Los Angeles Times: Most California Insurance Plans Could Be Ineligible For Tax Credits Under The GOP's New Proposal 
An antiabortion provision in the recently unveiled House GOP plan to replace Obamacare could make it impossible for most Californians to take advantage of proposed tax credits meant to offset the cost of health insurance. The Republican healthcare proposal would offer individual tax credits to people who do not get insurance from their employer, but it would prohibit that money from being spent on plans that cover abortion — a ban that would make virtually all health plans in the state ineligible for such credits. (Mason, 3/8)

San Jose Mercury News: See How The GOP Health Plan Affects You In The Bay Area
Get your insurance through the individual marketplace set up through the Affordable Care Act? Well, if you’re someone who earns $16,394 to $47,520 you probably get a subsidy to help pay for it. But under the Republicans’ plan those subsidies will change, benefiting people who make up to $75,000 with tax credits to help pay for their health care. Low-income individuals will end up getting less. (Seipel, 3/8)

Sacramento Bee: CA Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones Blasts Obamacare Repeal 
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones blasted House Republicans’ proposed bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, saying it would deal a devastating blow to the state’s health insurance marketplace and potentially leave 5 million Californians without health coverage. Jones, the state’s top health insurance regulator who is also running for California attorney general in 2018, cautioned that the GOP proposal would lead to a health care death spiral that would result in skyrocketing premiums and millions more uninsured. (Hart, 3/8)

KPBS: California Consumer Groups Blast Obamacare Repeal Plan 
The plan from House Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act would be disastrous for California. That's the word from California consumer groups, who have a laundry list of complaints about the proposal. Under the Republican plan, the tax credits people get to help them pay for health insurance would be based on age, not income. (Goldberg, 3/8)

Planned Parenthood officials also mobilize —

San Francisco Chronicle: Planned Parenthood Fights GOP Push To End Federal Funding 
Two days after House Republicans unveiled a plan to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood, Kathy Kneer, the reproductive health organization’s top California official, was in Washington fighting for the future of her organization, which serves some 850,000 Californians each year. Because of California’s large population and geographic reach, the state has more Planned Parenthood health centers than any other state, 115, and receives more than half of the $500 million the organization gets from the federal government each year, according to the group’s leaders. (Ho, 3/8)

The New York Times: Health Bill Clears House Panel In Pre-Dawn Hours
The critical House Ways and Means Committee gave a pre-dawn approval Thursday morning to a major part of the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, moving Republicans a step closer toward a full vote on the measure over the growing opposition of senators, health care providers and some conservatives. Republicans on the panel held together and rejected a slew of Democratic amendments while doing little on their own to change the health bill. (Kaplan, Goodnough and Steinhauer, 3/9)

Los Angeles Times: GOP Leaders Turn Up The Pressure On Reluctant Republicans To Support Obamacare Replacement
[House Speaker Paul] Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are trying to build momentum to fast-track the legislation past a groundswell of opposition from Democrats, small-government conservatives, moderate Republicans and healthcare groups who have created an unlikely coalition against it. (Mascaro and Levey, 3/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: GOP Health Care Bill Is Critical 1st Test For Trump
As conservatives revolt over Republican health care legislation, President Trump faces a crucial first test of his presidency: Can he translate his bully pulpit and popularity with conservative voters into a legislative win? For Trump, it is a new arena five rocky weeks into his presidency. Thus far the accomplishments he has notched have been carried out via executive authority or appointments ratified by the Senate, often overshadowed by self-inflicted distraction. (Werner and Thomas, 3/8)

Politico: Trump's Obamacare Fallback: Blame The Democrats
In a private Oval Office meeting with conservative activists Wednesday, President Donald Trump sold Paul Ryan's health care bill as strong and necessary. But minutes later, his top aides offered some willingness to consider changing some of the core provisions, even as Trump himself suggested a fallback position — that they could try again in two years, and Obamacare will fail on its own, leaving Democrats to take the blame. In other words, Trump was ready to deal. (Dawsey and Bade, 3/8)

And the role of Congressional Budget Office in the replacement debate comes into question —

