The New York Times: A New Lawsuit Threatens Obamacare. Here’s What’s At Stake And What To Expect In Oral Arguments
The Affordable Care Act has survived numerous court battles and repeal efforts, but a new case is threatening the law’s future once again. A federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, will hear arguments Wednesday on whether to grant a preliminary injunction that would suspend the health law until the case is decided. He has also indicated that he might go straight to ruling on the merits of the case. It focuses on whether the law’s requirement that most Americans have health insurance is unconstitutional, but has much broader implications. (Goodnough and Hoffman, 9/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Law’s Constitutionality Is Focus Of GOP Lawsuit
The Trump Justice Department is asking the court to invalidate certain planks of the ACA, rather than tossing out the entire law. Among those provisions is a prohibition on insurers denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions. About 130 million non-elderly people in the U.S. have pre-existing conditions, and before the ACA, insurers could deny coverage to people for conditions including high cholesterol, cancer, and asthma. Democrats say a return to that arrangement would leave many patients without resources, while Republicans contend that over-regulating insurers makes coverage more expensive for many people. (Armour, 9/5)

Politico: Red States Take Obamacare Back To Court, Picking Up Where Congress Left Off
Attorneys general from mostly conservative states will try to pick up where the GOP-led Congress left off, seeking a permanent injunction halting enforcement of the law. They argue that because Congress gutted the individual mandate — zeroing out the penalty for not having coverage starting next year — the rest of the law needs to go as well. Numerous legal experts have deemed the argument a stretch, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions has thrown the Trump administration’s weight behind key parts of the assault — with Sessions notably opposing the law’s popular protection for people with pre-existing conditions. (Demko, 9/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Blood-Testing Firm Theranos To Dissolve
Theranos Inc., the blood-testing company accused of perpetrating Silicon Valley’s biggest fraud, will soon cease to exist. In the wake of a high-profile scandal, the company will formally dissolve, according to an email to shareholders. Theranos will seek to pay unsecured creditors its remaining cash in coming months, the email said. The move comes after federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and the blood-testing company’s former No. 2 executive, alleging that they defrauded investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars and defrauded doctors and patients. (Carreyrou, 9/5)

The Hill: Theranos To Formally Dissolve In Wake Of Scandal 
Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the embattled blood-testing company, was charged with fraud alongside Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the former chief operating officer of Theranos. Holmes and Balwani are also accused of lying to investors about the company's technological abilities. (Anapol, 9/4)

USA Today: Theranos Blood-Testing Company To Dissolve, Pay Creditors
Theranos, which owes at least $60 million to unsecured creditors, will turn over its assets and intellectual property to credit and investment firm Fortress, says the e-mailed letter, first reported by The Wall Street Journal. This move, rather than a bankruptcy, will leave $5 million to distribute to creditors, it says. The action is the final act in Theranos' dramatic downfall. Founded in 2003 by then teen-age Stanford dropout Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos grew into a $9 billion firm based on its promise of a blood test requiring only a finger prick, rather than a vial of blood. (Snider, 9/5)

Financial Times: Blood-Testing Group Theranos To Dissolve Following Fraud Scandal
Ms Holmes sold that vision to a roster of well known investors, including Walgreens, the drugstore group, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. Theranos raised $700M, giving it valuation of roughly $9B at its zenith. She also assembled a board of directors that included the elite of political and corporate America, including Jim Mattis, the current US defence secretary, two former secretaries of state — Henry Kissinger and George Shultz — and David Boies, the high-profile lawyer. (Crow, 9/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: Hospital Consolidation In California Linked To Higher Health Prices
Growing consolidation among hospitals and doctors’ practices in California is linked to higher health insurance premiums and higher prices for specialty and primary care, according to a study by UC Berkeley researchers published Tuesday. In California, between 2010 and 2016, the percentage of doctors in medical practices owned by hospitals grew from 25 to 40 percent. (Ho, 9/4)

