Ryan Downplays Expectations For Health Care Vote As Lawmakers Come Back From Recess

Politico: House GOP Leaders Won’t Rush Health Care Vote
House GOP leaders during a members-only conference call Saturday vowed to avoid a government shutdown and said they're closer to a deal to repeal and replace Obamacare, according to members who participated on the call. But Speaker Paul Ryan also downplayed the possibility of a vote next week, the same sources said. The Wisconsin Republican said the chamber will vote on a conference-wide deal when GOP whips are confident they have the votes for passage — but not until then. (Bade and Haberkorn, 4/22)

The Associated Press: Possible Shutdown, Health Care Quagmire Awaiting Congress
Lawmakers returning to Washington this coming week will find a familiar quagmire on health care legislation and a budget deadline dramatized by the prospect of a protracted battle between President Donald Trump and Democrats over his border wall. (Taylor and Fram, 4/22)

The New York Times: Uphill Battle Looms As Trump Seeks Revamped Healthcare Plan
President Donald Trump, striving to make good on a top campaign promise, is pushing his fellow Republicans who control Congress to pass revamped healthcare legislation but the same intraparty squabbling that torpedoed it last month could do it again. Trump is looking for his first major legislative victory since taking office in January. House of Representatives Republicans are exploring compromises aimed at satisfying the party's most conservative members without antagonizing its moderates, but it remained unclear on Friday whether a viable bill would emerge. (Cornwell, 4/21)

The New York Times: Will The Government Be Open In A Week? Here Are The Dividing Lines
Congressional leaders and White House officials have steered the nation to the brink of a government shutdown that virtually all parties agree would be a terrible idea. ... Here are the dynamics at play as members return from a two-week recess. ... Seeking to squeeze Democrats, Mr. Mulvaney has offered a trade of sorts: $1 of subsidy payments under the Affordable Care Act — paid to insurers to lower deductibles and other costs for low-income consumers who buy plans through the law’s marketplaces — in exchange for every $1 to pay for the border wall that the president wants to build. (Flegenheimer and Kaplan, 4/24)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: How Is Medicare Affected By The House GOP Health Plan?
Medicare, the old-age health program, emerged largely unscathed from the proposed legislation — even the $700 billion in Medicare “cuts” that Republicans used to highlight in attack ads. Those spending reductions have been retained, for now.But there are two provisions in the bill affecting the financing of Medicare that have received relatively little attention. (Kessler, 4/21)

In other national health care news —

The New York Times: Nurse Replaces Surgeon General After Obama Appointee Resigns
Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, an Obama administration holdover, was asked to resign by the Trump administration on Friday. He was replaced by his deputy, Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams, one of the first nurses to serve as surgeon general. Admiral Trent-Adams will for now be in an acting role. As of Friday evening, she had already replaced Dr. Murthy on the surgeon general’s Twitter account, and her portrait had replaced his on the agency’s Facebook page. One of the first comments on that post asked, “Where is Dr. Murthy?” (Ivory and Harris, 2/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Against All Odds, The U.S. Tobacco Industry Is Rolling In Money
It’s a great time to be a cigarette company again. Far fewer Americans are smoking, and yet U.S. tobacco revenue is soaring, thanks to years of steady price hikes. Americans spent more at retail stores on cigarettes in 2016 than they did on soda and beer combined, according to independent market-research firm Euromonitor International. Consolidation and cost cutting are boosting profit. Big Tobacco shares are on a roll. (Maloney and Chaudhuri, 4/23)

NPR: Is It Time For Hearing Aids To Be Sold Over The Counter?
Four out of five older Americans with hearing loss just ignore it, in part because a hearing aid is an unwelcome sign of aging. But what if hearing aids looked like stylish fashion accessories and could be bought at your local pharmacy like reading glasses? That's the vision of Kristen "KR" Liu, who's the director of accessibility and advocacy for Doppler Labs, a company marketing one of these devices. She thinks a hearing aid could be "something that's hip and cool and people have multiple pairs and it's fashionable." (Neighmond and Greenhalgh, 4/24)