The Washington Post: Lawmakers Take Up Obamacare Revision Without An Independent Scorekeeper
You might think of it as the legislative equivalent of flying into a storm without instruments. Two committees in the Republican-led House have begun drafting sweeping health legislation without the benefit of an objective estimate of its impact from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — a reckless move, critics say, considering that they are dealing with the well-being of tens of millions of Americans and an industry that accounts for close to one-fifth of the economy. (Tumulty and Ehrenfreund, 3/8)

The Associated Press: Fact Check: White House Overly Downbeat About Budgeteers
President Donald Trump’s spokesman went out of his way to cast doubt on Congress’ budget experts, perhaps anticipating disappointing results from a coming cost analysis of a Trump-backed plan to “repeal and replace” former President Barack Obama’s health care law. Too far out of his way. Citing the Congressional Budget Office’s earlier estimates on the Obama law, spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday, “If you’re looking at the CBO for accuracy, you’re looking in the wrong place.” (Taylor, 3/9)

Los Angeles Times: A Side-By-Side Comparison Of Obamacare And The GOP’s Replacement Plan
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, people who are older, lower-income or live in areas with higher premiums (such as Alaska and Arizona) receive larger tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, than they would under the Republican replacement plan. Some people who are younger, higher-income or live in areas with lower premiums (such as Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Washington) may receive additional assistance under the replacement plan. (Levey and Kim, 3/7)

KQED News: Your Cheat Sheet On The Republican Health Care Plan (And Its Impact On California) 
Since Republican leaders in Washington released their plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare, there have been many questions about the specifics of the proposal and its impact on Californians. We’ve dug into the details to simplify this complex issue and create a cheat sheet for you. (Feibel, 3/7)

The New York Times: Who Wins And Who Loses Under Republicans’ Health Care Plan
Both Obamacare and the recent Republican replacement proposal use refundable tax credits to help people buy their health insurance. That is part of the reason the new G.O.P. bill is under fire from conservatives, who see it as a new entitlement program. But the structure of the tax credits is really different. Obamacare calculated the credits based on the cost of insurance in a given area and how much the purchaser could afford to pay. The Republican plan hands out tax credits on a flat basis, according to age. (Both plans cut off subsidies at a certain income level, on the assumption that high earners can pay their own way.) That means that the government subsidy you might get under the different plans would depend on a number of factors – age, income, address. (Quealy and Sanger-Katz, 3/8)

KPCC: Audio: What You Need To Know About Proposed Changes To Medicaid 
The Republicans' health insurance legislation includes big changes to the way the federal government would pay for Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor. Here's what the bill would mean for Medi-Cal, as the program is called in California. (Plevin, 3/8)

Politico: Obamacare Repeal Seen As Weakening Mental Health Protections
House Republicans who last year made good on longstanding promises to overhaul the mental health system could roll back coverage for millions of people with mental illness and addiction problems by overhauling Medicaid as part of an Obamacare repeal package. Legislation being marked up Wednesday would phase out Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, which covers 1.2 million Americans with serious mental illness and substance abuse problems, as well as scrap baseline coverage requirements. The change means certain beneficiaries would no longer get coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatments guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act. (Ehley, 3/8)

Bloomberg: Republican Health Bill Would Make It Easier To Sport That Potentially Precancerous Glow 
Republicans’ Obamacare replacement will make it easier to sport that beachy, potentially precancerous glow: Their American Health Care Act would do away with a 10 percent excise tax on tanning services...The move is part of the Republican plan to repeal billions of dollars in of levies associated with the law, including the “Cadillac tax” on high-cost health plans, fees on health insurers, and the tanning tax, included in the Affordable Care Act because of indoor tanning’s link to skin cancer. (Greifeld, 3/8)

Sacramento Bee: Zika Testing, Vaccines And Other Public Health Essentials Could Vanish With ACA Repeal 
The GOP legislation, as it was released Monday, proposes cutting a piece of the Affordable Care Act called the Prevention and Public Health Fund – a store of federal money created to bolster immunization rates, disease surveillance, workforce training and community health education, among other programs. If the replacement legislation passes, county and state agencies throughout California will lose millions of dollars they relied on for public health efforts. Those governments also used the grants to prepare for emergencies such as Ebola and Zika virus outbreaks, health officials said. (Caiola, 3/9)

