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Many people in the United States doubt that the Supreme Court can rule fairly in the latest litigation jeopardizing President Barack Obama's health care law.The Associated Press-GfK poll finds only 1 person in 10 is highly confident that the justices will rely on objective interpretations of the law rather than their personal opinions. Nearly half, 48 percent, are not confident of the court's impartiality. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Swanson, 5/9)

Americans with health insurance under Obamacare, including Republicans, are generally satisfied with it, a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll found, posing a quandary for Republican politicians who have long vowed to repeal it. President Barack Obama's signature policy, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, was opposed by 53 percent of almost 21,000 Americans surveyed, and favored by 47 percent. (Holland and Cornwell, 5/8)

Democrats are chiding Republican leaders in Congress as standing in the way of improvements to ObamaCare that enjoy bipartisan support. More than a half-dozen proposed changes to the law boast approval from at least some Democrats, including legislation to repeal a controversial cost-cutting board for Medicare, which gained its 218th cosponsor this week. (Ferris, 5/11)

The White House is moving to address two of the most common consumer complaints about the sale of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act: that doctor directories are inaccurate, and that patients are hit with unexpected bills for costs not covered by insurance. Federal health officials said this week that they would require insurers to update and correct “provider directories” at least once a month, with financial penalties for insurers that failed to do so. In addition, they hope to provide an “out-of-pocket cost calculator” to estimate the total annual cost under a given health insurance plan. (Pear, 5/8)

The Internal Revenue Service—tasked with playing a key role in implementing Obamacare—isn’t doing a sufficient job helping confused taxpayers navigate the new law regarding their taxes. That’s according to a new report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released Friday, which criticizes the IRS for not providing sufficient assistance to Obamacare enrollees who received subsidies for their health care this year. (Ehley, 5/8)

With less than one month to go until the Supreme Court issues a ruling in King v. Burwell -- the case that could dismantle Obamacare -- some states are preparing contingency plans to avert a disaster if the court strikes down access to federally subsidized health care for their residents. ... As the court case looms, state lawmakers are considering setting up their own exchanges or using workarounds to assure that their residents who are enrolled in health coverage on the exchange can continue receiving federal subsidies. Nearly 87 percent of all Obamacare enrollees qualify for a subsidy, depending on their annual household income. (Ehley, 5/11)

Health insurance probably isn’t top-of-mind for graduating college students, but it’s one of those adult responsibilities that lurks after the caps and gowns come off. The lucky grads who have lined up jobs with coverage can move on to more exciting things. But the rest need to remember that the Affordable Care Act levies penalties for failing to get insurance – and nobody wants to face a fee of $325 or 2 percent of annual income at tax time next year. (Helms, 5/8)

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a longtime opponent of “Obamacare,” made a startling announcement shortly after his mother’s death, going on TV two years ago to explain that he had dropped his objections to President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. ... Scott’s allies, opponents and the press corps in Tallahassee were incredulous over his change of heart, asking if his support for Medicaid expansion could be a calculated move designed to win Obama administration approval for his long-sought proposal to hand control of the existing Medicaid population’s health care over to private insurance companies. ... he soon got the federal waiver he had been pressing for, and private companies now manage Medicaid benefits for more than three million Floridians. Scott’s gratitude didn’t last. (Fineout and Kennedy, 5/8)

Gov. Rick Scott’s decision to embrace Medicaid expansion in 2013, an idea the former health-care executive now opposes, was, as speculated, simply to get what he wanted from the feds. As the governor engages in negotiations with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services over $2.2 billion in funding for the Low Income Pool, or LIP, program, he was asked Thursday why he agreed to support expansion of Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act in February 2013. “It was the day that we were able to get our waivers done from CMS for a Medicaid program that was revised,” Scott bluntly replied to reporters at the Capitol. (Turner, 5/9)