Modern Healthcare: Health Systems Driving Prices Higher With Physician Group Purchases 
Insurance premiums and outpatient prices spiked as California health systems have snatched up physician groups, new research shows. In 41 highly concentrated California counties, the percentage of hospital-employed physicians increased from about 25% in 2010 to more than 40% in 2016, according to a new Health Affairs study. (Kacik, 9/4)

California Healthline: As California Hospitals Sweep Up Physician Practices, Patients See Higher Bills 
In areas with both high levels of consolidation among hospitals and between hospitals and physicians, researchers estimated there was a 12 percent increase in premiums on California’s health insurance exchange from fall 2013 through 2016, beyond the general rise in medical costs. Acquisitions of physician practices by hospitals tend to be small and typically fly under the radar, said Richard Scheffler, the study’s lead author and professor of health economics and public policy at the University of California-Berkeley. (Terhune, 9/4)

The Washington Post: Cities Defiant After Justice Department’s Threat On ‘Supervised Injection Sites’
Cities seeking to open sites where illegal drug users are monitored to prevent overdoses responded defiantly Tuesday to a Justice Department threat to take “swift and aggressive action” against that approach to the nationwide opioid epidemic. Plans for those “supervised injection sites” — under consideration in San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York City, Seattle and elsewhere — collided with a stern Justice Department warning issued last week, threatening to create a standoff between federal and local authorities like the confrontation over “sanctuary cities.” (Bernstein and Zezima, 9/4)

KQED: S.F. Safe Injection Site Supporters Urge Gov. Brown To Sign Bill 
San Francisco officials, as well as health care and substance abuse service professionals, are urging California Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill allowing the city to open the country's first supervised injection site for drug users. State Sen. Scott Wiener, co-author of Assembly Bill 186 --"controlled substances: overdose prevention program" -- said he's hopeful that the governor will sign it, because Brown believes in progressive alternatives to incarceration. (Veltman, 9/4)

In other news on the opioid crisis —

Stat: California Closer To A Take-Back Law For Medicines And Needles 
California appears poised to become the first state in the nation to adopt a take-back law that addresses prescription drugs and needles, a contentious issue that is slowly spreading across the country as local governments grapple with budget constraints caused by unwanted or unused medicines and the opioid crisis. And as in other states, manufacturers would have to underwrite the costs.In a vote last week, the California senate unanimously endorsed a bill that would require companies to finance the cost of collecting and disposing of medicines and sharps, as needles are sometimes called. The measure was sent to California Gov. Jerry Brown, who has until Sept. 30 to sign the bill. A spokesperson declined to say whether Brown will do so. (Silverman, 9/4)

Los Angeles Times: Stunned By A Surge In Mass Shootings, California Lawmakers Send Nine Gun-Control Bills To The Governor
Nearly 30 years after California became the first state to ban the sale of assault weapons and embarked on a path toward the strictest firearm laws in the nation, legislators have sent Gov. Jerry Brown nine new gun-control bills in response to a surge in mass shootings. The action by the Legislature was applauded more than 3,000 miles away in Parkland, Fla., where a 19-year-old gunman killed 17 students and employees at a high school in February. Among the legislation waiting approval by Brown are proposals to lift the age for buying rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21, and to prohibit the purchase of more than one long gun a month. (McGreevy, 9/5)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Why Is San Diego's Heart Attack Rate 20 Percent Lower Than The Rest Of The State? 
Be There San Diego, an organization leading a wide-ranging effort to reduce heart disease by getting doctors from different organizations to work together, is getting national attention for reducing the region’s heart attack risk. A newly published study released Tuesday highlights a 22 percent drop over five years in the number of local heart attack hospitalizations, a result that is a full 14 percentage points better than the 8 percent decrease observed across the state. (Sisson, 9/4)

