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Cancer patients, doctors and drug companies are urging the Trump administration to remove the restrictions and broaden coverage so more patients can benefit from the treatment, known as CAR T cell therapy, or CAR-T. Medicare and other insurers typically pay for drugs as they are used, from month to month and year to year. The Trump administration has proposed covering CAR-T therapy when it is prescribed by a cancer specialist and given in a hospital to Medicare patients whose cancer has not responded to other treatments like chemotherapy and radiation. “But when you actually consider what you are paying for over the course of someone’s lifetime, and you think about the cost of other therapies that this is replacing, it actually is not astronomical.” There is no national Medicare policy for covering CAR T cell therapy. The request for a Medicare coverage decision came from one of the nation’s largest insurers, UnitedHealth Group, which expressed concern that “CAR-T therapies could create significant financial risks” for the government and for private Medicare Advantage plans. UnitedHealth is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, with about five million people enrolled in its plans. Approving payment for this therapy right now will save the lives of patients who have run out of other options.” Advocates for patients and physician groups said the coverage policy proposed by the Trump administration was too limited and could delay lifesaving treatment for cancer patients who were very ill. “We have a new therapy, a result of years of research, and it has been approved by the F.D.A.,” said Kirsten A. Sloan, a vice president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. A patient’s health care provider is in the best position to determine when and whether a patient will benefit from CAR T cell therapy and should not be limited by a narrow coverage policy.” Ted Okon, the executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance, an advocacy group for cancer doctors and patients, said the coverage criteria proposed by the Trump administration were “much more restrictive” than the uses of CAR-T therapy permitted in the F.D.A.-approved label. “No one anticipated such an extraordinary expense when Medicare’s hospital payment formulas were adopted.” Under the Trump administration proposal, Medicare would pay for CAR-T therapy in patients who have “relapsed or refractory cancer” that has resisted other treatments. The eligibility requirements “may exclude some patients who could benefit from treatment,” said Cynthia A. Bens, a senior vice president of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, an education and advocacy group.

Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images WASHINGTON — The United States and the European Union are preparing to impose tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s products, the latest escalation in a 14-year fight over government aid given to Boeing and European rival Airbus. “The World Trade Organization finds that the European Union subsidies to Airbus has adversely impacted the United States, which will now put Tariffs on $11 Billion of E.U. It will soon stop!” The United States Trade Representative said on Monday night that it was preparing a list of European products to tax as retaliation for European subsidies to Airbus, which the World Trade Organization ruled were illegal in May 2018. The announcement of new tariffs stems from a dispute that began in 2004 related to government subsidies that Europe provides to Airbus, which is a rival to America’s Boeing. The United States requested the authority to impose retaliatory tariffs of $11.2 billion per year, and the two sides are awaiting a decision on the level of tariffs that the United States will be authorized to levy on the European Union. ends these harmful subsidies, the additional U.S. duties imposed in response can be lifted.” The European Commission indicated on Tuesday that it considers the $11 billion in retaliatory measures to be overblown and not justified by any findings by the World Trade Organization. In a statement, Boeing said it supported the United States Trade Representative and hoped that the draft tariff list would encourage the European Union “to comply with past W.T.O. However, they also have been quick to publicize the organization’s decisions when it finds in their favor. In its statement Monday, the Trump administration emphasized that its latest measures against the European Union would comply with the rules of the World Trade Organization. In a separate announcement Tuesday, the U.S. Trade Representative said the W.T.O.

What was different this time was the rapidly tanking economy and a highly disciplined opposition. The Turkish lira lost 28 percent of its value in 2018 and continues to weaken. Ms. Kocoglu said she and her colleagues understood within an hour of the closing of polls Sunday night that they were watching Turkey’s most momentous change since Mr. Erdogan took power. As of Monday night, results from the High Election Council had still not been fully released and Mr. Erdogan’s party had not conceded defeat in Istanbul. But the tally showed the opposition candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, ahead with 99 percent of the votes counted. He made 10 public statements of his lead through the night. CHP supporters have often questioned why their leaders have seemed to hand election after election to Mr. Erdogan. Then people inside Mr. Erdogan’s party headquarters posted screenshots taken from AKP computer monitors showing the opposition candidate in Istanbul leading the race. By accepting the election result, Mr. Erdogan has saved the reputation of the Turkish electoral system, which has given him legitimacy over the last 17 years, Mr. Unluhisarcikli said. Ms. Kocoglu said that the election was a critical victory for the opposition since no further elections are scheduled for four years.