Florida legislators may have ended their stalemate last week when they agreed to convene a three-week special session to resolve the budget crisis in June, but they didn't agree on the hard part: how to resolve stark differences over health care. Some compromise ideas are emerging — from using $600 million intended for tax cuts to bail out hospitals that treat poor patients, to seeking a one-of-a-kind federal waiver, to drawing federal money without passing it through Medicaid. But finding the middle ground won't be easy. (Klas, 5/10)

Gov. Nathan Deal shed a little more light on what Georgia officials are seeking with a special Medicaid waiver that will be used to conduct what they’re calling an experiment — and not an expansion. Deal said in an interview that the waiver would “explore the possibilities of covering people who are now uninsured,” including some of the estimated 650,000 people who would be covered if Georgia expanded the Medicaid program. The charge is being led by Grady Memorial Hospital, which is working with struggling rural hospitals and other healthcare facilities around the state to craft the plan. (Bluestein, 5/8)

Grady Health System realized it couldn’t count on Medicaid expansion anytime soon, so it went looking for a different path. ... So Grady officials began to envision a smaller-scale insurance program that could avoid the political and financial pitfalls that accompany a Medicaid initiative. What they and state officials are proposing is a plan where federal matching Medicaid dollars would be used to help set up pilot sites that would give coverage to the uninsured, then manage their care and potentially improve their health. (Miller, 5/8)

With gridlock continuing on the budget, the House Finance Committee is slated to set to work on a Medicaid expansion and reform bill next week in Anchorage. After three days of budget overviews this week, the committee announced four meetings in Anchorage next week to hear Gov. Bill Walker’s Medicaid bill, one of three bills the governor put on the special session agenda. (Buxton, 5/9)

While Kentucky has gained national prominence as the only Southern state to fully embrace Obamacare, its hospitals say the law has left them facing billions of dollars in cuts and forced them to lay off staff, shut down services and worry for their financial health and, in some cases, survival. The Kentucky Hospital Association outlined its concerns in a report released Friday called "Code Blue," saying payment cuts to hospitals are expected to reach nearly $7 billion through 2024. "Kentucky hospitals will lose more money under the Affordable Care Act than they gain in revenue from expanded coverage," it said, experiencing a net loss of $1 billion by 2020. (Ungar, 5/8)

Rural hospitals, according to the KHA report, will be hit especially hard. State Auditor Adam Edelen recently found that 34 percent of rural hospitals, where an average of 72 percent of patients are covered by Medicaid or Medicare, were considered to be in poor financial health. The KHA report said that 70 of the state's 109 hospitals have laid off a total of 7,700 employees in the past two years. That's about a 10 percent reduction of hospital workers. (Meehan, 5/8)

New York City’s public hospital system is looking at a major cash squeeze within four years if federal cuts to hospitals serving large numbers of poor and uninsured patients take place as scheduled, according to a report by the city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, to be released on Monday. Beginning in 2017, the federal government will begin cutting subsidies to those hospitals, based on the theory that since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which has insured millions of Americans, hospitals will no longer need the same level of subsidies for uncompensated care. (Hartocollis, 5/10)

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on Sunday aggressively defended his participation in a controversial infomercial that peddled an all-natural cure to “reverse your type 2 diabetes," saying the treatment has been mischaracterized and stressing that he is no longer involved with the company. ... Huckabee, who last week launched his second presidential bid, has been criticized for appearing in — and receiving money for — a "Diabetes Solution Kit" infomercial that makes medical recommendations to diabetics that are not supported by the American Diabetes Association. (DelReal, 5/10)

Jeb Bush used his commencement address at Liberty University in Virginia on Saturday to attack the federal government and courts for restricting the rights of religious believers. The former Florida governor ... belittled the Obama administration's effort to mandate health insurance coverage for contraceptives. Noting that the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious non-profit, is among the groups challenging the so-called "contraception mandate" in court, Bush said, "From the standpoint of religious freedom, you might even say it's a choice between the Little Sisters and Big Brother — and I'm going with the Sisters." (Wolfe, 5/9)