In other public health news —

CALmatters: Is Help On The Way For Californians With Tainted Water?
In the Central Valley, in particular, excess amounts of arsenic, nitrates and other substances that can cause cancers and birth defects have tainted drinking water. In Compton, residents have been living with foul-smelling brown water because the cost of fixing the pipes is high, and many can’t afford to buy a constant supply of bottled water. (Gorn, 9/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: How California Learned To Keep Pregnant Women, New Moms From Dying
As deaths of new and expectant moms multiplied in the United States, the picture in California and the rest of the developed world has veered in the opposite direction. ...A study out Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs, by the Stanford University medical team that started the initiative, seeks to explain why. (Veklerov, 9/4)

KPBS: VA Program To Lower Suicide Rate Has Few Takers 
The Veterans Health Administration in 2017 offered to treat vets who don’t normally qualify for care because they earned a less-than-honorable discharge. Almost no one used the program. Now veterans' groups are hoping a change in the program will help that group of veterans when they struggle with thoughts of suicide. (Walsh, 9/4)

In other mental health news —

Los Angeles Times: USC-Verdugo Hills Hospital To Address Stigma Of Suicide In Annual Conference
On Saturday, medical professionals and motivational speakers will address the stigma surrounding the topic of suicide and shed light on California’s End of Life Option Act, as USC Verdugo Hills Hospital hosts its third annual Suicide Awareness and Prevention Conference. Held in conjunction with Worldwide Suicide Prevention Day, which falls on Sept. 10, the inaugural event was started in 2016 to respond to community members grieving the deaths of local teens in La Cañada and La Crescenta who took their lives, according to hospital officials. (Cardine, 9/4)

Modesto Bee: Faster Medicine: Video Calls Bring Psychiatrists To Emergency Room Patients’ Bedsides 
The Modesto hospital at Briggsmore Avenue and Coffee Road rolled out telepsychiatry service in July and already has assisted dozens of patients in crisis who came through the emergency-room doors. The work station, with a 22-inch screen, is wheeled to the patient’s bedside in the emergency department or an inpatient room if an on-call psychiatrist is not available locally. (Carlson, 9/4)

In other news —

The Mercury News: Bay Area Medical Professionals Indicted In Kickback Scheme For Medicare Referrals
Three Bay Area doctors and three other health care professionals were indicted last month by a federal grand jury in a kickback scheme related to the referral of Medicare patients to a home health care agency in Milpitas, United States Attorney Alex G. Tse announced Thursday. Federal prosecutors allege three Bay Area doctors received money in exchange for referrals to Medics Choice Home Health, Inc. Prosecutors say Medics Choice Home Health received $4.2 million from Medicare for the care of patients referred by the doctors. (Gomez, 9/4)

The New York Times: Democrats Open Contentious Hearings With Attack On ‘Partisan’ Kavanaugh
Senate Democrats tore into President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee on Tuesday, painting Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh as a narrow-minded partisan as the opening day of his confirmation hearings verged on pandemonium. Dozens of screaming protesters were hauled out of the hearing room in handcuffs. The verbal brawl began moments after the hearings began. Democrats, furious at being denied access to records related to Judge Kavanaugh, immediately interrupted the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, demanding time to consider tens of thousands of pages of documents released late Monday — the night before the hearing. (Stolberg and Liptak, 9/4)

The Washington Post: Partisan Fury Bursts Into The Open As Kavanaugh Hearings Begin
But GOP senators mostly calmly defended Kavanaugh from what Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) called the Shakespearean nature of the hearing — “sound and fury, signifying nothing” — confident that there were no defections from the solid Republican support Kavanaugh needs to be confirmed as the Supreme Court’s 114th justice. The 53-year-old judge, who serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, sat impassively for nearly seven hours of senators’ statements before speaking for less than 20 minutes. Senators plan to begin questioning him Wednesday morning. (Barnes, Kim, Marimow and Wagner, 9/4)

Politico: Schumer, Democrats Wrestled Over Staging Mass Kavanaugh Walkout
Given the brutal odds they face in beating a nominee they can’t stop unilaterally, Democrats went as far as they could go without splintering. Even Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) admitted the display had caught on, remarking that “either you run the committee, or it runs you” and telling Democrats that “you guys have been very successful today in running the committee.” (Everett and Schor, 9/4)

