Los Angeles Times: California's Republicans All Voted Yes On The Healthcare Bill. Now Democrats Have A Campaign Issue
All 14 Republicans in California’s congressional delegation voted Thursday to dismantle Obamacare, a move that could have ripple effects for the midterm elections 18 months from now as Democrats sense an opportunity to win back House control. Half of the 14 represent districts that backed Hillary Clinton for president last fall, and Democrats already are plotting to oust vulnerable Republicans on the same topic that swept them out of the majority following the 2010 Affordable Care Act vote. (Wire, 5/4)

The Mercury News: California GOP Congressional Delegation Helps Pass Obamacare Repeal 
The House Republicans’ victory on Thursday in passing a bill to repeal and replace “Obamacare” couldn’t have happened without the unanimous support from the 14 members of California’s GOP congressional delegation. Those votes drew praise from some Californians convinced Obamacare has been a burden and must go.  But healthcare advocates around the state called the votes a stunning reversal — some said “betrayal” — by several representatives who previously had cited serious concerns about the GOP legislation, which was opposed by all 39 House Democrats. (Seipel, 5/4)

The Bakersfield Californian: David Valadao, Kevin McCarthy Vote For Health-Care Bill; Critics Include Governor
Both of Bakersfield's congressmen voted for the American Health Care Act Thursday as the legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act moved forward. The vote by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, was expected. The position of Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, was an open question until the bitter end... Valadao was co-author of a critical $8 billion provision added to the bill late that would fund premiums for high-risk patients. While McCarthy's 23rd Congressional District is a bastion of Republican red, registration in Valadao's largely poor, diverse 21st District is very blue. The district voted 55.2 percent for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in November. (Burger, 5/4)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Darrell Issa's Yes Vote On Obamacare Repeal Makes Him Center Of Attention 
After days of saying he was undecided and even that he didn’t want to talk about it, Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republican lawmaker from Vista who represents northern San Diego County and southern Orange County, joined those who voted to approve a health care bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare. Even as his supporters praised his vote, Issa’s detractors blasted it, saying it may have been the 216th vote to put the measure over the top. Needing 216 for approval, the bill passed narrowly, 217-213, and the last few votes registered slowly as the tally was shown on television. Did Issa cast the 216th vote? (Hamblin, 5/4)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County Reacts To Obamacare Replacement Vote 
Reactions were swift Thursday after Congress narrowly passed an Obamacare overhaul bill, with most in San Diego expressing significant concerns about the new American Health Care Act which now must spend some time in the Senate. In general, that reaction wave seemed to break into two camps: Those who though it went way too far and those who didn’t think it went nearly far enough. (Sisson, 5/4)

Ventura County Star: Amped Up: County Constituents Flood Congress With Messages
Minutes after a political activist posted U.S. Rep. Steve Knight's cellphone number on Facebook, Sam Kaeser's fingers danced. "No AHVA," the 60-year-old Democrat from Simi Valley texted the Republican congressman, then firing off a second message. "Oops — no AHCA! Stupid autocorrect." She sat with her cellphone and computer tablet on a Thursday in March, feeling empowered. This was her chance to be heard, her opportunity to plunge into the flood that in the months since Donald Trump's election let loose millions of emails, phone calls and Facebook comments to the senators and congress members who represent Ventura County. (Kisken, 5/4)

The New York Times: House Passes Measure To Repeal And Replace The Affordable Care Act
The House on Thursday narrowly approved legislation to repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act, as Republicans recovered from their earlier failures and moved a step closer to delivering on their promise to reshape American health care without mandated insurance coverage. (Kaplan and Pear, 5/4)

Politico: Obamacare Repeal Bill Squeaks By In House
The plan, the American Health Care Act, was approved mostly along partisan lines, 217-213, with just one vote to spare. No Democrats backed the bill, and a slew of Republicans opposed it as well. (Cheney, Bresnahan and Bade, 5/4)

The Washington Post: House Republicans Claim A Major Victory With Passage Of Health-Care Overhaul
The measure proceeded without the benefit of an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office of its cost and impact on insurance coverage, and it did so after many Republicans openly acknowledged that they hadn’t read the bill. President Trump also promised “insurance for everybody,” which the measure will not achieve. (O'Keefe, Winfield Cunningham and Goldstein, 5/4)

