Politico: How A Secret Freedom Caucus Pact Brought Down Obamacare Repeal
Speaker Paul Ryan and House leaders had been toiling behind closed doors for weeks assembling their Obamacare repeal bill as suspicion on the far-right simmered to a boil. So on March 7, just hours after Ryan unveiled a plan that confirmed its worst fears, the House Freedom Caucus rushed to devise a counterstrategy. The few dozen true believers knew that pressure from House leaders and President Donald Trump to fall in line would be immense and they were intent on not getting boxed in. (Bade, Dawsey and Haberkorn, 3/26)

The Wall Street Journal: How Democrats Aided In The Demise Of The GOP’s Health Bill
President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the defeat of his bid to overturn the 2010 Affordable Care Act and enact Republican policy in its place. In some ways he may have been right. Supporters of the health law popularly known as Obamacare launched an all-out campaign for its survival, keeping Democrats unified in opposition to its repeal, and identifying and exploiting Republican divisions that ultimately forced GOP leaders to pull the bill at the eleventh hour Friday. (Radnofsky, 3/26)

Roll Call: How The GOP’s Health Care Law Went Down
It was a nail-biter of a day with a photo finish. The Republican Party’s seven-year effort to repeal the 2010 health care law ended with a thud Friday when the GOP decided not to even subject its do-or-die alternative to a vote. ... Here’s how it all went down Friday. (Akin, 3/24)

The New York Times: G.O.P., Once Unified Against Obama, Struggles For Consensus Under Trump
Whenever a major conservative plan in Washington has collapsed, blame has usually been fairly easy to pin on the Republican hard-liners who insist on purity over practicality. But as Republicans sifted through the detritus of their failed effort to replace the Affordable Care Act, they were finding fault almost everywhere they looked. (Peters, 3/26)

The New York Times: Paul Ryan Emerges From Health Care Defeat Badly Damaged
For two days in January, all seemed right in the Republican Party. Gathered in Philadelphia for their annual congressional retreat, less than a week after President Trump’s inauguration, lawmakers exulted in the possibilities of total government control, grinning through forums about an aggressive 200-day agenda that began with honoring a central campaign promise: repealing the Affordable Care Act. (Flegenheimer and Kaplan, 3/25)

The New York Times: Trump Becomes Ensnared In Fiery G.O.P. Civil War
President Trump ignites a lot of fights, but his failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the biggest defeat in his short time in the White House, was the result of something else: a long-running Republican civil war that humbled a generation of party leaders before he ever came to Washington. (Thrush and Haberman, 3/25)

Bloomberg: Trump Praises Ryan On Health As Aides Privately Blame The Speaker 
In public, President Donald Trump is standing by House Speaker Paul Ryan over the failed Obamacare replacement bill. “I like Speaker Ryan; he worked very, very hard,” Trump said in the Oval Office after Ryan on Friday pulled the legislation from the House floor for lack of support. Instead, the president pinned the responsibility on Democrats. Behind the scenes, though, the president’s aides blame Ryan for the bill’s embarrassing defeat, which stymied a Republican goal for more than seven years, a senior administration official said. (Jacobs and Pettypiece, 3/24)

Roll Call: Cloud Hangs Over Trump-Ryan Partnership After Health Care Bill Fails
The death of President Donald Trump’s first major legislative initiative raises major questions about his ability to keep the fractious Republican caucus together and work with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan. GOP House members handed Trump another early-term setback Friday by killing the health care bill he demanded they take up when too many of them refused to support it. (Bennett, 3/27)

The Washington Post: Trump Shifts Blame For Health-Care Collapse To Far Right
President Trump cast blame Sunday for the collapse of his effort to overhaul the health-care system on conservative interest groups and far-right Republican lawmakers, shifting culpability to his own party after initially faulting Democratic intransigence. His attack — starting with a tweet that singled out the House Freedom Caucus as well as the influential Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America — marked a new turn in the increasingly troubled relationship between the White House and a divided GOP still adjusting to its unorthodox standard-bearer. (Sullivan, Wagner and Phillips, 3/26)

