The New York Times: Senate Rejects Slimmed-Down Obamacare Repeal As McCain Votes No
The Senate in the early hours of Friday morning rejected a new, scaled-down Republican plan to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, derailing the Republicans’ seven-year campaign to dismantle President Barack Obama’s signature health care law and dealing a huge political setback to President Trump. Senator John McCain of Arizona, who just this week returned to the Senate after receiving a diagnosis of brain cancer, cast the decisive vote to defeat the proposal, joining two other Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, in opposing it. (Pear and Kaplan, 7/27)

The Hill: Senate ObamaCare Repeal Bill Falls In Shocking Vote
The Senate voted 49-51 against the "skinny" bill, which would have repealed ObamaCare's individual and employer mandates and defunded Planned Parenthood. (Sullivan, 7/28)

Politico: Senate Rejects Obamacare Repeal
"I do my job as a senator," McCain said after he left the Senate chamber, saying he voted against the Obamacare repeal bill "because I thought it was the right vote." ... Later, McCain issued a statement offering a more thorough explanation of his vote, saying that he has always believed that Obamacare should be repealed and replaced with a solution that "increases competition, lowers costs and improves care for the American people." (Bresnahan, Everett, Haberkorn and Kim, 7/28)

USA Today: Senate Narrowly Defeats 'Skinny Repeal' Of Obamacare, As McCain Votes 'No'
McConnell said at about 2 a.m. that it was "time to move on" rather than trying again to pass a GOP bill. He said he wants to hear ideas from Democrats about what to do next on health care. "What we tried to accomplish for the American people was the right thing for the country," McConnell, who was clearly shaken, said after the vote. "And our only regret is that we didn't achieve what we had hoped to accomplish. I think the American people are going to regret that we couldn't find a better way forward." (Kelly and Collins, 7/27)

The Washington Post: The Night John McCain Killed The GOP’s Health-Care Fight
It was the most dramatic night in the United States Senate in recent history. Just ask the senators who witnessed it. A seven-year quest to undo the Affordable Care Act collapsed — at least for now — as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) kept his colleagues and the press corps in suspense over a little more than two hours late Thursday into early Friday. Not since September 2008, when the House of Representatives rejected the Troubled Asset Relief Program — causing the Dow Jones industrial average to plunge nearly 800 points in a single afternoon — had such an unexpected vote caused such a striking twist. (O'Keefe, 7/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate ‘Skinny’ Repeal Vote Was All About John McCain
As Mr. McCain entered the chamber, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) was urging his colleagues to find common ground. From a corner of the Senate chamber, Mr. McCain quietly clapped. It would be one of his most visible final gestures before Mr. McCain, at about 1:27 a.m., stuck his thumb down and formally registered himself as the vote that would block the GOP health plan from advancing. That vote took a long time to come. For almost an hour, the Senate clerks refrained from gaveling the previous vote to a close as Republicans clustered around Mr. McCain. First, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) squeezed him on the shoulder. Then, Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) joined them, laughing. Those were to be the only three Republican senators to vote against the GOP “skinny repeal” proposal, just enough to derail it—and with it the broader GOP effort to repeal and replace the ACA. (Hughes, 7/28)

Politico: How McCain Upended Obamacare Repeal
Paul Ryan couldn’t persuade him. Neither could Mike Pence. And in the end, President Donald Trump couldn’t reel in John McCain either. The president made a last-ditch effort, calling the Arizona senator and key holdout on the GOP’s Obamacare repeal measure, as the bill’s fate hung in the balance, according to two sources familiar with the conversation. After Pence had spent about 20 minutes working McCain, the senator went off the floor to speak with Trump by phone, those sources said. (Kim, Everett and Haberkorn, 7/28)

The Washington Post: Female Senators Are Increasingly On Receiving End Of Insults From Male Officials
Republican female senators whose disapproval of the GOP health-care effort has at times endangered its progress are facing an increasingly pointed backlash from men in their party, including a handful of comments that invoked physical retaliation. In the past week, Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) has been challenged by a male lawmaker to a duel. She and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) were told that they and others deserve a physical reprimand for their decisions not to support Republican health-care proposals. Murkowski, who voted with Collins against starting the health-care debate this week, was specifically called out by President Trump on Twitter and told by a Cabinet official that Alaska could suffer for her choice, according to a colleague. (Viebeck, 7/27)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘Skinny’ Repeal Of Obamacare Fails In Senate
Friday’s vote leaves Republicans without any clear next step in their monthslong effort to roll back the ACA and with no significant legislative accomplishment during President Donald Trump’s first seven months in office. “This is clearly a disappointing moment,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said on the Senate floor moments after the vote. “I regret that our efforts were simply not enough this time.” (Peterson, Hackman and Hughes, 7/28)

NPR: McCain Votes No, Dealing Potential Death Blow To Republican Health Care Efforts
The defeat ends — for now — the health care debate in Congress. The chamber adjourned following the defeat and there are no further Senate votes this week. In the short-term, the Senate intends to move on to defense legislation and the nomination of Christopher Wray to be the next FBI Director. In a written statement from McConnell's office after the vote, he seemed to indicate a GOP-only effort on health care may be dead. (Davis and Montanaro, 7/28)