KQED: House Health Bill Is Just The Beginning: Overhaul Promised In 3 Phases 
House Republicans' plan to replace the Affordable Care Act would make significant changes to the U.S. health insurance system. But that's just the beginning. ... Regulatory adjustments are Phase 2 of the White House plan. Phase 3 involves going back to Congress with bills that let insurance companies sell policies across state lines or allow the government to use its purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices. (Horsley, 3/8)

KQED: Trump Won Big In House Conservatives' Districts — Will They Defy Him On Health Care? 
Some of the most conservative members of the House are at a crossroads over the plan from GOP leadership and the White House to replace the Affordable Care Act. Those lawmakers say their choice is between supporting a bill that goes against many of their principles, or falling in line behind President Trump — who won overwhelming support in their district. (Taylor, 3/8)

Los Angeles Times: Some GOP Governors Assail New Healthcare Proposal Backed By Trump
In the days since House Republicans unveiled a replacement to the Affordable Care Act, some GOP governors have a message: Not so fast. The proposed legislation, which is supported by President Trump, would, among other things, make significant changes to Medicaid programs that have been expanded under the Affordable Care Act, also commonly referred to as Obamacare. (Lee, 3/8)

The Associated Press: California Lawmakers Want To Repeal HIV Criminalization Laws
Exposing a person to HIV is treated more seriously under California law than infecting someone with any other communicable disease, a policy some lawmakers say is a relic of the decades-old AIDS scare that unfairly punishes HIV-positive people based on outdated science. Several lawmakers are promoting a bill by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, that would make it a misdemeanor instead of a felony to intentionally expose someone to HIV, the virus that causes the immune system-weakening disease AIDS. The change would treat HIV like other communicable diseases under California law. (Bollag, 3/8)

East Bay Times: Oakland Lands Blue Shield Headquarters And 1,200 Workers
Blue Shield of California has agreed to move its headquarters and 1,200 workers to Oakland, the nonprofit health plan said Wednesday, a move that will help it escape fast-rising office rents at its current location in San Francisco. Blue Shield’s move represents the largest relocation of an office tenant from San Francisco to Oakland in at least 30 years. The health care company will move to the City Center complex in downtown Oakland. (Avalos, 3/8)

San Francisco Business Times: Blue Shield To Move Headquarters From San Francisco To Oakland With Massive Lease
Blue Shield has signed a 200,000-square-foot lease to occupy a tower in downtown Oakland that has been stalled for nearly a decade, one of the biggest office leases in the city's history. The company said it would relocate 1,200 employees from its current headquarters in San Francisco to Shorenstein Properties and MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET)'s 601 City Center. The approved tower has been stalled since 2008, when work started and then ceased amid the recession. (Li, 3/8)

Stat: R&D Spending May Not Really Justify Those High Prices, After All
For years, the pharmaceutical industry has maintained that high prices charged for many medicines in the US are needed to fund R&D, since so many other countries use various means to cap pricing. Now, though, a new analysis suggests that the additional sales that drug companies generate in the US, compared with four other well-to-do countries, greatly exceeds what they have spent on their global research and development. (Silverman, 3/8)

Stat: Grassley Probes EpiPen Rival Over Its $4,500 List Price
For the second time in recent weeks, a small, privately held drug maker with a piece of the action in two hot markets is being scrutinized by lawmakers over its pricing. In the latest episode, US Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wants Kaleo to explain why it set a $4,500 list price for the Auvi-Q allergic reaction device that is competing with EpiPen. The move is actually part of a complicated pricing strategy that may appeal to some consumers, but not so much to insurers. (Silverman, 3/8)