Stat: In Trump Country, Voters Know Who’s To Blame For The Health Bill Debacle. And It’s Not Their President.
They blame the establishment. They blame the Democrats. They blame the media. But it seems that few voters in Trump country blame President Trump for the stunning collapse of the Republican-led effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. “He did all he could, I think,” said Edward Reede, 73, who was pacing the sidewalk as he waited for a relative in the rural town of Front Royal in northwest Virginia. “You can only do so much as president. You can only twist so many arms.” (Siegelbaum and Martin, 3/25)

The New York Times: Democrats, Buoyed By G.O.P. Health Defeat, See No Need To Offer Hand
President Trump, looking for a flicker of hope after his Republican majority fell to pieces last week, predicted that the opposition party would eventually give in: “I honestly believe the Democrats will come to us and say let’s get together and get a great health care bill or plan,” he said. But Democrats will not be lending a hand anytime soon. (Martin, 3/26)

The Associated Press: Blaming Conservatives, Trump Signals New Openness To Dems
[The president's] aides made clear that Trump would be seeking support from moderate Democrats, leaving open the possibility he could still revisit health care legislation. White House chief of staff Reince Priebus scolded conservative Republicans, explaining that Trump had felt "disappointed" that a "number of people he thought were loyal to him that weren't." (3/26)

Politico: Trump’s Obamacare Stumble Empowers Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi is suddenly relevant again. The implosion of the all-Republican effort to lay waste to Obamacare showed that President Donald Trump might need the San Francisco Democrat to salvage the rest of his agenda. The self-professed master negotiator couldn’t get it done with his own party, despite a 44-seat House majority, and hinted afterward he might start to look across the aisle. (Caygle, 3/27)

The Washington Post: With AHCA Defeat, Some Democrats See Chance To Push For Universal Coverage
At their first town meeting since the Republicans’ surprise surrender on the Affordable Care Act, progressives in blue America celebrated — then asked for more. Rhode Island’s two Democratic senators, joined by Rep. Jim Langevin, told several hundred happy constituents that the next step in health reform had to mean expanded coverage, provided by the government. “We have to look harder at a single-payer system,” said Langevin (D-R.I.), using a term for universal coverage. (Weigel, 3/26)

The New York Times: Some Lawmakers Now Look To Bipartisanship On Health Care
The sudden death of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act has created an opening for voices from both parties to press for fixes to the acknowledged problems in President Barack Obama’s signature health law, as lawmakers and some senior White House officials appealed for bipartisanship. But the White House, still smarting from a disastrous defeat on Friday, appeared uncertain on the path forward. President Trump predicted that “Obamacare will explode” and offered no plan to stop it, but his was not the only voice from the White House. (Pear and Shear, 3/26)

The New York Times: Health Bill’s Failure Leaves Supporters In A Political Jam Back Home
They went to unusual, even dangerous lengths to support President Trump’s unpopular health care bill, facing down protesters at home and begging for special accommodation from House leaders in Washington. John Faso of New York negotiated a side deal for his state in exchange for backing it. Mike Coffman was the lone Colorado lawmaker to endorse the bill, while his Republican neighbors agonized and stalled. (Burns, 3/25)

Los Angeles Times: Failure Of Their Healthcare Bill Leaves Republicans Running Obamacare. That Could Open The Way For Bipartisan Changes
Unable to kill the Affordable Care Act, Republicans may now have to fix it. The White House and even GOP members of Congress risk a huge political backlash if they allow the healthcare law to come apart, as President Trump has predicted it will. That leaves Republicans with a strong incentive to take steps to shore up Obamacare insurance markets, keep premiums in check and preserve consumer protections in a way that would be acceptable to both sides of the aisle in Congress. (Levey, 3/25)

Reuters: How Republicans Can Hobble Obamacare Even Without Repeal
Republicans may have failed to overthrow Obamacare this week, but there are plenty of ways they can chip away at it. The Trump administration has already begun using its regulatory authority to water down less prominent aspects of the 2010 healthcare law. (Steenhuysen, 3/26)