Los Angeles Times: McCain, Two Other GOP Senators Join Democrats To Reject Last-Ditch Effort To Repeal Obamacare
Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said he looked forward to taking a bipartisan approach to healthcare reform. "It’s time to turn the page," he said. "We are not celebrating. We are relieved. "Shortly after the vote, President Trump responded on Twitter: “3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!” (Mascaro, 7/27)

The Hill: Lawmakers Look Forward After ObamaCare Repeal Failure
Senators walked off the floor around 2 a.m. Friday after the stunning defeat of a seven-years-long pledge to repeal and replace ObamaCare, leaving the lawmakers to face one inevitable question: whats next for healthcare reform? Three main answers emerged — bipartisan committee work, stabilizing the insurance markets and administration action to change the healthcare law. (Roubein and Hellmann, 7/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Insurers Relieved As ‘Skinny’ Health Bill Fails But Warn Of Rising Rates, Exits From Exchanges
Senate Republicans’ failure to pass their limited health bill is a relief for health insurers, but it leaves the companies struggling with increasingly urgent questions as they make decisions about participating in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges. Insurers had already been pressing for legislation aimed at stabilizing the marketplaces, an idea that is likely to now move into the spotlight with the apparent collapse of Republicans’ efforts to repeal the ACA, also known as Obamacare. But it’s not clear that any bill can move forward fast enough to affect the markets for next year, as insurers must file rates by mid-August and make final decisions about participation by late September. (Wilde Mathews, 7/28)

The Atlantic: The Limits Of Bullying
While it might have been a long shot given her earlier votes, Republicans might have still salvaged Murkowski's support. But that chance was probably lost when the Trump administration threatened the entire state of Alaska to try to coerce her into backing repeal. Collins seemed opposed to full repeal from the beginning of this process. But if anything, Texas Republican Blake Farenthold's threat to duel her solidified her position rather than weakening it. By the wee hours of Friday morning, as Republican senators huddled around her trying to win their votes, it was too late. (Serwer, 7/28)

The New York Times: ‘I Am Totally Burned Out’: Patients Watch Health Care Debate With Dread
Ever since the November election, when the fate of her family’s health coverage was suddenly up for grabs, Meghan Borland has been consumed by each twitch and turn of the political debate. She has gone to protests, met with her congressman, lost sleep, shed tears. “My emotions are like a Ping-Pong ball being bounced back and forth between the players,” said Mrs. Borland, who, with her husband, owns a karate school in Pleasant Valley, N.Y., and whose younger daughter, Amelia, 2, is receiving chemotherapy for leukemia. (Hoffman, 7/27)

Bloomberg: Health-Care Mess Makes Farming Even Riskier
As lawmakers debate the future of the Affordable Care Act, farmers across the country are worried about their own futures, with health insurance a top concern. Three out of four U.S. farmers and ranchers said health insurance was an important or very important risk management strategy for their businesses in a recent survey led by the University of Vermont. (Shanker, 7/28)

Bloomberg: With Or Without Obamacare, Health-Care Costs Are Battering The Middle Class
Whatever happens to Obamacare in Washington, the rest of America will be left with a problem it’s had for decades: Health-care spending is growing at an unsustainable rate. Insurance and medical costs are draining the incomes of the middle class—tens of millions of people who earn too much to qualify for government-subsidized coverage, but not so much that they don’t feel the bite of medical bills—and nothing on Congress’s agenda is likely to fix that. (Tozzi, 7/27)

Orange County Register: Trial Begins For Man Accused Of Killing Newport Beach Doctor Over Medical Procedure
Trial began on Thursday for a Lake Elsinore man accused of shooting and killing his former urologist, whom he allegedly blamed for an unsuccessful medical procedure that he believed had ruined his life.Stanwood Fred Elkus, now 79, is facing possible life in prison without parole for allegedly shooting Dr. Ronald Gilbert, 52, as the doctor walked into an exam room at his Newport Beach medical office on Jan. 28, 2013. (Puente, 7/27)

In other news —

The Mercury News: Santa Cruz Brain Surgeon And Nurse Appear In Santa Cruz Court On Child Rape Charges
Brain surgeon and accused child molester 57-year-old James Kohut has lost weight in his 10 weeks at Santa Cruz County Jail, but appeared shaven with a fresh haircut at a hearing Thursday morning in Santa Cruz County Superior Court. ...Kohut faces 11 felonies and Brandon faces eight felonies linked with raping children and recording some of the acts in Santa Cruz County, according to court documents. (Todd, 7/27)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Taking Antibiotics For Full 7 To 14 Days Can Actually Harm You
The latest evidence comes from a study published this week in the journal BMJ by a group of British scientists. That team joins an expanding chorus of experts who said there’s no scientific support for the conventional wisdom, first adopted in the mid-1940s, that long courses of antibiotics help prevent bacteria from developing immunity to many or most of the weapons in the antibiotic arsenal. (Sisson, 7/28)