Los Angeles Times: With A Push From Trump, House Republicans Pass Obamacare Overhaul
After House GOP leaders had shelved previous attempts to advance the bill because of a lack of support from their own party, Thursday’s vote provided a major legislative victory to Trump, which may give momentum to his other priorities and bolster his efforts to be seen as a leader who can govern with the Republican majority in Congress. (Mascaro and Levey, 5/4)

Politico: The 20 Republicans Who Voted Against The Obamacare Repeal Bill
Here are the 20 House Republicans who opposed the bill. (McCaskill, 5/4)

The Washington Post: Republicans Didn’t Like Their Health-Care Bill But Voted For It Anyway
Republicans pushed a health-care bill through the House Thursday that few lawmakers truly liked. They instead viewed the measure as a necessary step to demonstrate some sense of momentum and some ability to govern in GOP-controlled Washington. (Kane, 5/4)

The Associated Press: A Look At The House Republican Health Care Bill
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Republican bill would result in 24 million fewer people having health insurance by 2026, compared to Obama's 2010 statute. Here are key elements of the bill. (5/5)

The New York Times: What’s In The AHCA: The Major Provisions Of The Republican Health Bill
Here is a summary of major provisions of the House bill, the American Health Care Act. (Pear, 5/4)

The Washington Post: What Is In The Republican Health-Care Bill? Questions And Answers On Preexisting Conditions, Medicaid And More.
In broad strokes, the legislation has a lot of financial aspects. For instance, it would substantially reduce the funding for subsidies that the ACA provides to most people seeking health coverage through insurance marketplaces the law created. It also would make other changes to those subsidies in ways that, overall, would help younger adults and increase premiums for older people. The bill also would eliminate several taxes the ACA created to help pay for its provisions, including on health insurers and affluent Americans. (Eilperin and Goldstein, 5/4)

Politico: What's Actually In The GOP Health Care Bill
The legislation expunges Obamacare’s unpopular individual mandate requiring most Americans to have health insurance. But in its place, the bill allows insurers to charge people who have been uninsured for about two months a 30 percent surcharge on their premiums, an incentive designed to encourage people to maintain insurance coverage. (Ehley, 5/4)

The Washington Post: How The House Got A Health-Care Bill After Trump And Ryan Stepped Back
The rescue effort that pulled the Republicans back from the brink of failure on health care began quietly, with two House members who are not exactly household names trying to find common ground on a little-noticed issue. They were Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), a leader of the moderate House Republican bloc that calls itself the Tuesday Group, and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative and hard-line House Freedom Caucus. The question at hand was giving states more flexibility by allowing them to come up with their own ways of achieving cost savings and providing coverage. (Tumulty and Costa, 5/4)

Roll Call: How The House Finally Got To Yes On Health Care
The House on Thursday squeaked out a one-vote win with the support of all but 20 Republicans, 15 of whom are members of the moderate Tuesday Group. No Democrats supported the bill. The path to 217, the ultimate tally of Republicans who supported the legislation, was fraught. House Republicans missed every deadline they set out for themselves to deliver the repeal of the health care law, a campaign promise they repeated for more than seven years. Leaders had to pull their first version of the legislation from floor consideration in March, when it became clear it lacked the support to pass. Since then, various groups of Republicans have been huddling in meetings like the one convened Monday, to work out policy changes that have bought anywhere from one to 30 votes. (Mershon and McPherson, 5/4)

The Washington Post: Republicans Are Following The Playbook They Attacked In Obamacare Debate
As they raced toward Thursday’s vote on the American Health Care Act, House Republicans found themselves fending off ghosts. Seven years of attacks on the Affordable Care Act, seven years of insisting that the law had been jammed through without scrutiny, kept coming back to haunt them. First, they struggled to answer questions about the need to vote before the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had estimated the costs of an amended AHCA. ... Next, they brushed off questions about whether they’d read the bill. (Weigel, 5/4)