On Sunday morning, Biden issued a response to Flores’ essay. pic.twitter.com/EbCchX2npU — Bill Russo (@BillR) March 31, 2019 “In many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort,” the statement read. “And not once – never – did I believe I acted inappropriately. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel that they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention, and I will,” the statement continued. Biden has given weak and underwhelming apologies to Hill in public, never taking personal responsibility for the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings she endured, despite his own involvement in them. Biden’s statement ended with an allusion to his history in politics and his work on women’s issues, and affirming his commitment to fight for women. “And I will continue to speak out on these vitally-important issues where there is much more progress to be made and crucial fights that must be waged and won.” On Saturday, Biden’s spokesperson Bill Russo released a statement which seemed to cast doubt on Flores’ account. Of course no one says I was alone with him because I never was alone with him and I have never claimed to have been alone with him,” she said, adding, “I have also stated many times on the record that I am not supporting any candidate right now and I am listening and evaluating all the candidates just like everyone else. Related Did Joe Biden Forget He Was There for the Anita Hill Testimony? An Awkward Kiss Changed How I Saw Joe Biden Joe Biden Isn’t the Answer

While the Free Democrats are less popular than the Greens — they get about 10 percent in most polls — their parallel rise over the last few years, coming alongside significant drops in support for historically dominant parties, points to the possibility of a wholesale realignment of German politics. In the second half of the 20th century, the great fault line in German politics ran between the conservative Christian Democrats (and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union) and the liberal Social Democrats. That’s why the Christian Democrats managed to hold on in rural parts of Bavaria, even as the Social Democrats were wiped out. But the Greens’ main competitor is not the Christian Democrats nor the Social Democrats, but the Free Democrats — known, informally, as the Liberals. Both the Greens and the Liberals agree on many of the cultural issues that divided the old left and right, like abortion and gay rights. But they divide over contemporary flash points like technology (the Liberals embrace its growing role in society; the Greens are skeptical), immigration (the Liberals support a Canadian-style, rules-based system; the Greens are for much more open borders) and economics (in this regard, they mimic their predecessors). Their kinship is one result of the changing axis of values in politics — most German voters, across the political spectrum, now agree on the things that once divided them, and their leading parties. Germany is not alone in this political realignment. One of the reasons given for the rise of the far right in Germany is the coziness between the two leading parties of the 20th century. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor.

PARAMUS, N.J. — After a so-so final round in a disappointing week, Tiger Woods avoided getting enmeshed in politics Sunday. We’ve played golf together. I’ve known him pre-presidency and obviously during his presidency,” Woods said after shooting 1-under-par 70 to finish the Northern Trust at 4 under. When he was asked specifically about Trump’s policies, Woods added: “He’s the president of the United States. You have to respect the office. No matter who is in the office, you may like, dislike personality or the politics, but we all must respect the office.” When the questioner asked Woods if he would like to offer a comment on race relations in general, he said: “No. He has had back problems, missing almost all of the 2015 season with a herniated disc. He chose rest and rehabilitation rather than surgery, which worked out, but it was tedious. Not being able to do it, my days felt empty,” he said after his final-round 2-under 69 at Ridgewood Country Club. And when I couldn’t, it was strange, a very uncomfortable feeling.” He said his back feels fine and his mind is clear, especially when he comes here.

Cliff Taylor: Health plan must be given a real chance despite the demands of our system No sooner was the Sláintecare implementation plan published when it started. The consultants warned more cash was needed for beds, frontline staff and, eh, more consultants. The lack of costings in the Sláintecare implementation programme points to something of a breakdown in relations between the Department of Health – and the HSE– and the key centres of power in the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Finance and Public Expenditure. And cash is not the only issue to be sorted. Yet it is only when there is cash behind it all that we will see a real political commitment. Trust has been undermined because HSE overspending has been endemic in recent years. And so we are at risk of a stand-off rather than a real effort to get wind behind the latest reform plan. Yet we can’t go on with the old story of annual overruns and no change. This is the only plan we have. It came from a cross-party group, and so has some chance of wider political acceptance.

