Axios

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo showed a recent spike, despite concerted efforts by public health workers and international organizations, mainly due active pockets of community resistance to vaccination and the dangers posed to health care workers in active conflict zones that halt or delay key treatment measures.

What's new: DRC's Ministry of Health reports that, as of October 10, the cases of confirmed and probable infections spiked to 200, with 90 confirmed deaths and 26 suspected cases under investigation. However, the World Health Organization warns these numbers are "likely underestimated."

A growing number of children haven't received any vaccinations by the time they turn two, the Washington Post reports.

By the numbers: The number of unvaccinated children is still small, but public health experts are still concerned by the fact that it's growing. The percentage of unvaccinated children has quadrupled over the past 17 years, according to the Post. There are now an estimated 100,000 children younger than 2 who have never received any vaccinations.

“Affordable Care Act premiums are going down” is a headline no one's ever seen before, so it’s no surprise the Trump administration is trying to take credit for the change.

Driving the news: The administration announced yesterday that premiums for a "benchmark" plan will drop by an average of 1.5% next year in the federally run ACA marketplaces — the first time that’s happened since it launched.

There's been a lot of discussion of narrow provider networks and how they reduce costs by limiting access to the highest priced providers. They're commonplace in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces where about 10 million people are enrolled, and in the individual market generally — but they are actually quite rare in the group market, where about 152 million Americans get coverage through their employers.

Why it matters: Don't confuse the ACA with the health insurance market most people use. Narrow networks are the exception, not the rule, in the private insurance system overall, and there is little reason to believe that will change any time soon.

Most Democrats running in competitive House races are supporting or at least leaving the door open to some form of "Medicare for All" — although there is no clear agreement within the party about what that means.

Why it matters: The party is indisputably shifting leftward, and health care is a critical part of that change. Regardless of which specific policies these candidates support, it's clear that they see a greater federal role in health care as a winning campaign message.

Hong Kong will ban e-cigarettes and other similar smoking products to protect public health, chief executive Carrie Lim said Wednesday during her annual address, per the Associated Press.

Why it matters: Hong Kong will be the 28th territory or country that bans the import, manufacture, sale, distribution and advertisement of e-cigarettes. However, the AP writes that mainland China remains the largest producer and consumer of tobacco products, with more than half of the country’s men being regular smokers. As of 2017, there are 87 countries that have some kind of regulation on e-cigarettes, and studies show the market for cigarettes globally is declining.

Coverage through the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges will be slightly cheaper next year — the first time in the law's history that premiums have gone down. Premiums for a middle-of-the road policy will fall by an average of 1.5%, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said.

Yes, but: Premiums are falling this year in part because they've gone up so much in the past. Insurers largely accounted for the Trump administration's policy changes when they raised premiums this year by more than 20%, on average.

Let’s be clear up front: Everything in health policy comes with a trade-off, including “Medicare for All,” no matter how you define it. Those costs very well may be more than American voters ultimately want to accept.

But President Trump did not lay out those choices particularly well in his USA Today op-ed yesterday.

“In the weeks and months ahead, there is a lot of action — regulatory action that we are working on,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar told Axios in a Wednesday interview.

Driving the news: President Trump signed a bill yesterday to outlaw the “gag clauses” that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) sometimes impose on pharmacists, preventing them from telling patients when it would be cheaper to pay cash for a prescription than to use their insurance.