Axios

Employers have more power over our health care system than anyone else, and they're getting more creative with how to wield it to lower costs, according to a new survey of large employers.

Why it matters: U.S. health care spending is going to become increasingly unsustainable until employers — which cover a plurality of Americans — decide they've had enough.

A 43-year-old Israeli flight attendant died after contracting measles in late March on a flight from New York and falling into a coma, according to Israeli media reports Tuesday.

Why it matters: It's uncommon that someone in a developed country such as Israel dies from measles. This is the third measles-related death in Israel since November, per the BBC — but it is unclear how the flight attendant contracted the mostly vaccine-preventable disease.

Recent research showing stronger links between an enterovirus and the polio-like illness called acute flaccid myelitis has led the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to start work on an EV-D68 vaccine, director Anthony Fauci tells Axios.

Why it matters: While rare, the devastating illness AFM suddenly strikes children, causing abrupt muscle weakness, paralysis or sometimes death. Researchers have been on the hunt for its cause — and while not definitive, the link with enterovirus D68 has grown stronger, including via a new study in the peer-reviewed journal mBio.

The universe of people covered by the Affordable Care Act keeps narrowing.

Between the lines: People who make too much money to qualify for help paying their premiums are fleeing the ACA’s insurance exchanges. But the exchanges are still pretty stable for people who receive premium subsidies, according to new federal data.

Surprise medical bills have gotten more common and more expensive, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Why it matters: These bills can be devastating to patients, even those who have some savings and a steady source of income.