Madison Square Park officially opened to the public in 1847. Edwin Levick/Archive Photos, via Getty Images The Flatiron Building, completed in 1902, anchors Madison Square Park to the south. Detroit Publishing Company, via Library of Congress One of the early buildings in Madison Square Park was a home for juvenile delinquents. via New York Public Library A view from 1896 of Fifth Avenue at 26th Street, showing Delmonico’s Restaurant. via New York Public Library The first Madison Square Garden, circa 1879-1890. via Museum of the City of New York Interior of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, circa 1895. Brown Brothers, via Museum of the City of New York Stanford White designed the second Madison Square Garden, a Moorish-Venetian-Renaissance-style building. Frank M. Ingalls/The New York Historical Society, via Getty Images The 1913 National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden. H.C. White Company, via Library of Congress Madison Square Park, today, with the MetLife Tower, center left. Karsten Moran for The New York Times “Danny’s vision and food have been integral to making Madison Square Park what it is today,” said Keats Myer of the Madison Square Park Conservancy about Danny Meyer, the restaurateur who, in the early aughts, established the original Shake Shack in the park, which drew New Yorkers and tourists to the area once again.

Photographer John Moore, whose viral image of a weeping two-year-old girl at the US border has become the potent symbol of the outrage over Donald Trump’s controversial “zero tolerance” policy, including family separations, knew what he had captured was “important”. Moore, a veteran Getty Images photographer, who has spent a decade documenting immigration and US border issues, had been accompanying a patrol along the Rio Grande Valley. I was with them from afternoon into evening.” Over the years, Moore had become familiar with both the routes over this border and the way different people reacted: how those who crossed individually, usually men, would run and try to hide from the border patrols. And unlike those in the boat, Moore knew what was likely to happen. “I have photographed many immigrant families seeking political asylum at the border over the last few years. “I knew, however, what would happen to many of them next – separation – after they were taken away, so it was difficult for me to witness. “The officer asked her to put the little girl on the ground while the mother was searched. “I knew that this image was important. So, with the photos of the young girl and her mother, I hope I achieved that to some extent. I hope it helps to change policy.” For now, however, Moore would like to know what has happened to the little girl and her mother.

Investigation ordered by Turnbull revealed decade-long infiltration campaign MELBOURNE -- A secret Australian investigation uncovered a campaign by China to infiltrate the country's major political parties, a news outlet has reported, in the latest allegation of Chinese interference likely to strain relations between the trading partners. The probe ordered by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull revealed a decade-long effort by the Chinese Communist Party to compromise Australia's political process and influence policymaking, 9 News reported on Monday. The findings of the review by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet reportedly prompted Turnbull's proposal last year of pending anti-foreign interference laws that have tested ties with Beijing. Turnbull unveiled the new laws -- which would ban foreign political donations, expand the definition of espionage and create a register of foreign lobbyists -- while warning of attempts by "foreign powers" to influence Australian democracy. Beijing blasted Turnbull's remarks at the time as catering to "irresponsible reports by some Australian media that are without principle and full of bias against China." In recent months, Beijing has been accused of interference including cultivating Manchurian candidates for office, kidnapping dissidents, leaning on local Chinese-language media and spying on Chinese students studying here. "I think we can be well protected, we can protect ourselves if we understand where it is that the CCP is trying to steer our influential people and just be very alert to not being steered in that direction," Merriden Varrall, director of the East Asia Programme at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, told the Nikkei Asian Review. Last week, Andrew Hastie, a Liberal Party MP, unleashed shock waves when he used parliamentary privilege to accuse a high-profile Chinese-born businessman of involvement in the bribery of a high-level United Nations official. Chau Chak Wing, who has launched defamation proceedings against a number of media organizations for tying him to the Chinese government, has vehemently denied the allegation. Wang said Australia should "take off the tinted glasses" and be positive toward China's growth if it wanted to improve ties.