Healthcare

With one syllable, Scalia avoided public discussion about whether striking the healthcare mandate would be an overreach of court authority.

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"Violence against women is as American as apple pie," says Rep. Gwen Moore, who added she knows from personal experience.

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Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) said Wednesday afternoon that he detected "skepticism" on the faces of U.S. Supreme Court justices during Tuesday's oral arguments in the case several states have brought against the 2010 healthcare law.

"Yesteday, I had the opportunity over at the Supreme Court to witness the oral arguments on the individual mandate, and I believe I could tell on the face of the justices that there was significant skepticism about this provision of the Affordable Care Act," Burgess said.

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The House on Tuesday approved a resolution that asks the Senate to return H.R. 5, the Protecting Access to Healthcare (PATH) Act, so that technical changes can be made.

The House approved a resolution asking for the bill back because of an error made while engrossing the bill. The fixes will likely be made shortly, allowing the House to pass the bill again by unanimous consent so it can be sent back to the Senate.

The resolution asking for the bill back, H.Res. 596, was approved by unanimous consent.

H.R. 5 itself would repeal the 2010 healthcare law's Independent Payment Advisory Board, and also imposes medical tort reform. But the Senate is not expected to take it up.

Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) said Monday afternoon that while the Supreme Court is just starting to assess the constitutionality of the 2010 healthcare law, most Americans have already rendered the verdict that the law is both costly and unconstitutional, and should be repealed.

"In 2010, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested, 'we have to pass a bill so can find out what's in it,' " Thompson said on the House floor. "Two years since passage, American families have found out the hard way about increased taxes, looming regulations and a slew of broken promises from fictitious cost controls to limitations of consumer choice."

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The bill, which repeals the Independent Payment Advisory Board, passed 223-181 with only seven Dems supporting

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House Republicans on Thursday voted to eliminate language in their own healthcare reform bill that said the U.S. healthcare industry affects interstate commerce, which Republicans feared could undermine their argument that the Democrats' 2010 healthcare law abused the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.

Democrats have argued that the Commerce Clause lets Congress regulate interstate commerce, which allows Congress to mandate that all Americans buy health insurance. Republicans have rejected that interpretation by saying the Commerce Clause cannot require people to enter the marketplace, in this case by purchasing health insurance. That argument will be tested in the Supreme Court in hearings that begin next week.

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Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) on Wednesday proposed legislation that would require states to apply federally mandated penalties against drivers who pass school buses as they're picking up or dropping off children. States that fail to enforce these minimum penalties would face a 10 percent cut in federal highway funds.

"When reckless drivers ignore warnings and pass stopped school buses, children's lives are put in danger," Braley said. "Toughening penalties for drivers who violate school bus safety laws will save lives and convince more people to drive responsibly around kids and schools. It's a common-sense change that rises above petty partisan politics."

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the healthcare law actually helps people meet the goal outlined in the Declaration of Independence.

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Several House Democrats on Wednesday criticized Republicans for criticizing out-of-control Medicare costs but then advancing a bill that would eliminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which is charged with making cost-cutting recommendations for Medicare.

"Repealing IPAB is the height of hypocrisy," House Energy and Commerce ranking member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said during Wednesday debate on H.R. 5, which would repeal the IPAB.

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