Budget deal sets back key healthcare bills

Budget deal sets back key healthcare bills-thehill: Congress’s two-year budget deal is throwing up hurdles for a pair of healthcare bills, taking away almost $13 billion in offsets that had been proposed to pay for the legislation.  Both bills have already passed the House and are expected to reach the Senate sometime before 2016. One of those — the 21st Century Cures Act — passed with nearly 350 votes as lawmakers rallied behind the push for streamlined drug approvals and a boost in medical research funding.

Budget deal: Winners and losers

Budget deal: Winners and losers-thehill: Congress agreed early Friday morning to pass a two-year budget deal that raises funding levels and suspends the debt limit until 2017. The last-minute accord marked one of the last achievements of outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), and draws the curtain on the fiscal fights that were central to President Obama’s feud with congressional Republicans.

As Speaker, Paul Ryan May Need to Pare Lofty Goals

As Speaker, Paul Ryan May Need to Pare Lofty Goals-nytimes: Paul D. Ryan, a son and grandson of Midwestern lawyers, ascended rapidly in American politics as a man with big plans: to overhaul the tax code, slash federal spending and rewrite the social contracts for Medicare and Social Security.

Ryan Elected Speaker

Ryan Elected Speaker-rollcall: Rep. Paul D. Ryan has crossed the 218 vote threshold and is the 54th speaker of the House.  The Wisconsin Republican was elected Thursday on the House floor. He replaces John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, who delivered an emotional farewell address ahead of the vote on his final day in the House.

Senate plans vote on partial ObamaCare repeal next month

Senate plans vote on partial ObamaCare repeal next month-thehill: The Senate is planning a budget vote to repeal major ObamaCare mandates and defund Planned Parenthood as early as November, the No. 2 Republican said Wednesday.  Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters Wednesday that the chamber would hold a “vote-a-rama” on the massive budget bill, known as reconciliation, in the upcoming weeks.`

Bush follows Paul Ryan on Medicare overhaul

Bush follows Paul Ryan on Medicare overhaul-politico: Jeb Bush unveiled his proposal to overhaul Social Security and Medicare this morning, embracing a politically risky conservative platform as he tries to revive his flagging campaign.

Ben Carson’s Health Care Plan: New and More Confusing

Ben Carson’s Health Care Plan: New and More Confusing-nytimes: For the last few years, Ben Carson has been talking about a very disruptive but simple plan to reform the health care system in the United States: replace Obamacare, Medicare and Medicaid with an easy-to-understand universal, cradle-to-grave annual cash allowance for health spending.

Paul Ryan Supports Budget Deal, Pans Process

Paul Ryan Supports Budget Deal, Pans Process-rollcall: House Republicans are expected to select Rep. Paul D. Ryan as their speaker candidate ahead of a Thursday floor vote, but the Wisconsin Republican’s decision to support a budget deal loathed by many rank-and-file members could reduce the number of votes he gets.

Poll Watch: Ben Carson Edges Ahead Nationally in Times/CBS News Poll

Poll Watch: Ben Carson Edges Ahead Nationally in Times/CBS News Poll-nytimes: Ben Carson has taken a narrow lead nationally in the Republican presidential campaign, dislodging Donald J. Trump from the top spot for the first time in months, according to a New York Times/CBS News survey released on Tuesday.

The White House and GOP Have Agreed on John Boehner’s Last Big Deal

The White House and GOP Have Agreed on John Boehner’s Last Big Deal-nationaljournal: House Speak­er John Boehner’s last week will be a busy one.  Boehner and the three oth­er top con­gres­sion­al of­fi­cials—House Minor­ity Lead­er Nancy Pelosi, Sen­ate Ma­jor­ity Lead­er Mitch Mc­Con­nell, and Sen­ate Minor­ity Lead­er Harry Re­id—have tent­at­ively reached a deal that would both raise the coun­try’s bor­row­ing au­thor­ity to avert a dev­ast­at­ing de­fault next week and lift spend­ing caps over the next two years.

