NFL Deceives America

At least a half-dozen NFL officials tried to change the direction of a study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which was funded by a $30 million donation from the football league.

“While the NFL had been publicly proclaiming its role as funder and accelerator of important research, it was privately attempting to influence that research,” the Democratic-led investigation within the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote in its report.

The 91-page report demonstrated for the first time the extent of the NFL’s involvement in trying to remove a prominent Boston University researcher — who had been critical of the NFL — from the concussion study.

“This investigation confirms the NFL inappropriately attempted to use its unrestricted gift as leverage to steer funding away from one of its critics,” said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the committee.

Congressional investigators have spent nearly six months examining the football industry’s attempt to influence the NIH study, first reported by ESPN in December 2015. Read more here. https://bit.ly/1TsaSVY

Rep. Joe Barton wants another shot at the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s gavel.

“I believe I could be chairman for two more terms,” the Texas Republican told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in an interview published on Saturday.

“I’m certainly not the leading candidate, but I was chairman for one term and ranking member for two terms. Under the right set of circumstances, I’d have a very good opportunity to be chairman. I’d be an activist, can-do chairman.”

Barton served as chairman of the panel from 2004 until Democrats took the majority in the House in the 2006 midterms. He then served another two terms as the committee’s ranking member.

When Barton again sought the gavel in 2010, he was unable to get a waiver exempting him from a rule limiting lawmakers’ terms at the helm of a committee. Michigan Rep. Fred Upton (R) instead won the chairmanship and has presided over the panel since then. Read more here. https://bit.ly/1OJHkM6

Lawmakers, aides and outside lobbyists say they’re not optimistic that Republicans will reach a final deal on Zika funding before the Memorial Day recess.

The bills passed by the House and Senate last week are vastly different in terms of size, timeline and offsets. One is broadly bipartisan; the other is facing a veto threat from the White House.

So far, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have said little about how they plan to move forward. “We’ve now begun discussions on how best to resolve the differences between House and Senate versions and get a bill to the President,” McConnell said from the Senate floor Monday evening.

Republicans will likely end up approving more money than the $522 million, six-month spending package approved by the House. The question is how much more, and whether it will all be paid for.

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), a rare Republican who supports the White House’s nearly $2 billion funding request, said he plans to press the Zika issue with leadership as soon as the House returns on Monday evening.

“I’m going to be pushing them aggressively this week. We need quick action and we need the dollars,” he said in an interview Monday. He said he’s hopeful that the House GOP will ultimately approve funding levels “much closer” to the $1.9 billion he’s advocated.

More than two-thirds of healthcare CEOs oppose the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, according to a new survey by Modern Healthcare.

Sixty-eight percent of healthcare leaders reject the Republican Party’s approach to dismantling the healthcare law, while about one-third said they’d take a wait-and-see approach. Republicans in Congress have vowed to release a healthcare plan before the Republican National Convention in July.

Healthcare leaders say they stand behind ObamaCare in far greater numbers than voters: A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that 35 percent of people supported repealing the law, with another 14 percent who support scaling back its provisions. Read more here. https://bit.ly/1qFzWLD

The House Energy and Commerce committee will mark up a major mental health reform bill in June, panel spokeswoman Jennifer Sherman said Monday.

The bill from Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) has long been delayed amid controversy, but Republicans have recently been circulating a draft of revisions to it as they seek to move forward.

The announcement is a new sign of movement on the bill, as the Senate also tries to move forward with its own mental health measure.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) raised the profile of the bill in December by pointing to it as the Republican response to mass shootings.

Still, there is a long road ahead. Bridging the gap with the Senate would likely require substantial negotiations.

It is unclear if Democrats on the committee can be brought on board. Top Democrats said last week that they were skeptical of the renewed effort. https://bit.ly/1WLk5Jo

The Energy and Commerce Committee holds a hearing on Medicare and Medicaid improper payments at 10 a.m.

The Ways and Means Committee marks up a Medicare hospital payment change measure at 2 p.m.

Vice President Biden delivers remarks at a White House Gun Violence Prevention event at 3:15 p.m.

The number of opioid prescriptions in the U.S. is falling for the first time in two decades. (New York Times)

The Obama administration warned Congress on Monday that the House GOP’s plan to fund the Zika virus response would strip away funding for a bipartisan Medicare payment system. (Morning Consult)

House GOP chairmen are using a recent court decision in their favor to demand answers from the Obama administration on cost-sharing reduction payments under the healthcare law. (Washington Examiner)

A private foundation dedicated to the CDC has raised $1.7 million for Zika, far short of the $55 million raised for Ebola. (The New York Times)

The head of the World Health Organization warned Monday that the world is unprepared for what appears to be a substantial increase in infectious disease threats. (STAT News)

Leaders of abortion clinics nationwide say they are seeing more surprise inspections from state health officials because of fake complaints from opposition groups. (Governing)

Oklahoma’s Medicaid expansion plan is likely dead because the Republican-controlled state Senate can’t find enough support. (KOCO News)

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) shocked members of his own party by rejecting a major bill to overhaul health regulatory boards because he said it didn’t go far enough. (ABC 15)

County officials in Minnesota say they’re being forced to add staff to comply with new statewide eligibility checks for the MNsure health exchange (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Fauci: “We can’t take our eye off the ball with Ebola”

VA secretary comes under fire for comparing wait times to Disneyland