Likely presidential candidate Jeb Bush called on fellow Christians to stand up for their values and against what he described as a federal government meddling in matters of faith, making a direct appeal to religious conservatives in a speech at Liberty University Saturday. ... Bush also touched on the topic of abortion in his 30-minute speech, saying, “Wherever there is a child that is waiting to be born, we say, ‘Choose life,’ and we say it with love.” (Vozzella, 5/9)

His allies believe that if and when conservative activists take a closer look at Bush’s record and message, they will find his anti-abortion, pro-school choice views acceptable, and his deeply held faith relatable. He was introduced by Jerry Falwell, Jr., the president of the university (and the son of a prominent evangelical leader with the same name) as “a hero of the right-to-life movement” after his involvement in the Terri Schiavo case, keeping a woman in a vegetative state alive against the wishes of her husband, but in keeping with her parents’ hope. ... For Bush, the appearance was more staid, less personal — he didn’t discuss his own path to Catholicism, the religion shared by his wife — and the applause lines, especially at the beginning, were somewhat scattered, though Bush picked up steam when he decried what he characterized as the Obama administration’s incursions into religious freedom. (Glueck, 5/9)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., one of biotechnology’s most richly valued companies, faces a big test Tuesday in proving it can become consistently profitable and live up to its $30 billion market capitalization. A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee will consider whether to recommend approval of Vertex’s experimental cystic-fibrosis drug, Orkambi, which analysts predict could help the company earn more than $8 billion in net profit over the next four years if it reaches the market. (Walker, 5/9)

Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, which decided last week to retain rather than float off its HIV drugs business, is to collaborate with U.S. scientists in developing a cure for AIDS. Until recently, many researchers were reluctant to even discuss the possibility of curing the disease caused by HIV, which infects 35 million people worldwide, since the obstacles seemed insurmountable. (Hirschler, 5/10)

Personalized cancer therapy is no longer just an exciting prospect, and better survival rates — as well as escalating spending — are proving it. This year, President Obama announced an initiative focused on “precision medicine.” But in oncology, the model has arrived. Though molecularly targeted drugs are not yet available for most cancer patients, they account for the majority of the 45 new cancer drugs launched since 2010, the report found. And because the same mutation may drive cancer that arises in different organs, targeted drugs often get approved to treat multiple cancers. (McCollough, 5/10)

A new type of blood test is starting to transform cancer treatment, sparing some patients the surgical and needle biopsies long needed to guide their care. The tests, called liquid biopsies, capture cancer cells or DNA that tumors shed into the blood, instead of taking tissue from the tumor itself. A lot is still unknown about the value of these tests, but many doctors think they are a big advance that could make personalized medicine possible for far more people. (Marchione, 5/11)

More people are making big health decisions based on genetic tests. The industry is expected to grow to $15 billion to $25 billion in sales within six years; up from $5 billion in 2010, largely driven by the fact such tests are priced at a fraction of what they were a few years ago, and more often covered by health insurance. The number and types of tests available also have increased to more than 3,000 from about 1,700 in 2008, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute. (Hirst, 5/10)

A federal lawmaker criticized the latest response from the nation's top health regulator on the recent superbug outbreaks and renewed his push for congressional hearings. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Los Angeles) faulted the Food and Drug Administration for taking two months to answer a letter from a bipartisan group of 10 lawmakers in light of the public health threat. He also said some of the FDA's answers appeared misleading. (Terhune, 5/8)

Public health officials are bracing for a new wave of hepatitis C infections, one unleashed by the epidemic of prescription painkiller addiction. The bloodborne virus, on the decline nationally until a few years ago, is rising rapidly among adolescents and young adults, especially in white, rural communities. These are the same areas where a devastating epidemic of prescription opioid deaths first showed up over a decade ago, followed by a wave of heroin deaths. (Sapatkin, 5/8)