The Wall Street Journal: With GOP Plan Dead, Trump Weighs Other Ways To Reshape Health Care
With the collapse of Republicans’ health plan in the House on Friday, the Trump administration is set to ramp up its efforts to alter the Affordable Care Act in one of the few ways it has left — by making changes to the law through waivers and rule changes. The initiative now rests with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who has vowed to review every page of regulation and guidance related to the ACA. The steps he and the administration take next could have sweeping repercussions, accomplishing some of the same types of changes Republicans were unable to push through Congress. (Armour, 3/25)

The Associated Press: Now What? Options For Consumers As Health Law Drama Fades
As the political drama over health care legislation in Washington fades, the rest of the country faces a more immediate concern: Getting insurance for next year. The Republican health plan designed to replace the Obama-era health law known as the Affordable Care Act would not have taken full effect for a few years anyway — and now it's dead. (3/25)

Politico Pro: What's Next After Obamacare's Latest Brush With Death? 
Congress choked. Obamacare lives.House Republicans are at an unfamiliar crossroads after their seven-year effort to repeal the law collapsed. The direction they and the Trump administration choose will determine whether Obamacare survives, or faces new threats as political opposition continues to simmer and flaws recognized even by its supporters go unaddressed. (Cancryn, Haberkorn and Pradhan, 3/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Insurers Wrestle With Next Steps As GOP Bill Fails
House Republicans’ failure to pass their bill overhauling the Affordable Care Act leaves health-care companies with continued challenges, most acutely for insurers facing decisions about whether to offer plans in the existing law’s marketplaces next year. (Wilde Mathews and Evans, 3/24)

The Associated Press: New Anxieties As Trump Says Obamacare Will 'Explode'
Americans who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act are feeling some relief at the failure of Republican efforts to repeal it, but they face new anxieties with President Donald Trump tweeting that "ObamaCare will explode." Premiums have risen and major insurers have backed out of the state markets where people can buy insurance online under Obama's signature health care law. But people who say it saved their lives or helped them start a business want lawmakers to fix these problems, not encourage them. (3/26)

Fresno Bee: Disappointment And Relief: Valley Reaction To Pulled Federal Health Bill 
Central San Joaquin Valley political and community leaders voiced disappointment to cautious relief at the president’s request that the American Health Care Act be pulled from consideration for a vote Friday. Long-time Fresno Republican Michael Der Manouel said Friday “was a feeble attempt” to stop the federal health care system from bankrupting the country. “And it couldn’t be done.” Der Manouel said it’s now “up to the Freedom Caucus to show their plan.” The conservative group of legislators killed the American Health Care Act, he said. (Anderson, 3/24)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Relief And Defiance Voiced On North Coast As GOP Health Bill Dies 
The failure by Republicans and President Donald Trump to muster the House votes needed to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s signature health care law left many North Coast residents on Friday breathing a sigh of relief, celebrating a reprieve for a policy they support and a major political loss for an administration they vocally oppose. The overhaul bill foundered this week amid defections by both moderate and hard-line conservative Republicans, leading Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan to pull the American Health Care Act before a full House vote that lacked the GOP support it needed to pass. (Espinoza, 3/24)

California Healthline: Californians Speak After GOP’s Obamacare Repeal Attempt Falls Flat
Relief, disappointment, unassuaged worry, political swagger, straightforward determination. From the state Capitol to the halls of academia, and from the interior to the coast, Californians reacted strongly on Friday to the dramatic news that the Affordable Care Act would be around “for the foreseeable future,” as House Speaker Paul Ryan conceded after being forced to withdraw the Republican repeal bill for lack of support within his own party. Here are some of the comments from policymakers, advocates and consumers around the state. (3/27)

Orange County Register: Orange County Democrats Call On GOP To Help Fix Obamacare 
While glad to see Republicans’ proposed health plan withdrawn Friday, Orange County Democrats in Congress acknowledged shortcomings of Obamacare and said they hope to work with Republicans to improve the current system. “The right thing to do is to fix it; for Republicans and Democrats to get together and fix it,” said freshman Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana. (Wisckol, 3/24)