Mandatory Spending for NIH Could Mar Senate Medical Bill

Mandatory Spending for NIH Could Mar Senate Medical Bill-morningconsult: A rift between Republicans over mandatory spending could creep up this fall as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee readies a comprehensive medical research bill.  HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) is considering using mandatory spending to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health. But it’s not clear whether he will do so, or if he does, whether he will have the support of more conservative Republicans.

Reconciliation Bill Passes House With Freedom Caucus Support, But Trouble Lies Ahead

Reconciliation Bill Passes House With Freedom Caucus Support, But Trouble Lies Ahead-nationaljournal: “Good enough” was fi­nally ac­cept­able to most far-right con­ser­vat­ives in the House, who on Fri­day joined with the rest of their party to re­peal sev­er­al ma­jor pro­vi­sions of Obama­care in a re­con­cili­ation bill.

5 Things to Watch in the House This Week

5 Things to Watch in the House This Week-rollcall: Any other week, a rare, mid-session speaker election might be the only news of note in the House, but a confluence of legislative deadlines and a corresponding race for the Ways and Means gavel make for a hectic atmosphere in Speaker John A. Boehner’s final week in Congress.

House Obamacare repeal doesn’t go far enough for Rubio, Cruz and Lee

House Obamacare repeal doesn’t go far enough for Rubio, Cruz and Lee-washingtonpost: Is it possible for a bill repealing Obamacare to not be conservative enough? It appears so.  Presidential candidates Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) joined their Senate colleague Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Thursday to announce they do not support a House bill to be voted on Friday that would repeal large portions of Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood and reiterate Republican plans for deep spending cuts.

Ryan to Colleagues: I’m In

Ryan to Colleagues: I’m In-thehill: Paul D. Ryan is officially in.  After receiving sufficient support from three major factions of the House GOP, the Wisconsin Republican announced Thursday he will run for speaker.

Conservative Debt Limit Plan Shelved

Conservative Debt Limit Plan Shelved-thehill: Speaker John A. Boehner said he hoped to raise the debt limit before he resigns from Congress, but he’s running out of time to meet the Nov. 3 deadline in advance of his scheduled Oct. 30 departure.  The Ohio Republican has five more legislative days to avoid a federal government default before the politically messy task falls to his successor.

How NIH Funding Got Caught in a Budget Battle

How NIH Funding Got Caught in a Budget Battle-national journal: If there’s one ques­tion that has the po­ten­tial to cre­ate a kum­baya mo­ment in Con­gress, it’s de­cid­ing wheth­er the Na­tion­al In­sti­tutes of Health should get more fund­ing. (The an­swer is yes.) But if any­thing is go­ing to dis­rupt that mo­ment, it’s the ques­tion of how to pay for it.

Navigating the Maze of Electronic Health Records

Navigating the Maze of Electronic Health Records-nationaljournal: Christine Bechtel dropped off a copy of the Fed­er­al Re­gister at her doc­tor’s of­fice. The con­sumer ad­voc­ate was in the midst of a pro­longed battle to ob­tain elec­tron­ic cop­ies of her health re­cords from a primary care prac­tice whose em­ploy­ees seemed be­fuddled when told they had to provide them.

Hillary Clinton Is “Skeptical” of Health-Insurer Mergers

Hillary Clinton Is “Skeptical” of Health-Insurer Mergers-nationaljournal: Hil­lary Clin­ton is join­ing the de­bate over re­cent pro­posed in­surer mer­gers, ex­press­ing “ser­i­ous con­cerns” and say­ing they could raise mar­ket con­cen­tra­tion and drive down com­pet­i­tion.  This builds on Clin­ton’s con­sumer-fo­cused health care re­forms, which have thus far favored pa­tients over key in­dustry play­ers like in­surers and phar­ma­ceut­ic­al com­pan­ies.

Ryan Sacrifices Job Security With Eye Toward Long Game

Ryan Sacrifices Job Security With Eye Toward Long Game-rollcall: What’s the best job security Paul D. Ryan can hope for, even if the Republican malcontents hold their fire long enough and he becomes speaker of the House?  That would be one year.  Fourteen months, at the outside.