Politico: 5 Instances Of GOP Hypocrisy On Obamacare Repeal
For seven years, Republicans campaigned on a single message: Obamacare was rammed through Congress by power-hungry Democrats who rushed a hastily written bill riddled with backroom kickbacks. But now, after vowing for years that the repeal process would be different, with regular order and plenty of public scrutiny, Republicans are doing the exact same thing — or worse — that they blasted Democrats for repeatedly. Here’s how. (Caygle, 5/4)

Politico: Doubted And Mocked, Ryan Delivers Big For Trump
Thursday may have been Paul Ryan’s best day as speaker of the House. Or according to Democrats, his worst. After months of tense negotiations, false starts and unrelenting pressure from President Donald Trump, a weary-looking Ryan and his leadership team pushed through legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare. It passed with one vote to spare, 217 to 213, with 20 Republicans and all Democrats opposed. (Bresnahan and Haberkorn, 5/4)

The New York Times: Democrats Taunt Republicans With ‘Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye’ During Health Vote
When it became clear on Thursday that Democrats in the United States House of Representatives could not defeat a bill to repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act, they turned to a time-honored American tradition: taunting the other side. “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye,” dozens of Democrats sang in unison as the health care bill crossed the 216 votes needed to pass. (Haag, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: House Bill Makes Health Care A Swing Factor For Midterms
By passing the American Health Care Act to replace Obamacare on Thursday, Republicans ensured that health care could determine the fate of their House majority in the 2018 midterm elections. As Democrats learned when they lost 63 House seats in the 2010 elections, keeping a political promise that upends the American health-care system can be a recipe for electoral disaster—one they now hope befalls Republicans in 2018. (Epstein, 5/4)

NPR: Vote To Repeal Obamacare Could Impact Republican Majority In Midterm Election
"They have this vote tattooed on them. This is a scar they carry," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi declared just after the American Health Care Act passed the House. (Taylor, 5/5)

Politico: The House Republicans Who Could Lose Their Jobs Over Obamacare Repeal
Strategists in both parties already believed the House could be up for grabs in 2018, as it often is two years into a new presidency. But the Obamacare repeal vote was as emotionally charged as they come on Capitol Hill, and a handful of Republicans in districts won by Hillary Clinton may have very well written their political obituary by voting yes. (Robillard, 5/4)

USA Today: Trump Claims Victory On Repealing Obamacare, But He Still Has A Long Way To Go
President Trump took a televised victory lap Thursday after the House voted to pass a bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act – an unusual Rose Garden ceremony considering that final victory remains miles away. "What a great group of people," Trump said, surrounded by some four dozen House Republicans gathered at the White House. "It's going to be an unbelievable victory... when we get it through the Senate." (Jackson, 5/4)

ABC News: Trump Says Obamacare 'Dead' After GOP Health Bill Passes House
[Trump] congratulated and thanked House Speaker Paul Ryan and praised House Republicans for coming together. "What we have is something very, very incredibly well-crafted," Trump said of the bill. "This has really brought the Republican Party together," Trump added. "As much as we've come up with a really incredible health care plan, this has brought the Republican Party together. We're going to get this finished." (Siegel and Stracqualursi, 5/4)

The Washington Post: Trump Crows About His Health-Care Victory — Even Though He Hasn’t Really Won Yet
President Trump clapped and pointed. He grinned and nodded. He mouthed praise and boomed exultations. He even, at one point, turned his back to the lectern to face the House Republican leadership, tossing his arms wide in open embrace before swooping his index fingers above the crowd — as if conducting a symphony of recalcitrant lawmakers who had finally, haltingly, learned how to harmonize. (Parker, 5/4)

Politico: Trump Savors Health Care Win: ‘Hey, I’m President’
“How am I doing? Am I doing OK? I'm president. Hey, I’m president,” Trump said in a Rose Garden victory lap that was unusually elaborate for a bill still so far from becoming law. “Can you believe it?” (Goldmacher, 5/4)

Politico: 'The White House Just Couldn't Let This Go'
Donald Trump had had it.The Obamacare repeal bill that the president had just boasted was on the cusp of passage was suddenly in trouble again, and the president demanded to talk to the influential congressman who dropped a bombshell hours earlier with an announcement he’d be voting “no”: Michigan Rep. Fred Upton. (Bade and Dawsey, 5/5)