The Mercury News: Rep. Lofgren: 'We Need To Be Vigilant'
“What this fight showed is that when the American people speak up, they win,” [Rep. Zoe] Lofgren said at a spirited town-hall meeting with constituents. “We need to be vigilant.” President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan might have suffered serious blows to their political momentum on their political and policy agendas, but the largely partisan crowd at the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors chambers seemed to feel a sense of hope. (Hansen, 3/25)

Meanwhile —

Los Angeles Times: Meet Indivisible, The Young Progressives Leading The Resistance To President Trump
The idea started with a public Google document. In the weeks after Donald Trump won last year’s presidential election and Republicans kept control of Congress, Sarah Dohl, along with a handful of friends and former Capitol Hill colleagues, wanted Americans — mostly distraught Democrats — to know their voices could still be heard. Not expecting much, they published online a 26-page document in mid-December, outlining a succinct idea: resist. (Lee, 3/26)

KPCC: Bill Would Require State Colleges To Provide Medical Abortions 
A bill in the California legislature would require all public universities and community colleges in the state to provide medical abortions at student health centers. Sen. Connie Leyva (D- Chino) introduced the measure; she said it's important to make medical abortions available on campus. (Lavender, 3/24)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Doctors Honored For Their Charitable Work Across San Diego County 
Across the region, patients struggle to obtain appointments with surgeons and other specialists who can treat them. That’s the case not only for the uninsured, but also for people on Medi-Cal government insurance or some who got coverage through Obamacare. Many specialists don’t accept patients whose insurance policies offer low payments when compared to, say, company-sponsored health plans. So Champions for Health, previously called the San Diego County Medical Society Foundation, runs a program that offers charitable care. Project Access urges local doctors, nurses, other medical professionals and hospitals to donate their time, skills and materials, allowing patients with limited financial means to receive free care.  (Sisson, 3/26)

In other news from across the state —

The Mercury News: Power Tools And Pigs’ Feet? Hands-On Workshop Encourages Young Women To Pursue Medicine, Engineering Careers 
The sound of power tools sawing through fractured thighbones filled a conference room Saturday at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, where a group of teenage girls was hard at work behind safety goggles.Just a few feet away, another group quietly stitched up wounds on pigs’ feet. The girls — all high school students from throughout the Bay Area — learned the basics of orthopedic surgery and engineering concepts from a team of Kaiser physicians and other staff as part of an outreach program with the Perry Initiative, an organization dedicated to getting young women interested in pursuing medical and engineering careers. (Sanchez, 3/25)

Ventura County Star: Camarillo Hospice And Livingston Memorial To Merge
The volunteer boards of Camarillo Hospice and Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice have agreed to merge the two nonprofits in a move to broaden the continuum of care for Ventura County residents. The closing of the merger is expected in April, with Camarillo Hospice operating as a program of Livingston. The organizations have long shared a mission of providing care for people who have serious life-threatening or terminal illnesses. By bringing their services together, they say they are creating a unique community-based health system for end-of-life care throughout the county. (3/24)

KPCC: California To Fight Methane Leaks From Pipelines, Underground Gas Storage Sites Like Aliso Canyon 
As Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency seek to roll back federal regulations designed to fight climate change and air pollution, California is pushing ahead with rules of its own. At a meeting in Riverside on Thursday, the California Air Resources Board passed the nation’s strictest methane regulations for the oil and gas industry. (Guerin, 3/24)

Sacramento Bee: Cancer Patients Blog And Draw Their Ways Through Fear 
Intentionally or not, [Kaylin] Andres became part of a blogosphere of young patients who fend off cancer’s intrusion in their lives by writing about it. With irreverent names such as I Made Cancer My Bitch, Cancer Slayer Blog and Lord of the Hodge (a Hodgkin’s lymphoma patient), they belong to a generation inspired by Stupid Cancer, a website started by a young brain cancer survivor in 2007 as an online community for cancer patients ages 15 to 39. (Buck, 3/25)