An Iraqi refugee and a medical student sat in a community center in suburban Denver, passing an orange plastic bottle of pills back and forth. The vial's contents rattled like a syncopated soundtrack for their conversation. With help from an Arabic translator at Aza, University of Colorado student Marissa Hudak determined that the woman had mixed all her medications in the bottle. She was no longer sure which pill was for her thyroid ailment, for her joint pain or for her stomach problems that were particularly troubling that day. Hudak promised to call the woman's doctor to try to straighten things out. (Bryson, 5/9)

For more than a century, medical education in the United States has meant learning how to practice medicine and how to do research to make medicine better. But that could be changing. Given the need for more primary-care physicians, the shortage of certain specialists, and the belief that medical schools boost local economies, 36 institutions have opened across the country in the last 20 years. (Rush, 5/10)

Now 66, [Larry] Smarr is the unlikely hero of a global movement among ordinary people to “quantify” themselves using wearable fitness gadgets, medical equipment, headcams, traditional lab tests and homemade contraptions, all with the goal of finding ways to optimize their bodies and minds to live longer, healthier lives — and perhaps to discover some important truth about themselves and their purpose in life. The explosion in extreme tracking is part of a digital revolution in health care led by the tech visionaries who created Apple, Google, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems. Using the chips, database and algorithms that powered the information revolution of the past few decades, these new billionaires now are attempting to rebuild, regenerate and reprogram the human body. (Cha, 5/9)

The government has reversed itself and said employer-sponsored wellness programs don't necessarily discriminate against workers. But businesses offering the plans to their employees are still struggling to show the programs can cut health care costs. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has proposed a rule change, now saying that cutting workers' insurance premiums as an incentive for them to get health screening tests or improve their health scores doesn't violate federal disabilities laws as long as Obamacare and federal privacy rules are met. (O'Donnell, 5/10)

It’s easier for Georgians to get a bed in a nursing home than less-expensive home and community-based services, costing the government big money, according to a follow-up state audit released Friday. (Salzer, 5/8)

The Wyoming Department of Health is taking over temporary management of troubled nursing homes in Rock Springs and Saratoga, state officials announced Friday. Heath Department Director Tom Forslund said the state is assigning managers to both facilities to work with existing staff. He said the state intends to move the 49 residents in Rock Springs and 20 residents in Saratoga to other facilities in an orderly, safe fashion. Forslund said Deseret Health Group of Bountiful, Utah, gave the state notice within the last week that it intended to close both facilities. He said he found the closure plans inadequate, which raised concerns about residents' care and the company's ability to pay its employees. "The rules call for a 60-day notice for voluntary closure of nursing homes, but the company's financial instability has made it clear this is not a normal situation and the company cannot meet its obligations to these residents," Forslund said. (Neary, 5/8)

Nebraska officials said they have taken action to protect residents of two nursing homes run by an ailing Utah company. Both homes are owned by Deseret Health Group, headquartered in Bountiful, Utah. Peterson's office said Deseret Health had told Nebraska officials that it was ceasing operation of the nursing homes. Health and Human Services said it determined that the state needed to take control of the homes to protect the health and welfare of the residents because Deseret Health has been unable to pay staff. Peterson's office said Ainsworth Care Center has 24 residents and the Logan Valley Manor has 12. (5/8)

A proposal to allow prior authorizations for Medicaid reimbursements on mental health drugs passed its final legislative hurdle Friday. Until [Gov.] Brownback signs the measure, state law will continue to prohibit any regulation of mental health drugs under Medicaid. Mental health advocates argued against a bill to repeal that statute, saying it was necessary to ensure there were no delays in getting effective drugs into the hands of people with severe and persistent mental illnesses who could be a danger to themselves or others without the drugs. (Marso, 5/8)

After dental benefits were removed from California's public health insurance for the poor, emergency room visits for dental problems went up, a new study shows. Removing comprehensive dental benefits from the state's Medicaid program in 2009 led to nearly 1,800 additional ER visits per year for dental problems, the researchers estimate. (Seaman, 5/8)