The New York Times: The Next Step For The Republican Health Care Bill: A Skeptical Senate
As House Republicans on Thursday shoved their health care bill across the finish line, stuffing it with amendments and extra dollars to secure a hard-won majority, the lawmakers who will inherit the legislation delivered their own message from across the Capitol: That’s cute. On the Senate side, where several Republicans have long been deeply skeptical of the House effort, the bill is expected to undergo sweeping changes that might leave it unrecognizable — perhaps stripping away some of the provisions that helped earn the support of hard-right House members and ultimately secure its passage. (Flegenheimer, 5/4)

The Associated Press: House Repeal Of 'Obamacare' Hands Hot Potato To Wary Senate
Senators are already talking about preventing some of the House bill's Medicaid cuts. Some don't like its easing of Obama coverage requirements on insurers, and others think its tax credits must be redirected toward lower-income people. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah says senators must focus "on the art of the doable." (5/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Senators Set To Write Their Own Version Of The GOP Health Bill
GOP senators are clashing over central provisions of the House version, and Republicans’ slim majority in the chamber arguably gives them even less room for error than House lawmakers had. Republicans from states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are resisting the House bill’s steep Medicaid cuts, for example. GOP centrists are uncomfortable with letting states waive the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. Other Republicans say the bill should do more to help older Americans with their health bills. (Hackman and Armour, 5/4)

USA Today: On Health Care, The Senate Is Likely To Start Over
The Senate will review the House bill but will write its own version over the next few weeks, said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. "We want to get it right," Alexander said Thursday on the Senate floor. "There will be no artificial deadlines. "If the Senate passes its own bill, the House will either have to approve the Senate version or negotiate a compromise with senators, Alexander said. (Kelly, 5/4)

Politico: Senate GOP Rejects House Obamacare Bill
They need to end up with a bill that can win over 50 of the 52 GOP senators in the narrowly divided chamber. And even if they accomplish that, their bill could be unpalatable to House conservatives. The House bill squeaked through on a 217-213 vote. The two chambers have not coordinated much in recent weeks as the House — with an assist from the White House — frantically worked to kick the health care bill to the other side of the Capitol. Senate Republicans say they’ll take the time they need to understand the House bill’s ramifications. And they will insist on a score from the Congressional Budget Office before voting, unlike the House. (Everett and Haberkorn, 5/4)

The Hill: No. 2 Senate Republican: 'No Timeline' On ObamaCare Replacement Bill 
Senate Republicans are signaling they are in no hurry to move legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare after it passed the House Thursday. “There is no timeline,” Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, said when he was asked about a schedule for when the Senate could move a bill. (Carney, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: 14 Players To Watch In Senate’s Health-Care Overhaul
The Senate becomes the arena for debating changes to the nation’s health-insurance system, now that the House has passed its overhaul of the Affordable Care Act. Here are some of the senators who will affect the course of the overhaul legislation, with the roles they play in the chamber. (Peterson, Hackman and Radnofsky, 5/5)

Bloomberg: Senate GOP To Snub House Obamacare Repeal Bill And Write Its Own
Several moderate Republicans have been demanding a more sweeping rewrite of the House bill to ensure more people get covered and premiums come down. A number of moderates were unhappy with a Congressional Budget Office estimate showing an earlier version of the House measure would have resulted in 24 million more people without insurance within a decade. That wing is led by Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor who worked for decades in a charity hospital, and Collins, who together crafted a more moderate plan that kept the Affordable Care Act’s taxes in place instead of repealing them. (Dennis and Litvan, 5/4)

The New York Times: Who Wins And Who Loses In The Latest G.O.P. Health Care Bill
Any sizable change in our complex health care system leaves some people and businesses better or worse off. For some, insurance will become more affordable — or their taxes will be lower. Others will lose out on financial support or health care coverage. You can see how you might be affected in our summary of winners and losers. (Sanger-Katz, 5/4)

