Obama Mocks GOP For Not Having ‘Even A Hint Of Plan’ On How To Replace Health Law

The Hill: Obama: GOP Doesn't Have 'A Hint' Of Plan To Replace ObamaCare 
President Obama on Thursday mocked Republicans, saying they do not even have “a hint” of a plan to replace ObamaCare, despite vowing to repeal it. “They don’t even have a pretense of a plan,” Obama said at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in Miami, Fla. “They don’t even have a semblance of a plan. There’s not even a hint of a plan.” Obama touted that the law has expanded coverage to 20 million people who did not have it before. (Sullivan, 11/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Obama Plays Down Impact Of Health-Care Premium Increases
President Barack Obama said “a handful of people” would take a hit from hefty health-insurance premium increases due to kick in next year, and that all of those people had previously been uninsured, in remarks that downplayed problems with his signature health law as it takes on greater prominence in the final days before the election. Data from the Department of Health and Human Services puts that handful as high as 8.4 million – between almost seven million people who buy coverage directly from insurers, and another 1.5 million who use HealthCare.gov or a state equivalent but don’t meet income criteria for a tax credit. Others say the handful may be even higher. (Radnofsky, 11/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Public Option For U.S. Health Insurance Gains Visibility In Debate Over Affordable Care Act
Advocates and opponents are gearing up for a life or death battle over a problematic Affordable Care Act in 2017, and the idea of a government option in health insurance is gaining some traction among Democratic legislators. ... A public option would involve a government-run health plan that would compete with private options offered on the health law’s exchanges. It would be different from a so-called single-payer system under which a government-run national health insurance program would cover everyone. (Armour, 11/3)

In other national health care news —

Bloomberg: U.S. Charges In Generic-Drug Probe To Be Filed By Year-End 
U.S. prosecutors are bearing down on generic pharmaceutical companies in a sweeping criminal investigation into suspected price collusion, a fresh challenge for an industry that’s already reeling from public outrage over the spiraling costs of some medicines. The antitrust investigation by the Justice Department, begun about two years ago, now spans more than a dozen companies and about two dozen drugs, according to people familiar with the matter. The grand jury probe is examining whether some executives agreed with one another to raise prices, and the first charges could emerge by the end of the year, they said. (McLaughlin and Chen, 11/3)

Stat: Hospitals Itching For A Share Of The Mylan Settlement Over Medicaid Rebates
More than 1,200 hospitals around the country want to know if they were overcharged by Mylan Pharmaceuticals for the EpiPen auto-injector. In a letter sent earlier this week to the Department of Justice, an industry trade group called 340B Health cited a recent settlement in which Mylan agreed to a $465 million settlement to resolve accusations of shortchanging Medicaid by failing to pay the appropriate rebates. These hospitals participate in a federal program known as 340B in which drug makers must offer discounts of up to 50 percent on all outpatient drugs to hospitals and clinics that serve indigent populations. (Silverman, 11/3)

The New York Times: Young Adolescents As Likely To Die From Suicide As From Traffic Accidents
It is now just as likely for middle school students to die from suicide as from traffic accidents. That grim fact was published on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They found that in 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, the suicide rate for children ages 10 to 14 had caught up to their death rate for traffic accidents. (Tavernise, 11/3)