"[Medicaid] work requirements will almost certainly result in large coverage losses among these parents, with harmful consequences for their children's health and well-being as well."

—Judith Solomon and Aviva Aron-Dine, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Health care is one of the issues taking center stage in this November’s midterm elections as Democrats press Republicans on preserving protections for preexisting conditions under Obamacare. But there is also plenty of unfinished work for Congress and the administration this fall, from passing opioid legislation to tackling drug costs. (Jessie Hellmann and Peter Sullivan, The Hill)

For months, congressional Republicans have ignored the Texas-led lawsuit seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act. With the midterm elections looming, talk of the case threatened to reopen wounds from failed attempts to repeal the law. Not to mention that legal experts have been panning the basis of the suit.  But that's all changing as the ACA faces its day in court … again. (Susannah Luthi, Modern Healthcare)

Fewer Americans lack health insurance—but the gap remains wide, especially in some pro-Trump states. The number of uninsured declined to 28.3 million in the first quarter, down from 29.3 last year—and 48.6 million in 2010, the year the Affordable Care Act was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Alexandre Tanzi, Bloomberg News)

Consumers who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act markets may be pleasantly surprised this fall as average premiums are forecast to rise much less than in recent years. The price of a 2019 policy sold on the ACA exchanges will increase less than 4 percent, according to an analysis of preliminary filings from insurers in all 50 states. (Alison Kodjak, National Public Radio)

If Republicans are hoping Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will help them knock down Obamacare in the courts, they might be in for a disappointment. Kavanaugh has signaled in private meetings with Senate Democrats that he is skeptical of some of the legal claims being asserted in the latest GOP-led effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act. As Kavanaugh made the rounds on Capitol Hill in recent weeks, he suggested that even if one piece of the health care law is ruled invalid, the entire law doesn’t necessarily have to come down with it, three Democrats who were in the meetings told the Los Angeles Times. (Jennifer Haberkorn, Los Angeles Times)

Senate Republicans say they would like Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) to appoint a successor to the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who, unlike McCain, would support GOP legislation to repeal Obamacare. Republican lawmakers say they won’t have time to hold another vote to repeal the law in 2018 but vow to try again next year if they manage to keep their Senate and House majorities. (Alexander Bolton, The Hill)

A group of about a dozen health economists has begun trying to identify policy adjustments, sometimes in tiny slices of the health care system, that could produce savings worth around 1 percent of the country’s $3.3 trillion annual health spending. If you put together enough such fixes, the group points out, they could add up to something more substantial.(Margot Sanger-Katz, New York Times)

CMS made a profit from the Medicare Shared Savings Program last year as more accountable care organizations (ACOs) moved to risk-based contracts and gained experience, new federal data show. About 60 percent of the 472 Medicare ACOs generated a total of $1.1 billion in savings in 2017, according to the CMS data set released Thursday. CMS paid $780 million in bonuses to the ACOs, but the agency still scored a $313.7 million gain from the program. The announcement of substantial savings comes just weeks after CMS proposed overhauling the program, claiming it wasn't generating enough savings. (Maria Castellucci and Virgil Dickson, Modern Healthcare)

Warning of a nearly $300 million potential shortfall in Kentucky’s Medicaid program, officials say they could eliminate health coverage for more than 480,000 people to balance the state’s budget. Kentucky’s Medicaid program spends about $11.5 billion every year, but most of that money comes from the federal government. More than 1.4 million people receive Medicaid benefits in Kentucky, or about one-third of the state’s population. Federal law requires the state to cover most of those people. But 480,000 people were added to the Medicaid rolls when former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear chose to expand the program to cover able-bodied adults. The state is not required to cover those people.  (Adam Beam, Associated Press)

South Dakota health officials are asking the Trump administration to approve a program that would impose work requirements on some Medicaid recipients who are parents or caretakers. Under the proposal, parents aged 19 to 59 and other caretakers on Medicaid who live in South Dakota's two most populous counties would have to work at least 80 hours a month, take classes, or complete other activities to keep their coverage. Those who don't meet the requirements for three months in one year lose their coverage. (Jessie Hellmann, The Hill)