President Donald Trump鈥檚 summit with聽North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may have stolen a bit of the spotlight from health care this week, but there鈥檚 still plenty of news to go around in our corner of the world. Here鈥檚 what you may have missed.
Republicans are cringing at the administration鈥檚 decision not to defend the health law鈥檚 preexisting condition provision. The move is likely to serve as a tailor-made soundbite for Democrats as lawmakers hit the campaign trail for the midterms. In fact, Dems are already going after the decision as 鈥渁 sick joke,鈥� while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is doing damage control. 鈥淓verybody I know in the Senate 鈥� everybody 鈥� is in favor of maintaining coverage for preexisting conditions,鈥� McConnell told reporters in the Capitol. 鈥淭here is no difference in opinion about that whatsoever.鈥�
Insurers are less than pleased with a court鈥檚 decision that they are聽not owed billions of dollars from the government under the health law鈥檚 risk corridors program. The program was designed to entice insurers into the marketplace with promises of covering their financial risk. But the panel聽said the government doesn鈥檛 have to pay insurers the money because Congress had taken action 鈥� after the health law鈥檚 passage 鈥� requiring the program to be budget neutral year after year. Insurers complain the rug was pulled out from under them.
The big dogs in the insurance industry are slowly inching toward a model where they could deny emergency room claims 鈥� and hospitals, doctors and lawmakers are all livid imagining a world where patients worry about whether their visits are going to be covered before seeking emergency care. The companies, though, argue that unnecessary ER visits are a huge factor in driving up medical costs. They鈥檙e not wrong, but the subject has always been taboo before.
CRISPR is so hot right now it even spawned a (canceled) TV show. But a report that found genes edited by the technology could essentially be cancer 鈥渢icking time bombs鈥� sent stocks spiraling this week.
Lawmakers are gearing up to consider a whopping 57 measures in an opioid package that is sure to win both Democrats and Republicans political points 鈥� conveniently just before the midterms. But advocates say the bills may still fall short of what鈥檚 needed to battle the country鈥檚 epidemic.
And in the miscellaneous file this week: A report confirms that sexual harassment is rampant in the academic sciences (鈥淢ost of that harassment is not the Harvey Weinstein harassment. It鈥檚 the everyday put-downs, and exclusions and belittlings,鈥� said one woman); an ALS scientist who was diagnosed with the disease after he started researching it says he finds reason to live by helping others fight the condition that has ravaged his body; a nationwide survey reports that the kids are not all right, with sadness and hopelessness on the rise in teens (they鈥檙e also drinking less milk for what it鈥檚 worth); and how being black in America can deeply affect your health.
As you鈥檙e planning your weekend, you should probably know the oft-touted Mediterranean diet report has been But if you鈥檙e a fish, olive oil and nuts person, don鈥檛 worry, experts still think the diet is beneficial to heart health. Meanwhile, I鈥檒l be over here worrying about my .