Stat: As Health Care Bill Heads To Senate, 7 Winners And Losers
It’s the first step toward fulfilling a promise Republican legislators have campaigned on for seven years. But even though the House voted Thursday to repeal major elements of the Affordable Care Act, the effort still faces a number of major political hurdles, not the least of which is that little is known about this legislation’s impacts. That’s because the GOP leadership muscled Thursday’s vote through before the Congressional Budget Office, the legislative branch’s nonpartisan analytics arm, had a chance to fully assess the latest bill as it had with a previous version. (Facher, 5/4)

The New York Times: In Rare Unity, Hospitals, Doctors And Insurers Criticize Health Bill
It is a rare unifying moment. Hospitals, doctors, health insurers and some consumer groups, with few exceptions, are speaking with one voice and urging significant changes to the Republican health care legislation that passed the House on Thursday. (Abelson and Thomas, 5/4)

NPR: Republican Health Care Bill Delivers Big Tax Cut For The Rich
The health care bill passed by the House on Thursday is a win for the wealthy, in terms of taxes. While the Affordable Care Act raised taxes on the rich to subsidize health insurance for the poor, the repeal-and-replace bill passed by House Republicans would redistribute hundreds of billions of dollars in the opposite direction. It would deliver a sizable tax cut to the rich, while reducing government subsidies for Medicaid recipients and those buying coverage on the individual market. (Horsley, 5/4)

Stat: CDC Faces Budget Loss Of Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars After AHCA Passes House
Representative Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, loves the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When he’s asked about public health funding, he often recites a favorite factoid: “You’re much more likely to die in a pandemic than in a terrorist attack.” But before the House passed the American Health Care Act on Thursday, Cole — who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that oversees health spending — would not say how Congress would replace the nearly $1 billion in grants the bill would strip from the CDC and other federal agencies if it becomes law. (Facher, 5/4)

The Associated Press: Pre-Existing Conditions And The Health Plan: Who's Covered?
States will be able to get federal waivers allowing insurers to charge higher premiums to people with pre-existing illnesses who have let their coverage lapse. States can then use federal money to fund government-operated insurance programs for expensive patients called "high-risk pools." (5/4)

USA Today: Experts: Pre-Existing Coverage In House GOP Bill Would Fall Far Short
The $23 billion included in the House Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to pay for people with pre-existing chronic health conditions will only cover about 5% of the estimated 2.2 million people who need insurance, a new analysis concluded. (O'Donnell, 5/4)

The Associated Press: Anxiety Over GOP Health Plan For Those With Severe Illnesses
"Today, it really kind of sunk in that not only are we not going to potentially have health care coverage but that it was done as a political win rather than a well-thought-out plan," said Martinez, a 32-year-old former chef who's studying social work. "That's what stings about it." (5/5)

Stat: LA Children's CEO: Jimmy Kimmel Triggered 'Flood Of Calls' From Families Needing Treatment
Since Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue about his son’s lifesaving heart surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, phone calls have overwhelmed Paul Viviano’s switchboard. “We’ve had a flood of calls,” Viviano, the hospital’s CEO, told STAT in an interview Thursday. “Patients and families are calling about, ‘Will you treat this? Can we see you for that?’ We’ve had other calls about advocacy — this notion of preexisting conditions that Jimmy brought to the forefront. People want to know how they can advocate on behalf of children.” (Ross, 5/4)

Meanwhile, don't have a preexisting condition? Have employer-sponsored coverage? You'll still be affected —

The Washington Post: House Republican Plan Could Raise Health Costs For Pregnant Women And Mothers, Critics Warn
The health-care plan House Republicans passed Thursday opens the door for states to upcharge people with preexisting conditions — including pregnancy, health policy analysts warned. The risk of higher premiums for women of childbearing age arises from the so-called MacArthur amendment — crafted by Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) — which allows states to propose their own “essential benefits” package. (Paquette, 5/5)

The Wall Street Journal: GOP Health Bill Jeopardizes Out-Of-Pocket Caps In Employer Plans
Many people who obtain health insurance through their employers—about half of the country—could be at risk of losing protections that limit out-of-pocket costs for catastrophic illnesses, due to a little-noticed provision of the House Republican health-care bill, health-policy experts say. (Armour and Hackman, 5/4)

