Day After Embracing Comprehensive Gun Control, Trump Has ‘Great’ Meeting With NRA Lobbyist
The tone of tweets from both President Donald Trump and the lobbyist suggest that the president is walking back from the support he voiced the previous day for tighter gun restrictions.
The New York Times:
N.R.A. Suggests Trump May Retreat From Gun Control
The top lobbyist for the National Rifle Association claimed late Thursday that President Trump had retreated from his surprising support a day earlier for gun control measures after a meeting with N.R.A. officials and Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office. The lobbyist, Chris Cox, posted on Twitter just after 9 p.m. that he met with Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence, saying that “we all want safe schools, mental health reform and to keep guns away from dangerous people. POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control. #NRA #MAGA.” (Shear, Gay Stolberg and Kaplan, 3/1)
Politico:
Conservatives Floored By Trump's Gun Control Lovefest
Minutes into Donald Trump’s renegade embrace of the left’s wish list for gun control, Republican Rep. Warren Davidson’s phone lines blew up. “What is Trump doing?” texted one angry constituent from his conservative southwest Ohio district, according to Davidson. “You’ve got to stop this,” demanded another. “That can’t be real,” Davidson recalled thinking as his supporters — all Trump enthusiasts — unloaded on the president. (Everett and Bade, 3/1)
NPR:
Science On Gun Laws Is Lacking, RAND Report Finds
An analysis published Friday confirms the state of American gun policy science is not good, overall. The nonprofit RAND Corporation analyzed thousands of studies and found only 63 that establish a causal relationship between specific gun policies and outcomes such as reductions in homicide and suicide, leaving lawmakers without clear facts about one of the most divisive issues in American politics. (Hersher, 3/2)
In other national health care news —
The Associated Press:
Uber Starts Offering Rides To The Doctor
Uber is driving deeper into health care by offering to take patients in every U.S. market where it operates to their next medical appointment. The ride-hailing service said Thursday its Uber Health business will handle rides set up by doctor's offices or other health care providers and then bill that business, not the patient, for the service. The company said rides can be set up within a few hours or days in advance. Patients won't need access to a smartphone to use the service. (3/1)
California Healthline:
Buried In The Budget Bill Are Belated Gifts For Some Health Care Providers
When President Donald Trump signed the last-minute budget deal into law earlier this month, the news coverage emphasized how the bill boosted military funding, provided tens of billions in disaster aid and raised the debt ceiling. But buried deep in the 652-page legislation was a repeal of a limit on Medicare coverage of physical and occupational therapy. It received little public attention, but to the American Physical Therapy Association, this headline was decades in the making. (Luthra, 3/2)
The Hill:
Planned Parenthood Announces $20M Midterm Election Campaign
Planned Parenthood's political arm will target eight states in its largest-ever midterm election campaign, the organization announced Thursday. The campaign, called "March. Vote. Win.," will focus on competitive Senate and governor's races with an initial cost of $20 million. (Hellmann and Kamisar, 3/1)
Stat:
How A Society Gala Was Used To Sell Young-Blood Transfusions To Seniors
STAT got an inside look at this $195-a-head symposium, held last month in this wealthy beachside enclave. It offered a striking view of how promoters aggressively market scientifically dubious elixirs to aging people desperate to defy their own mortality. ... Beyond the questionable science, participants have to pay big money to join the trial. Faloon, an evangelist of anti-aging research who cut a slim figure in his black suit and had the thick dark hair of a younger man, acknowledged during his talk that it would be “expensive” to sign up for the trial. (Robbins, 3/2)
Kaiser Health News:
Tens Of Thousands Of Medicaid Recipients Skip Paying New Premiums
When Arkansas lawmakers debated in 2016 whether to renew the state’s Medicaid expansion, many Republican lawmakers were swayed only if some of the 300,000 adults who gained coverage would have to start paying premiums. This “skin-in-the-game” provision — endorsed by conservatives in Washington and in many statehouses — is designed to make Medicaid recipients value their government health insurance more and lead healthier lives. It’s “to encourage more personal responsibility,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters in 2016. “We want to incentivize better, healthy living.” (Galewitz, 3/1)
Kaiser Health News:
ACA’s Popularity Grows, Even As GOP Lauds Change To Requirement To Have Coverage
Despite President Donald Trump’s boasting that “we have essentially repealed Obamacare,” a new poll shows the Affordable Care Act is more popular than ever. In fact, many people don’t know Congress repealed the ACA’s penalty for not having insurance. The poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found 54 percent of Americans had a favorable view of the 2010 health law that expanded health coverage to millions. That was up four points from January, and it’s highest point since the monthly survey began in 2010. (Galewitz, 3/1)