Los Angeles Times: Kavanaugh's Supreme Court Hearing Gets Off To A Combative Start As Democrats Protest The Process
Republicans rushed to Kavanaugh’s defense and accused Democrats of playing politics with the nomination. "If you want to pick judges for your way of thinking, then you better win an election,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Democrats. (Savage, Haberkorn and Wire, 9/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Hearing Has Testy Start
Judge Kavanaugh, who spoke at day’s end, made no reference to the seven hours of partisan debate. He touted his judicial impartiality at a session in which Democrats painted him as a servant of social conservatives and business interests. “I don’t decide cases based on personal or policy preferences. I am not a pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant judge. I am not a pro-prosecution or pro-defense judge. I am a pro-law judge,” he said. “If confirmed to the court, I would be part of a team of nine, committed to deciding cases according to the Constitution and laws of the United States.” (Bravin and Tau, 9/4)

Los Angeles Times: 10 Things To Watch For In The Brett Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearing Wednesday
Democrats have at least two days — and 50 minutes each — to ask Kavanaugh about abortion, gun rights, presidential power, healthcare or whatever else they choose. Republicans will have the same time to draw out Kavanaugh’s credentials and strengths. Here’s a look at what we’ll be watching for Wednesday. (Wire and Haberkorn, 9/4)

NPR: Kavanaugh Hearings Day 2: Senators' Questions To Take Center Stage
Kavanaugh is also likely to be questioned about his thoughts on presidential power and immunity. Although he worked on the Starr report, he later wrote that a sitting president should not have to face the distraction of civil or criminal investigations — a position that worries Democrats in light of the ongoing Department of Justice probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. "We have to confront an uncomfortable but important question about whether President Trump may have selected you, Judge Kavanaugh, with an eye towards protecting himself," said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. (Horsley, 9/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Roe V. Wade Likely To Play Starring Role At Kavanaugh Hearings
Abortion is expected to figure prominently at the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Since Republican President Trump announced his pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, Democrats and abortion-rights activists have expressed alarm about the fate of Roe v. Wade, the 45-year-old ruling that first established abortion as a fundamental right under the Constitution. As a guide, here are some questions and answers about the abortion legal landscape, how it could change, and what to expect at the hearings. (Gershman, 9/4)

NPR: Kavanaugh Hearings, Day 1: Protesters Focus On Roe; Attempted Handshake Goes Viral
There were frequent disruptions by demonstrators inside the hearing room, often interrupting the Democrats' interruptions. Many expressed concerns over the fate of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. At one point, a protester could be heard shouting "more women are going to be subject to back-alley abortions." And outside the hearing room a group of women dressed in bonnets and red robes from The Handmaid's Tale stood silently. U.S. Capitol Police say they arrested a total of 70 demonstrators Tuesday. (Naylor, 9/4)

Los Angeles Times: For Many Women Across The U.S., It’s Already A Post-Roe Reality
If the Senate confirms Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, the high court will have a consistently conservative majority. As a result, Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide, would be vulnerable. The most dramatic possibility would be that it is overturned outright. That would return the decision to the states about whether to ban or limit abortion. Though Trump campaigned on a promise to appoint judges who would overturn Roe vs. Wade, a more likely scenario is that a conservative Supreme Court would approve restrictions that eliminate certain protections for abortion rights without making the practice illegal. To understand what could happen, it’s crucial to look at the reality of abortion across the country today. (Shalby and Krishnakumar, 9/4)

The Associated Press: Potential 2020 Democrats Seize On Kavanaugh Senate Hearings
Spoiling for a fight, a trio of Democratic senators weighing 2020 presidential campaigns seized upon the opening moments of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's Senate confirmation hearings Tuesday in a show of force aimed at countering President Donald Trump. One by one, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey, demanded that Republicans delay Kavanaugh's hearing after a last-minute release of more than 40,000 pages of documents and the withholding of more than 100,000 others. (9/4)