The Associated Press: GOP Health Care Bill Would Allow Employers To Cap Benefits
The Republican health care plan that passed the House on Thursday targeted a key protection for Americans who get their health insurance through work. It would allow health insurance companies to impose lifetime and annual caps on benefits for those who get coverage through a large-employer plan. Former President Barack Obama's health care overhaul banned insurers from imposing such caps, and public opinion surveys have shown that prohibition was popular. (Mulvihill, 5/4)

KPBS: State Project To Encourage Doctors To Treat Opioid Addiction With Medication 
California public health officials are encouraging doctors to use buphrenorphine in the fight against opioid addiction. A federally-funded project will provide support, education and training for doctors that prescribe the drug, Marlies Perez with the California Department of Health Care Services told Capital Public Radio. (Ruth and Cavanaugh, 5/4)

In other public health news —

East Bay Times: Oakland: Highland Hospital Deploys New Germ-Zapping Robots
Mitch and Venus, two recent additions to Highland Hospital’s cleaning crew, could show Rosie, the robot housekeeper in the 1960s cartoon series “The Jetsons,” a thing or two. Mitch and Venus are R2D2-looking robots that, in a matter of minutes, can KO some of the world’s toughest germs. With pulses of ultraviolet light beamed from mushroom-shaped towers that rise from their canister-shaped bodies, they disinfect hospital spaces when nobody is around. Since September, when the hospital bought the two 3-foot-tall, 155-pound robots for $150,000 each, they have been busy around the clock, working in patient rooms, operating rooms, public restrooms, utility rooms, any place that needs their services, said Marcel Smith, the hospital’s director of environmental services. (Hedin, 5/5)

Los Angeles Times: All The Horrific Details Of The GOP's New Obamacare Repeal Bill: A Handy Guide
Republicans in the House say they have the votes to pass the American Health Care Act, a measure that will repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The vote is scheduled for Thursday. We analyzed the AHCA in March, when the original version was scheduled for a vote that eventually was canceled. The new version is appreciably worse. Like the original, it threatens the health coverage of more than 24 million Americans but includes provisions that are even crueler. Here’s a handy guide to the worst elements of a nasty bill that will harm you and your neighbors. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/4)

Sacramento Bee: New GOP Health Care Reform Proposal Is A Puzzle. Where Do People With Pre-Existing Conditions Fit In? 
The Republican plan is a far cry from what Trump promised Americans – affordable, high-quality coverage for all. If it becomes law, it will be a medical and financial disaster. People with serious conditions, but no insurance coverage, will live shorter and sicker lives, face financial distress and often be forced into bankruptcy. (Drew Halfmann, 5/2)

Los Angeles Times: Rohrabacher And Walters Betrayed O.C. By Voting For American Health Care Act 
This is an open letter to U.S. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) and Mimi Walters (R-Irvine). I am your constituent, Rep. Rohrabacher, and I study medicine at UC Irvine in your district, Rep. Walters. You both just ignored my voice and the voices of my family, my neighbors, my classmates and the entire medical community by voting for millions of Americans to lose health insurance with the passage of the AHCA, the American Health Care Act. (Kara Percival, 5/4)

Los Angeles Times: The GOP Insists Its Healthcare Bill Will Protect People With Pre-Existing Conditions. It Won't
About half of American adults under age 65 have at least one preexisting medical condition, by the federal government’s count. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, more than half of those adults could have been denied coverage by health insurers in the days before Obamacare if they weren’t included in a large employer’s plan. (5/4)

San Jose Mercury News: Why Senate Should Reject House Health Care Bill
The health care bill narrowly approved by Republicans Thursday in the House is a disaster, not only for California but also for all 50 states. It has more fatal flaws than Donald Trump has hotels. The Senate should reject it out of hand and insist the House start over on a plan that could actually improve on our health care system. (5/4)

Sacramento Bee: As California Debates Single-Payer Health Care, Consider How Much Taxes Would Rise 
Under a single-payer system, health care would be financed through taxing people to support a government-run program rather than through having them or their employers pay for private health insurance coverage. Doing that would require a massive tax increase on California families along with huge pay cuts for nurses, doctors and other health care professionals. And, it would spell the end of the employer-sponsored insurance that half the state relies on and values. (Jim Wunderman, 5/3)