Stat: Despite Discounts For Hep C Drugs, Coverage Denials Keep Rising
After pricey new hepatitis C treatments emerged a few years ago, public and private payers restricted coverage in order to ease the financial strain on budgets. But even as more competition among drug makers has prompted discounting, payers continue to deny coverage, including to patients who suffer from the most advanced forms of the disease, according to a new analysis. As of last September, 37 percent of patients with little to moderate trace of the disease were denied coverage, a mostly steady increase from 27 percent in October 2015. Meanwhile, 24 percent of those severe forms of hepatitis C were denied, up from 15 percent during the same time period. These figures represent an overall trend that includes commercial and government payers. (Silverman, 3/8)

The Desert Sun: Eisenhower Medical Center Updates Aid-In-Dying Policy
Eisenhower Medical Center has updated its policy on California's aid-in-dying law in a way officials there say better reflects the hospital's position that doctors can assist patients in dying if they choose, just not while at the hospital. The new policy language came days after protesters gathered outside the Rancho Mirage hospital to push for change. An advocate for doctor-assisted dying said the policy still isn't good enough because while other local hospitals allow doctors on premises to write prescriptions so patients can voluntarily end their lives, Eisenhower doctors cannot write the prescriptions while at the hospital. (Newkirk, 3/8)

The Desert Sun: Palm Springs Retiree Healthcare Costs Exceed All The Other Desert Cities Combined
At last year’s state of the city address, Palm Springs Mayor Rob Moon went where few politicians are willing to go. He outed the city for a growing debt, but not necessarily by choice. Moving quickly through his presentation, Moon stopped on a slide showing that over several decades the city would owe not only $110 million to pensioners but $107 million in retiree healthcare costs, an amount greater than all the other cities in Coachella Valley combined. (Marx, 3/8)

Orange County Register: E-Cigarettes Easier To Get Than Fresh Produce In Southern California Stores 
An increasing number of Southern California stores sell e-cigarettes, and shoppers are more likely to find fruit-flavored tobacco products than fresh produce on the shelves. That’s according to 2016 data released Wednesday by the statewide “Healthy Stores for a Healthy Community” campaign that analyzed advertising and merchandise from more than 7,100 stores across California. The survey included pharmacies, supermarkets, convenience stores and smoke shops. (Perkes, 3/8)

Capital Public Radio: Challenges May Be Ahead For Physicians Who Recommend Medical Marijuana 
In a single day, Dr. Binoj Matthew can see anywhere between 25 and 60 patients at Tetra Health Centers. Tucked away in the Arden-Arcade neighborhood, this clinic is one of dozens of medicinal marijuana evaluation businesses in town. Matthew is the medical director of the clinic. He determines whether patients would benefit from using medicinal marijuana. (Johnson, 3/8)

KPBS Public Media: Why This UC San Diego Professor Planned His Surgery In Virtual Reality 
In an unusual approach to this kind of operation, [Larry] Smarr and his surgeon decided to use 3D imaging in the planning and execution of his recent colon resection surgery. They say the experiment was a success. And now, the man known for evangelizing the concept of the "quantified self" is on a mission to popularize the idea of "quantified surgery." (Wagner, 3/9)

Los Angeles Times: An Outbreak In Brazil Has U.S. Health Experts Wondering If Yellow Fever Could Be The Next Zika
Yellow fever has broken out in the jungles outside Brazil’s most densely-populated cities, raising a frightening but still remote possibility: an epidemic that could decimate that country’s population and spread throughout the Americas, including the United States. (Healy, 3/8)

The Associated Press: FDA Issues Warning About Risky Vein Opening Procedure
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday again warned patients and doctors to avoid a risky, experimental procedure promoted as a treatment for several nervous system disorders, including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. The procedure involves inflating a tiny balloon in narrowed veins, usually in the neck, to widen them and improve blood flow. (Johnson, 3/8)

Politico: Obesity's Hefty Price Tag
Memphis may be the heaviest city in the country, but it isn’t much of an outlier. From the trimmest state, Colorado, to the most obese, Mississippi, the entire nation has been on a perilous—and costly—upward track when it comes to extreme weight gain. Severe obesity (a BMI of 40 or more)—the kind most harmful to individual well-being and expensive to society—is rising at an alarming rate and may affect 11 percent of U.S. adults by 2030. (Baker, 3/8)