The Daily Briefing editorial team highlights several interesting health care stories and studies that didn't quite make this week's Briefing. What are you reading this weekend? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter.
Rachel Schulze's reads
Yes, you can train your cat to use the toilet, and there's literature on how to do so: If you think toilet-training a cat sounds absurd, if not impossible, think again. The Washington Post reports that "a small minority of cat owners" are opting for toilet-training rather than litter box-training their kitties. While "no one tracks cat toilet use," the Post reports that "there is enough of a market to support feline toilet-training kits with hundreds of reviews on Amazon, as well as two new books on the topic." One cat owner told the Post that she was "happy to report no accidents have occurred since within the first week that we got him, and he has taken to the toilet wonderfully."
How much do you know about the ACA replacement? Have you been following the news on House Republicans' Affordable Care Act replacement bill, the American Health Care Act? Do you think you know more about the measure than the House Speaker? Test your knowledge with Politico's quiz!
Sam Bernstein's reads
What does the Daily Briefing have in common with Vermont and Alaska? At the Daily Briefing, we write "health care" as two words—which is uncommon according to Google search data. In fact, in the last 5 years, the only states that preferred two words when conducting Google searches were Vermont and Alaska. Go figure.
The government isn't sure it wants the space station anymore. Congress has funded support for the International Space Station until 2024. But there is one problem: Doing so costs between $3 and $4 billion annually and eats up about half of NASA's budget. And as the space agency sets its sights on the Moon, Mars, and beyond, it isn't sure if that's money well spent. The House Subcommittee on Space recently debated the issue and couldn't agree on a plan. Currently, according to The Verge, the most popular idea is to eventually hand over the space station to private industry.