Boehner Sets Speaker Elections

Boehner Sets Speaker Elections-rollcall: In a vote of confidence in Paul D. Ryan and a show of eagerness to resign as planned on Oct. 31, Speaker John A. Boehner has scheduled a conference meeting for next Wednesday, Oct. 28, for House Republicans to nominate his successor.

Paul Ryan Sets Conditions for Speaker Bid

Paul Ryan Sets Conditions for Speaker Bid-rollcall: Paul D. Ryan needs convincing the GOP conference has his back — and he’s given lawmakers a Friday deadline to persuade him to take the speaker’s job.  The Wisconsin Republican told colleagues he will run for speaker if he can win broad support from the Freedom Caucus, the Republican Study Committee and the centrist Tuesday Group.

ObamaCare repeal effort hits snag on far right

ObamaCare repeal effort hits snag on far right-thehill: A far-right conservative group is muddying the waters for a major GOP-led bill that would do the most damage to ObamaCare since the law was first passed.  Heritage Action for America is running a campaign this week against a House bill that would repeal major pillars of ObamaCare through a budget tool called reconciliation, pressing GOP leaders to broaden their bill into a full repeal.

Can Paul Ryan Make “Repeal and Replace” Work?

Can Paul Ryan Make “Repeal and Replace” Work?-nationaljour: The Re­pub­lic­an pres­id­en­tial can­did­ates are still mak­ing vague prom­ises to “re­peal and re­place” Obama­care even as the law be­comes fur­ther en­trenched—and Paul Ry­an, the GOP’s per­en­ni­al white knight, is busy try­ing to fig­ure out how to make such an enormous upheaval work.

Drug Politics Go Republican as Rubio Criticizes Industry

Drug Politics Go Republican as Rubio Criticizes Industry-bloomberg: Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio joined the debate over U.S. drug prices, saying in a speech last week that some practices by the industry amounted to “pure profiteering.” Criticism of the drug industry has largely been the domain of Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, who have repeatedly called for new regulations to control the high cost of medicine. Rubio’s comments turn criticism of the industry bipartisan.

Judge Denies Obama Administration Quick Appeal in House Suit Against Health Care Law

Judge Denies Obama Administration Quick Appeal in House Suit Against Health Care Law-nytimes: Speaker John A. Boehner may be having trouble with conservative House Republicans, but he is on a bit of a roll in the federal lawsuit brought against the Obama administration over the new health care law.

Reconciliation Bill Latest Wedge Between Conservatives and Leadership

Reconciliation Bill Latest Wedge Between Conservatives and Leadership-morningconsult: After five years of failed attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, House Republicans on Friday will take their best shot yet by utilizing a parliamentary tactic aimed at avoiding a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.  But what is supposed to be a moment of legislative triumph for Republicans is swiftly devolving into another round of finger-pointing between House leaders who say they are taking every step possible and conservatives who say the legislative roll-back doesn’t go far enough.

Orrin Hatch holds cards on trade deal

Orrin Hatch holds cards on trade deal-politico: No one fought harder to give President Barack Obama trade promotion authority to complete a landmark 12-nation deal than Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch. Now, no lawmaker may be more disappointed with the result — or better positioned to torpedo the deal if he chooses to oppose it.

Debt Limit, Highways Wait as Republicans Tackle Sanctuary Cities

Debt Limit, Highways Wait as Republicans Tackle Sanctuary Cities-rollcall: Senators return to Washington this week facing a crush of must-pass legislation, but before the chamber can get to the debt limit or highway funding, Republicans want to express outrage over “sanctuary cities.”

As GOP Mulls Its Future, All Eyes Fixed on Paul Ryan

As GOP Mulls Its Future, All Eyes Fixed on Paul Ryan-rollcall: Paul D. Ryan has a decision to make, and until the Wisconsin Republican makes up his mind, many of the other pressing questions that face House Republicans are on hold.  Ryan and his House GOP colleagues return to the Capitol Tuesday. But with first votes held off until 6:30 p.m., as is customary on the fly-in day, Ryan probably has until Wednesday morning, during the weekly House Republican Conference meeting, to make an announcement on whether he’s willing to run for speaker — and even then, Ryan’s decision could be in flux.