A bill originally aimed at ensuring that virtually all schoolchildren are fully vaccinated is getting watered down -- but in a politically astute way that will most likely ensure its historic passage. (Seipel, 5/9)

Gov. Rick Scott’s call for an investigation of hospital finances, officially issued this week, had a familiar ring to Floridians in the health-care industry. “My first thought was, ‘Gee, didn’t we just do that?’” said Linda Quick, president of the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association. She was one of those asked to testify at a 2011 hearing held by Scott’s first hospital-financing panel, created shortly after he was sworn into office. (Gentry, 5/8)

Arizona lawmakers serve the public in a part-time role, but the vast majority of these elected officials take year-round health-insurance plans that are among the most generous state-funded benefits in the nation. (Alltucker, 5/9)

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and state Democratic leaders begin budget negotiations Monday as the two sides seek a compromise over their diverging spending plans. Mr. Malloy, a Democrat, has said the proposed budget from the Democratic-controlled Legislature spends too much and places an undue burden on the middle class. ... Last month, the Legislature’s appropriations committee proposed $19.91 billion and $20.57 billion in spending for fiscal 2016 and 2017 that would restore funding to developmental services, mental-health providers, higher education and other categories. That is about $515 million more than what Mr. Malloy proposed in February. (De Avila, 5/10)

Waiting to be registered at a health fair at Hsi Lai Temple on Sunday, a group of women exercised, stretching and moving their arms in circles as they complained about the sacrifices required to stay well. "You can't eat noodles, fish, shrimp, rice, beef," said one woman, who asked that her name not be used to protect her medical information. "What am I supposed to eat? "Exercise," suggested one of her friends. "Salads," said another. (Shyong, 5/10)

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, one of the largest and most respected facilities in Orange County, needed to move quickly. A big insurer had warned that its maternity costs were too high and it might be cut from the plan’s network. The reason? Too many cesarean sections. "We were under intense scrutiny," said Dr. Allyson Brooks, executive medical director of Hoag’s women’s health institute. The C-section rate at the time, in early 2012, was about 38 percent. That was higher than the state average of 33 percent and above most others in the area, according to the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, which seeks to use data to improve birth outcomes. (Gorman, 5/11)

North Carolina's health agency is violating part of the federal "motor voter" law requiring voter registration help for low-income residents, a coalition of groups said Friday, adding they'll sue the state unless changes are made. The state Department of Health and Human Services is failing to provide voter registration cards along with applications for food stamps and Medicaid, the groups said. (Dalesio, 5/8)

A Florida doctor charged with corruption alongside New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was ordered Friday to remain jailed while he awaits trial in a separate case alleging he oversaw a massive Medicare fraud scheme. U.S. Magistrate Judge James Hopkins sided with federal prosecutors, who argued Dr. Salomon Melgen's profound wealth and strong international ties offer ample chance to flee to his native Dominican Republic or anywhere else in the world. (Sedensky, 5/8)

Under pressure to control spending, health insurers, doctors, and hospitals are increasingly ditching the old fee-for-service system that compensates them for every test, procedure, and hospital stay, and turning instead to a more personal managed care approach that rewards providers for sticking to a budget while keeping patients healthy and out of hospital beds. (Dayal McCluskey, 5/11)

Overall performance of the private health care provider for New York City’s jails failed to improve last year amid heightened scrutiny over inmate deaths that put the company’s contract under review, according to an evaluation obtained by The Associated Press. (5/11)

At the University of Illinois at Chicago, nearly 800 patients await kidney transplants. Dr. Enrico Benedetti, co-director of the transplant program, is reluctant to operate on most of them. The federal government cited his program last year for success rates that were lower than expected, given the mix of patients and quality of organs used. To become compliant, Benedetti said he must be extra careful about which organs he accepts and which patients he puts them in. (Wahlberg, 5/10)

