut back. (7/8)

The idea of the public option ― as first sketched out by Jacob Hacker, a Yale political scientist ― is to create a separate, government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers offering coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges. The hope is that this competition can help keep premiums for all the insurance plans low, particularly if the government-run plan has the ability to dictate low reimbursement rates to doctors, hospitals, drugmakers, and other suppliers of medical care. (Jonathan Cohn, 7/9)

We are hearing quite a bit about the transformation of health care, but what does that really mean? If you are Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, it is the complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act. If you are the Democratic front-runner, Hillary Clinton, it is modifying the existing platform. (Andy Carter, 7/11)

The nation's 250-plus safety net hospitals, which serve a disproportionate share of poor and uninsured patients, still face unique challenges. Architects of the Affordable Care Act made the reasonable assumption that expanded health insurance coverage would alleviate much of their uncompensated care burden. The law mandated a gradual reduction in the extra money sent to safety net hospitals for treating a population with greater need for complex care. But the coverage expansion has not played out as planned. (Merrill Goozner, 7/9)

Before they see a doctor, most patients turn to websites and smartphone apps. Caution is advised. Research shows they aren’t very good. A few years ago, doctors from the Mayo Clinic tested the wisdom of online health advice. Their conclusion: It’s risky. According to their study, going online for health advice is more likely to result in getting no advice or incomplete advice than the right advice. (Austin Frakt, 7/11)

Something strange is going on in medicine. Major diseases, like colon cancer, dementia and heart disease, are waning in wealthy countries, and improved diagnosis and treatment cannot fully explain it. Scientists marvel at this good news, a medical mystery of the best sort and one that is often overlooked as advocacy groups emphasize the toll of diseases and the need for more funds. Still, many are puzzled. (Gina Kolata, 7/8)

A congressionally mandated commission offers two views of health care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Care for veterans is “in many ways comparable or better in clinical quality to that generally available in the private sector.” At the same time, VA health care, operated by the department’s Veterans Health Administration (VHA), needs “fundamental, dramatic change — change that requires new direction, new investment, and profound reengineering.” The statements seem to clash, but they both can be true as the 300-page Commission on Care report documents. The point is, no matter how good the care, it could be much better particularly when it comes to access. (Joe Davidson, 7/8)

David Hill's problem wasn’t just that he had suicidal thoughts. The 23-year-old Eastham resident also needed more support than his family could wrangle for him in a state where mental health care hospital beds are hard to come by. Hill’s case figures prominently in the Globe Spotlight Team’s latest investigation, which shows how, as Massachusetts dismantled its psychiatric hospital system over a half-century, patients and their loved ones were left without adequate treatment options. Families like the Hills face a creeping new social Darwinism. Mentally ill citizens and their long-suffering relatives have to fend for themselves. (Dante Ramos, 7/10)

Do antidepressants ease depression and, if so, for whom? In my work as a psychiatrist, I have seen these medications work for people with all levels of depression. But because critics have cast doubt on the worth of antidepressants, I have spent five years combing through the research. One thing I have learned is that the media, consumers, and perhaps even editors of medical journals are more interested in the drugs’ shortcomings than their strengths. (Peter D. Kramer, 7/11)

“Every Woman. Every Time.” That’s a straightforward health mantra for well-woman care, but recently I’ve realized that it extends to children and families in the context of toxic substances. The impacts of well-known chemicals like DDT, asbestos and lead are recognized for their negative impacts on health. But amidst the tens of thousands of chemicals listed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inventory, only a minority have been tested for toxic effects – and only a fraction of those have been evaluated for effects on brain development in children. (Jeanne Conry, 7/10)

Treating narrowed or blocked heart arteries has evolved over the past 40 years. This week, the FDA approved the latest step in that evolution — a stent that dissolves away, leaving nothing behind. Stents are devices that prop open an artery after an angioplasty restores blood flow through a narrowed or blocked artery. Stents have traditionally been tiny cages made of metal that remain forever in the artery. In contrast, the newest one on the market, the Absorb GT1 made by Abbott Vascular, gradually fades away. (Ron Waksman, 7/8)

As a doctor, my number one responsibility is to provide my patients with expert medical advice and prioritize their well-being over anything else. Unfortunately, as a Texan, I know my patients are surrounded by personal injury lawsuit ads that bombard them with misleading information and alarm them about unproven medical risks or threats to their health. (Christine Canterbury, 7/10)

Ecotherapy is a unique variation of psychotherapy, one that employs nature as a co-therapist. Over 30 years of research shows that contact with the natural world enhances physical, mental and spiritual well-being. And when this interaction is intentional, as in ecotherapy, these benefits magnify. Of course, we are increasingly indoor creatures. (Philip Chard, 7/8)