GOP's debt-limit pressure grows

GOP's debt-limit pressure grows-thehill: Pressure is building on Republicans to find a way to tackle the debt limit.   With the House still clueless about who its next Speaker will be, Congress has just 10 legislative days to tackle a topic at the center of some of the most pitched fiscal battles of the last several years.

Bernie Sanders rejects donation from drug company CEO

Bernie Sanders rejects donation from drug company CEO-bostonglobe: WASHINGTON — The man who has become the public face of rising drug prices says he has donated to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders — who has been bashing Big Pharma on the campaign trail — to try to get a meeting so the two can talk it out.  Sanders isn’t interested. His campaign said Thursday that he’s giving the money to a Washington health clinic instead — and the drug executive isn’t getting the meeting.

Team Boehner: Debt Ceiling Deal ‘Certainly Possible’

Team Boehner: Debt Ceiling Deal ‘Certainly Possible’-rollcall: John A. Boehner has said he wants to “clean the barn” of some unfinished legislative business before he steps down, and on Wednesday the speaker’s team confirmed that could include a deal to avoid a financial default by the federal government.

ObamaCare Medicaid expansion dies in Utah

ObamaCare Medicaid expansion dies in Utah-thehill: In effort in Utah to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare has died after Republicans in the state House of Representatives rejected a compromise proposal.  House Speaker Gregory Hughes (R) told The Salt Lake Tribune that only seven of 63 House Republicans supported the plan in a closed-door meeting to gauge support on Tuesday night.

More Dem votes key to trade deal’s passage

More Dem votes key to trade deal’s passage-thehill: The White House will likely need to pick up additional Democratic votes for a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade deal despite Hillary Clinton’s opposition to the agreement. Just 28 House Democrats voted earlier this year to give President Obama expanded power to ease passage of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which has come under fire from liberals who say it would undermine public safety and hurt American workers.

Debt-limit anxiety is running high

Debt-limit anxiety is running high-thehill: Prolonged turmoil within the House GOP is driving up anxiety that Washington will have real trouble raising the debt limit by Nov. 5.  People aren’t jumping out of windows yet, but those following the matter closely see plenty of reason to believe Congress could miss its deadline — raising the risk of a default.

Jeb Bush’s Obamacare Replacement Has a “Cadillac Tax” Of Its Own

Jeb Bush’s Obamacare Replacement Has a “Cadillac Tax” Of Its Own-nationaljournal: Jeb Bush wants to do away with the Af­ford­able Care Act’s “Ca­dillac tax”, a cost-con­trol meas­ure that slaps a tax on the most ex­pens­ive health be­ne­fits and is a top Obama­care re­peal tar­get for Demo­crats and Re­pub­lic­ans alike. Bush, like the rest of the 2016 GOP pres­id­en­tial field, doesn’t want to stop at the Ca­dillac tax: He wants to strike down the law com­pletely.

Conservative group steps up Utah ObamaCare attacks

Conservative group steps up Utah ObamaCare attacks-thehill: The conservative group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is stepping up its attacks on ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion as the decision-making enters a key phase in Utah.  AFP, backed by conservative donors Charles and David Koch, is launching new mail pieces sent to the constituents of roughly a dozen key Utah state lawmakers. 

How the controversy over drug prices could take down Obama’s massive trade deal

How the controversy over drug prices could take down Obama’s massive trade deal-washingtonpost: A political firestorm is building over the protections for drug companies in Obama administration's massive international trade deal, threatening support for a key piece of the president's legacy.

Jeb Bush to pitch replacing Obamacare with tax credits, higher health savings account limits

Jeb Bush to pitch replacing Obamacare with tax credits, higher health savings account limits-washingtonpost: Jeb Bush will return to New Hampshire on Tuesday to pitch his plan for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act -- an approach that includes providing a tax credit for purchasing health plans and upping limits on contributions to health savings accounts.