These are uncertain times for North Carolina’s rural hospitals. Hospital systems are buying small, struggling independent hospitals, while all hospitals have taken financial hits due to budget cuts and the state’s decision not to expand Medicaid. North Carolina Health News’ Taylor Sisk asked UNC-Chapel Hill health economist Mark Holmes to assess the status of rural hospitals in North Carolina today and to talk a bit about what he sees in their future. (Hoban, 5/11)

The House Republican minority controls the fate of a heavily lobbied labor bill that would expand workers’ compensation coverage in Connecticut by declaring some forms of cancer to be an occupational hazard of firefighting. (Pazniokas, 5/11)

The catastrophic ObamaCare rollout merely two years ago has disappeared into the distant political past, forgotten, with zero accountability for the taxpayer waste and disruption to individuals and business. Massachusetts may prove to be an exception. Late last week the administration of Republican Governor Charlie Baker confirmed that the FBI and U.S. Attorney for Boston have subpoenaed records related to the commonwealth’s “connector” dating to 2010. This insurance clearinghouse was Mitt Romney’s 2006 beta version for ObamaCare’s exchanges, but updating the connector to comply with the far more complex federal law became a fiasco rivaling any of the other federal and state ObamaCare failures. (5/10)

For all this, however, narrow networks are accepted within healthcare as a key to holding costs down. Most patients appear to be content with the tradeoff -- lower prices, less doctor choice. Surveys have shown that most new enrollees are happy with their healthcare -- more than 70% rating their coverage and quality of care "excellent" or "good" in a Gallup poll. A Commonwealth Fund survey in mid-2014 found more than 60% of the previously uninsured said they were "better off" than before with their coverage. For all the hue and cry in recent years about whether Obamacare enrollees could "keep their doctor" or "keep their hospital," relatively few people actually have "a doctor" they see consistently over years, and fewer have "a hospital" they go to for their care. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/8)

When the Affordable Care Act and its insurance plans made their disastrous debut on the Internet nearly two years ago, the last thing journalists might’ve expected was an offer from President Obama’s health-care secretary to drop by the newsroom for an in-person briefing on how things were going. But memories of the massive 2013 crash of the healthcare.gov website are fading, and the legislation known as “Obamacare” is settling into the fabric of the nation’s health-care system. (5/10)

Do government efforts to support low-income families work? Since the War on Poverty in the 1960s, skeptics have argued that even if these programs provide temporary relief, the only long-term impact is increased dependency — witness, they say, the persistent lack of mobility in places like inner-city Baltimore. But a growing body of research tells a very different story. ... Receiving Medicaid in childhood makes it substantially more likely that a child will graduate from high school and complete college and less likely that an African-American child will die in his late teens or be hospitalized at 25. For women, Medicaid participation in childhood is associated with increased earnings. (Jason Furman, 5/11)

Under the misnamed Affordable Care Act, the federal government covers the entire added cost of raising eligibility from 100 percent to 138 percent of poverty-level income for three years. Then a state’s share of that extra expense rises in increments to a maximum of 10 percent. ... So why shouldn’t South Carolina expand Medicaid, too? Again, because there’s no such thing as “free” health care — and because while a state’s eventual 10 percent might not sound like much, even if the share stays that low (don’t count on it), that would still rise to a considerable expense in an expanded program. As for overwrought charges that it’s “immoral” not to vastly expand Medicaid, ponder Medicare’s financial prognosis. Barring costly and apparently politically untenable reforms, it’s bound for a disaster with consequences far beyond that unsustainable entitlement behemoth. (5/11)

As the state stares down the barrel of perhaps a $4 billion budget deficit, it is beyond baffling that anybody -- even a liberal clinging desperately to freebie medical care as some sort of talismanic human right -- could justify adding even one person to Alaska’s Medicaid rolls, much less 40,000, as Gov. Bill Walker wants. Walker is hectoring Republican lawmakers at every turn to expand a program already plagued by fraud, abuse and lack of controls. It must be reformed simply to survive -- much less be expanded. Forget the touchy-feely nonsense the left is peddling. Alaska cannot afford Medicaid expansion. (Paul Jenkins, 5/9)