Los Angeles Times: GOP Hard-Liners Resist Spreading The Costs Of Healthcare To The Healthy
I've been lucky. I was born a healthy baby. Other than childhood rounds of measles and chicken pox and annoying yearly bouts with springtime pollen, I’ve enjoyed a disease-free life. So far, no hereditary predispositions toward any awful affliction have shown up. Other than a weakness for doughnuts and cheeseburgers, I eat pretty well and haven’t gotten fat. I exercise sporadically, but stay in reasonably good shape. Occasionally I drink enough to regret it in the morning, but I’ve never smoked or abused drugs. (David Horsey, 5/3)

Sacramento Bee: How California Should Spend Its Cigarette Tax
Between Congress and Sacramento, it is now clear that the capacity to play politics with health insurance is boundless. Not so the resilience of those who most need coverage. A week-and-a-half ago – as Washington plotted another cruel shot at the Affordable Care Act and state lawmakers fought over a cigarette tax windfall – a clinic that for 30 years had been a refuge for Sacramento-area women quietly closed, thanks to a scenario that is all too familiar to Medi-Cal providers. (5/5)

Los Angeles Times: Using Abortion As An Excuse To Deny Californians Subsidized Healthcare Is Unnecessary And Cruel 
In their zeal to restrict abortion, House Republicans could once again put the federal government on a collision course with California over the rights the state guarantees its residents. The GOP leadership’s healthcare bill, which is headed for a crucial vote this week, would replace the Affordable Care Act’s premium subsidies with new tax credits available to a broader range of Americans. But it would flatly bar the credits from being spent on any policy that covers abortions. (5/4)

Los Angeles Times: California's Water Crisis Is Dangerous, Just Like Flint's. Will The State Clean It Up Once And For All?
The lead-poisoned drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., has gotten all the headlines, but California has a water contamination problem that endangers far more people, and it has existed for decades. State officials knew for a generation that many Californians lack access to clean, safe drinking water, yet, disgracefully, they did not begin to address the issue until five years ago. The state Legislature is now poised to chalk up a historic achievement as it negotiates Senate Bill 623, which would establish a fund to subsidize adequate water treatment for most of the roughly 1 million Californians who still need it. It’s the last step in enabling small, impoverished water systems throughout the state to deliver clean water to their customers. (Jacques Leslie, 5/4)

Sacramento Bee: Making School Lunches Unhealthy Again 
So starting in the fall, low-fat chocolate milk and more white bread will be on the menu, and high-salt food can stay. But when we have a crisis of diabetes and childhood obesity, why backslide on junk food? The changes are opposed by many health advocacy groups and backed by corporations that sell food to schools. The big argument of Perdue and Roberts is that kids won’t eat the more nutritious food, and it’s being thrown out. Sure, healthy items need to more appetizing, but by that logic, we should just give kids burgers and fries every day. (5/2)

Los Angeles Times: Crowdfunding For Medical Expenses Is Rising — When It Should Be Eradicated
It should be obvious as a fundamental principle that in a civilized country, crowdfunding for direct medical expenses should be utterly unnecessary. You get sick or injured, your medical care should be covered by the community at large. Yet public appeals by families or individuals for help paying basic medical bills seem to be on the rise in the United States. Crowdfunding websites such as GoFundMe.com report that medical expenses rank as their largest single category of appeals; other sites such as HelpHopeLive have sprung up specifically for medical expense appeals. (Michael Hiltzik, 4/28)

Los Angeles Times: It Was A Perfect California Beach Day...Except For All The Plastic Pollution
Unlike a littered plastic bag, which may fill with water and sink to the bottom of the sea, plastic foam is buoyant and breaks down into smaller and smaller bite-sized pieces. Also, plastic foam can absorb other chemicals present in the ocean. This poses a danger to marine life and sea birds that eat the “microplastic” pieces in the water and on the shore, along with whatever pollutants they contain. (Mariel Garza, 5/2)