In other public health news —

The Mercury News: High Blood Pressure Study: 7 Of 9 Medi-Cal Plans Improved Rates
Teamwork across Medicaid health plans can — even with moderate resources — improve the quality of health care compared to efforts by individual health plans alone, a new study shows. A report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that a year-long collaboration between nine of California’s 23 Medi-Cal managed care plans helped increase the number of patients who controlled their high blood pressure rates. (Seipel, 7/27)

Los Angeles Times: Single Payer Can't Happen In California. At Least, Not Right Away
Given the dismal state of healthcare reform in Washington, liberal Californians have rallied around the idea that the state should establish a single-payer program. Although in the future such a system would be workable and desirable, the reality is that at the moment a single-payer bill cannot pass. Fighting for one in the immediate term is a waste of time. (Steve Tarzynski, 7/25)

Sacramento Bee: Health Reform: Try Medicare For All
In the short term, Congress should shore up the Affordable Care Act with bipartisan, commonsense improvements, such as a reinsurance program to stabilize the market for high-risk policyholders, legislation to make cost-sharing reductions permanent, and government permission to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. But in the longer term, the time is right to think about ways to make access to health care truly universal and cover those who are still left behind. By far the simplest solution is Medicare For All. (John Garamendi, 7/27)

Sacramento Bee: Trump Wants To Reinstate Hate In The Military
It may be yet another diversion from the controversies closing in on the White House. It may be to appease House conservatives and an early appeal for the 2018 election. Regardless, President Donald Trump’s declaration Wednesday that transgender Americans will not be allowed to serve in the military is a disgrace. The fair-minded in Congress should stop this from happening. (7/26)

Los Angeles Times: Is USC Committed To Transparency, Or Just Damage Control?
Officials at the University of Southern California are now in full damage-control mode. Facing growing anger that the university ignored or mishandled reports alleging that the former medical school dean took drugs and partied with a circle of criminals and drug abusers, USC President C.L. Max Nikias finally admitted this week that “we could have done better.” (7/28)

Orange County Register: Burn Pits Are The New ‘Agent Orange’ For Cancer-Stricken Veterans, California Marine Says 
Veterans of the 1990 Gulf War and beyond call the open air burn pits of our Middle East wars their generation’s version of Agent Orange, and they make no exaggeration. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs listed 110,989 veterans and service members in its latest burn pits registry.Yet the statistics and cries from veterans have had all the impact of unexploded ordnance — which the burn pits also consumed. (David Whiting, 7/21)

Sacramento Bee: Insurance For Glasses Will Cut Diabetes 
In 2014, optometrists detected early signs of diabetes in nearly a quarter million Americans who didn’t know they had the chronic, sight-robbing and deadly disease. Early detection makes an enormous difference, yet many people won’t get crucial eye examinations if they know they can’t afford new glasses. (Sage Hider and Kate Renwick-Espinosa, 7/24)

Los Angeles Times: Yes, We Can Lower Sky-High Drug Prices — Other Countries Have Done It 
In the United States, profit comes before public interest. There are no limits to how much can be charged for a prescription drug, particularly specialty drugs intended for the costliest illnesses. (David Lazarus, 7/25)

Sacramento Bee: Big Pharma Ducks Obamacare Debate, Fights Transparency In Drug Pricing
Back in Sacramento, drug companies fight to kill Senate Bill 17, which would force some transparency in drug pricing. ... It would apply to drugs that cost more than $40 a month and would require drug companies to issue 60-day notices when they intend to raise prices by more than 10 percent over a two-year period. (7/24)

Los Angeles Times: Shining A Light On Prescription Drug Pricing
Legislature may finally pass a bill that responds to the problem of rising prescription drug costs. But temper your enthusiasm: Though this measure (SB 17) has been fiercely resisted by the pharmaceutical industry, it wouldn’t actually stop manufacturers from raising their prices as high as they think the market will bear. It would just make them reveal more about the cost and value of their drugs as they do so. (7/24)

Los Angeles Times: Don't Believe The American Heart Assn. — Butter, Steak And Coconut Oil Aren't Likely To Kill You
Last month, the American Heart Assn. once again went after butter, steak and especially coconut oil with this familiar warning: The saturated fats in these foods cause heart disease. The organization’s “presidential advisory” was a fresh look at the science and came in response to a growing number of researchers, including myself, who have pored over this same data in recent years and beg to differ. A rigorous review of the evidence shows that when it comes to heart attacks or mortality, saturated fats are not guilty. (Nina Teicholz, 7/23)

Orange County Register: California Performs Poorly On Food Stamp Program 
Too often, the government has seen increases in the food stamp and other welfare programs as a success, rather than focusing on how many people do not need assistance. It is encouraging that the numbers have been dropping, as people’s economic prospects have improved, but we still have a long way to go to get back to prerecession levels. (7/27)