Given the hard feelings in the Legislature over the failure to complete a budget during this year’s regular session, we offer a modest hope for the upcoming special session: that lawmakers can engage in an honest discussion about Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act. They owe at least that much to the people of Florida. Until this year, the very mention of “Obamacare” ignited a knee-jerk rejection of the law among the Legislature’s Republican leaders. They refused to consider the benefits that federal law bestows on eligible citizens who need health insurance. The result has been a callous denial of Medicaid services to 850,000 uncovered Floridians. (5/9)

Refusing to expand Medicaid may look reflexively anti-Obama and hardhearted, but Republicans say it’s a matter of fiscal responsibility. They say that Medicaid’s annual costs are prone to unpredictable surges and that its overall rate of increase means it will soon crowd out the state’s ability to meet its other obligations. But the Medicaid monster is a myth. A new analysis by the nonprofit Medicaid management organization Community Care of North Carolina found the health care program to be a steady expense. It’s expensive, yes, but it does a lot to improve the health of a vulnerable population and may well head off more expensive medical costs that would inflate premiums for everyone. (Ned Barnett, 5/9)

Most people are entirely unaware of Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act, colloquially referred to as Obamacare. That’s not surprising; the public can’t be expected to know all the particulars of a 1,000-page law. But Trish Riley, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, noted that “you would be hard pressed to find a state that doesn't know what Section 1332 is.” That’s because Section 1332, known as the “state innovation” provision, allows individual states a great deal of flexibility in how they use revenue appropriated for Obamacare and, as Riley describes it, “provides some opportunity for taking the rough edges” off the controversial law. (5/8)

When California lawmakers created the CURES database to fight prescription drug abuse, they left out an important piece. Although pharmacists were required to list in the database any customers who received potentially dangerous and addictive drugs, doctors weren't required to check those records before prescribing more pills. State Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) has a bill that would finally require doctors to do what they should have been doing all along. His colleagues should pass it. (5/8)

Doctors have many tests and procedures to choose from when treating you. But is it possible to have too much of a good thing? (Allen Kachalia and Sanjay Saint, 5/10)

National media coverage of health care policy and innovation in North Carolina often focuses on the most dramatic headlines. There’s the ongoing battle over whether to expand Medicaid coverage here, for example, and a recent “60 Minutes” report on Duke University researchers using an altered polio virus to shrink brain tumors. Below the radar, however, other ground-breaking initiatives are under way with the potential to transform health and wellness in our state – and change the conversation about best practices nationally. (Christopher Gergen and Stephen Martin, 5/9)

Imagine you're a parent of a dying child in desperate need of a lung, kidney, or heart transplant and you're told by callous hospital administrators that, because of a physical infirmity or intellectual handicap, your loved one has been rejected for the life-saving surgical procedure. That dreadful scenario was experienced by Karen Corby of Pottsville, when she was informed by doctors at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania that her son Paul was refused a life-saving slot on the heart-transplant list because of his intellectual disability. Paul was found to have left ventricular non-compaction five years ago. His only hope is a heart transplant. (Cronin and Sabatina, 5/10)

Everyone knows that hot pink stands for breast cancer. The second-leading cause of cancer death among women has given rise to perhaps the most effective anti-cancer campaign in U.S. history. But widespread public awareness hasn’t tamped down misperceptions about breast cancer and how it operates. (Paige Winfield Cunningham, 5/8)

On Saturday, the World Health Organization declared Liberia to be Ebola-free, recognizing that there had been no new cases since the end of March. While its neighbors Sierra Leone and Guinea still wrestle with this virologic demon, this is a moment for reflection and cautious optimism in Liberia. The world must ensure that what happened in Liberia never happens again — there, or anywhere. (Judith Rodin and Bernice Dahn, 5/10)