| Staying on the midterms, another poll finds health care is a big issue More than 1 in 5 voters, 22 percent, said in a new NBC News–Wall Street Journal poll that health care is their top issue in the November midterm elections. The economy and jobs followed at 19 percent, with guns at 13 percent, taxes and spending at 11 percent and immigration at 10 percent. The poll found Democrats are more likely to consider health care a top issue. The implications: The poll is good news for Democrats, who plan to hit Republicans on their health-care record ahead of the midterms. Democrats plan to highlight the GOP's multiple failed attempts to repeal and replace ObamaCare and blame them for "sabotaging" the law and higher premiums. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday Congress should dedicate the month of August to health care. More on the poll here. CDC: Suicide rates on the rise in almost every state Suicide rates are on the rise in almost every state, according to a new analysis released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Suicide has become the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. and is one of three leading causes that are on the rise, the CDC said. From 1999 to 2016, rates increased in nearly all states, ranging from a 6 percent increase in Delaware to a 57 percent increase in North Dakota. Twenty-five states had increases of more than 30 percent. "Suicide is a leading cause of death for Americans -- and it's a tragedy for families and communities across the country," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC. We have more on the CDC numbers here. Opioid crisis fuels influx of children into foster care An event at the American Enterprise Institute on Thursday focused on the influx of children into the foster care system due to the opioid crisis. Key quote: "Addiction affects foster care," Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) told The Hill. "Up to 80 percent of parents deemed unfit to care for their children are addicted to some type of substance." The numbers: Robin Ghertner, the Director of Division of Data and Technical Analysis at HHS, highlighted a recent agency study that found that a 10 percent increase in overdose death rates correlates to a 4.4 percent increase in foster-care entry rates. What states can do about it: Child welfare experts at the event disagreed on one major issue: whether the priority should be on reuniting families or removing children from addicted parents. Ducey touted Arizona's Substance-Exposed Newborn Safe Environment (SENSE) program as an example of how to help addicted mothers keep their children while getting treatment. SENSE assigns child services specialists, a counselor, a treatment provider and a home nurse to mothers with substance-exposed children. The Trump administration's efforts: The Family First Prevention Services Act signed into law earlier this year seeks to prevent children from entering foster care and keep families together. But Elizabeth Bartholet, professor of law at Harvard Law School and faculty director of the Child Advocacy Program, questioned that approach, noting that "between half and one-third of those kids [in families with substance abuse issues] will be re-abused and neglected." | 