Next Speaker Unlikely to Continue Long String of Leadership Insiders

Next Speaker Unlikely to Continue Long String of Leadership Insiders-rollcall: There may be plenty of good reasons why Republicans are now seeking a “fresh face” as House speaker. But picking from outside the existing chain of command could also create some big challenges.

Sanders takes stand against FDA nominee for 'Big Pharma' ties

Sanders takes stand against FDA nominee for 'Big Pharma' ties-thehill: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Friday pledged to oppose President Obama’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), blasting the nominee as a loyalist to the pharmaceutical industry.  “We need a new leader at the FDA who is prepared to stand up to the pharmaceutical companies and work to substantially lower drug prices,” Sanders said in a statement. “Unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion that Dr. [Robert] Califf is not that person.”

Where We Stand: No Clear Path on Spending, Debt, Highways, and More

Where We Stand: No Clear Path on Spending, Debt, Highways, and More-morningconsult: Congress adjourned for a week-long recess without a clear plan to meet a key deadline on the government’s borrowing limit. With nobody knowing who will wield the speaker’s gavel come November, or how beholden they will be to the Republican party’s conservative faction, it’s still almost a complete mystery how the country’s debt ceiling will be addressed.

McCarthy Withdraws From Speaker’s Race, Putting House in Chaos

McCarthy Withdraws From Speaker’s Race, Putting House in Chaos-nytimes: Representative Kevin McCarthy of California abruptly withdrew on Thursday from the race to succeed Speaker John A. Boehner, blindsiding his House Republican colleagues and throwing their already tumultuous chamber into deeper chaos with no clear leader in sight just weeks before a series of high-stakes fiscal battles.

Small ACA Rollback Could Forecast Piece-by-Piece Repeal

Small ACA Rollback Could Forecast Piece-by-Piece Repeal-morningconsult: President Obama signed a small but significant bill this week that rolls back a requirement in his signature health law, the Affordable Care Act. Last week, Congress voted on bipartisan lines to repeal a small group insurance markets rule that was slated to go into effect in 2016. Many business groups said that without the change, premiums would have gone up for millions of workers.

Lawmakers get earful on Medicaid expansion plan

Lawmakers get earful on Medicaid expansion plan-thesaltlaketribune: Low-income Utahns pleaded with lawmakers Tuesday to pass legislation that they said could enable them to get urgent treatment for illnesses, but the proposal met with a barrage of criticism from doctors and other health providers who said taxing them to pay for the health care is unfair and damaging.

Big Pharma braces for 2016 assault

Big Pharma braces for 2016 assault-thehill: The healthcare industry is under fire from the leading Democratic candidates for president. The assault, coming in the form of both rhetoric and policy proposals, is putting the industry on edge, even as a Republican-led Congress stands in the way of most of their proposals.

Hillary Clinton Opposes TPP ‘as of Today’

Hillary Clinton Opposes TPP ‘as of Today’-rollcall: “What I know about it, as of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it,” Clinton told PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff Wednesday.

Schumer Urges Boehner to Go Big Before Going Home

Schumer Urges Boehner to Go Big Before Going Home-rollcall: The man in line to be the next leader of Senate Democrats is warning Republicans are “playing with fire” if the debt limit is not addressed before the current speaker’s resignation takes effect.

Feds push forward with controversial health rule

Feds push forward with controversial health rule-thehill: The Obama administration is moving ahead with controversial new rules that require doctors to switch to electronic health records or face fees, resisting calls from both parties to delay implementation.

Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Proposals, Focused on Cost, Go Well Beyond Obama’s

Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Proposals, Focused on Cost, Go Well Beyond Obama’s-nytimes: Hillary Rodham Clinton, as she offered up a sheaf of new health care proposals, said she was “building on the Affordable Care Act.” But lurking in those proposals was a veiled criticism of President Obama’s signature domestic achievement: For many families, the Affordable Care Act has not made health care affordable.

Senators Aim to Revamp Federal Rules for Electronic Medical Charts

Senators Aim to Revamp Federal Rules for Electronic Medical Charts-nationaljournal: A bi­par­tis­an pair of sen­at­ors Tues­day in­tro­duced le­gis­la­tion aimed at im­prov­ing elec­tron­ic health re­cords’ trans­par­ency and ac­count­ab­il­ity.

