Axios

Capitol Hill will be consumed by Obamacare for the foreseeable future but this week is a big one, with House committees expected to mark up the first legislative text. Committees responsible for the health-care bill — led by Ways and Means chair Kevin Brady and Energy and Commerce chair Greg Walden — worked over the weekend with the White House "to tie up loose ends and incorporate technical guidance from the administration," a senior GOP aide tells me.

There was a weekend call with the big players crafting the policy: Speaker Ryan, Walden, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, HHS Secretary Tom Price, White House senior policy hand Andrew Bremberg, and others. Outstanding issues, still being worked through by the committees:

• Design of the tax credits: We're told that Republicans are going to put an income cap on the tax credits. This helps bring down costs — a top GOP priority — and will ensure that the super-rich aren't getting financial assistance they don't need.
• Tweaking coverage: We're told that the early estimates about how many people would be covered by the healthcare plan were pretty bad. Republicans have been tweaking the plan to ensure that the coverage gets better.

Republicans are about to come under pressure to keep their promise to repeal Obamacare, the New York Times reports, highlighting a coming campaign backed by the Koch brothers and their allies. The key quote from Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, which is coordinating the effort:

"We've been patient this year, but it is past time to act and to act decisively . . . Our network has spent more money, more time and more years fighting Obamacare than anything else. And now with the finish line in sight, we cannot allow some folks to pull up and give up."

Why this matters: Initial spending is just in the "low six-figures" the NYT reports, but this could be a sign of pressures to come for Republicans as the Obamacare repeal (and replace) effort seems to have stalled in Congress. As the Times puts it: "this early rift between the party's activist wing and its leadership in Washington could be a taste of what Republicans can expect now that they control the government entirely and are no longer able to blame Democrats for blocking their agenda."

A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study shows the rate of fatal drug overdoses has more than doubled since 1999. Those between 55 and 64 years of age were the hardest hit. Rates increased for both males and females and increased across all age groups.

The 2015 rate for fatal drug overdoses is higher than deaths from suicides (13.4 deaths per 100,000) car accidents (11.1 deaths per 100,000) and firearms:

A new study from economists at Indiana University and the University of Virginia has found that the economy has played an important role in the rise of the opioid epidemic — in which deaths from opioid overdoses have quadrupled among white people since 1999, per the Washington Post.

Alex Hollingsworth, Christopher J. Ruhm and Kosali Simon's analysis of health records from 1999-2014 found that rates of opioid deaths grew more quickly in counties where the unemployment rate climbed faster than average. A 1 percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate led to a 3.6% increase in the rate of fatal opioid overdoses, and a 7% increase in emergency room visits related to opioid overdoses.

Why it matters: The research tells us that places that better survived the Great Recession were more likely to resist the opioid epidemic, while places that suffered through the nation's economic downturn were more vulnerable to the drug.

(First sentence corrected to say economists from Indiana University.)

Here's what the House Speaker told Bret Baier of Fox News about Paul's criticism of the House Obamacare approach, and Paul's public "search" for a copy of the bill:

I like Rand but I think he's looking for a publicity stunt here.

Why this matters: Republicans can only repeal and replace Obamacare if they stay unified. That's already looking tough, as a number of hardline conservatives — Rand Paul most prominent among them — are publicly condemning some of the core elements of a plan that congressional leaders and the White House are privately fleshing out. Ryan is giving public expression to the sentiment among his colleagues who really don't like Rand Paul. They believe he's a Senator light on accomplishments and heavy on stunts. They believe he's threatening everything they've worked for; and they're ready to blame him and his colleagues like Ted Cruz if the Obamacare repeal-and-replace effort fails.

The thing that's always been true about Rand Paul: he won't be swayed by critics. That's why his supporters love him; and why the House-led Obamacare plan looks endangered on arrival.