Congress and Obama Administration Seek Ways to Limit Increase in Medicare Premiums

Congress and Obama Administration Seek Ways to Limit Increase in Medicare Premiums-nytimes: WASHINGTON — Congress and the Obama administration are frantically seeking ways to hold down Medicare premiums that could rise by roughly 50 percent for some beneficiaries next year, according to lawmakers and Medicare officials.

Trade deal would limit protections for pharma firms

Trade deal would limit protections for pharma firms-thehill: Trade officials from 12 countries agreed Monday to shrink the length of time that pharmaceutical companies can receive monopoly rights for certain drugs, a provision that is already threatening to incite a Big Pharma rebellion on Capitol Hill.

Boehner Throws Leadership Races a Curveball

Boehner Throws Leadership Races a Curveball-rollcall: In the latest plot twist to House Republicans’ leadership drama, Speaker John A. Boehner announced Monday that potential majority leader and majority whip contests would only take place if Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is confirmed as speaker on the floor at the end of October.

Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Plans Might Be Headed Nowhere

Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Plans Might Be Headed Nowhere-nationaljournal: The last time Hil­lary Clin­ton was in the White House, she pitched Amer­ic­ans on a plan to change the Amer­ic­an health care sys­tem—only to see Con­gress suc­cess­fully stand in her way. If Clin­ton gets her way in 2016 and earns a re­turn trip to the White House (this time as pres­id­ent rather than first lady), she may have the same ex­per­i­ence all over again.

Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal Is Reached

Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal Is Reached-nytimes: The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations on Monday agreed to the largest regional trade accord in history, a potentially precedent-setting model for global commerce and worker standards that would tie together 40 percent of the world’s economy, from Canada and Chile to Japan and Australia.

GOP Confronts Its Future as Debt Ceiling, Budget Loom

GOP Confronts Its Future as Debt Ceiling, Budget Loom-morningconsult: Those who had hoped October would bring a brief respite from congressional shenanigans are in for a disappointment. Lawmakers are out of town for the week of Columbus Day, but the other three weeks they spend in the Capitol will be hectic.

5 cases to watch as Supreme Court term begins

5 cases to watch as Supreme Court term begins-politico: After a year in which liberals scored impressive, high-profile Supreme Court victories, conservatives could be in line for wins on some of this term's most contentious issues, as the justices consider cases that could gut public sector labor unions and roll back affirmative action at state universities.

Leadership Fight Will Set Direction for a Generation of Republicans

Leadership Fight Will Set Direction for a Generation of Republicans-morningconsult: When House Republicans meet next week to choose a new leadership team, the party will be cementing a generational shift that began five years ago with the election of a wave of young conservatives. In the process, the new generation will be faced with an existential choice, one that will define their legacy.

Health Law Revision Is Approved

Health Law Revision Is Approved-nytimes: The Senate passed legislation on Thursday intended to protect small and midsize businesses from increases in health insurance premiums, clearing the bill for President Obama’s expected signature.

Senate Panel OKs Bill to Hasten New Drugs to Market

Senate Panel OKs Bill to Hasten New Drugs to Market-morningconsult: Legislation aimed at reducing the time it takes for new drugs to enter the market unanimously passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday along with bills addressing newborn opioid abuse and mental health.

House votes to prevent shutdown — with 151 GOP 'no' votes

House votes to prevent shutdown — with 151 GOP 'no' votes-thehill: Congress sent President Obama legislation on Wednesday to prevent a government shutdown, following a 277-151 vote in the House that will keep federal agencies funded through Dec. 11.

One poll that explains why Obamacare’s Cadillac Tax is doomed

One poll that explains why Obamacare’s Cadillac Tax is doomed-vox: Everyone from Hillary Clinton to the Chamber of Commerce has come out against Obamacare's Cadillac Tax. A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation helps explain the political pile-on: Most Americans hate the idea of taxing expensive health benefits.