House GOP to push bill aimed at lowering healthcare costs next week

House Republicans will look to pass legislation next week that they say will help lower healthcare costs, something the GOP says the 2010 healthcare law has failed to do so far.

Republicans plan to bring up the Health Care Cost Reduction Act, H.R. 436, which combines three bills Republicans have proposed over the last year.

First, the bill includes language proposed by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) that would repeal the medical device excise tax that was established in the healthcare law. On the House floor Friday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said this language is important for jobs and innovation in the medical device industry.

Paulsen's bill is the vehicle for the other, additional elements. One of these is language from Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) that would allow over-the-counter drugs to be expensed under health savings accounts.

And finally, the bill includes a proposal from Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.) that allows people to access unused medical savings account balances. Boustany has said the "use it or lose it" aspect of these accounts has made many hesitant to establish them.

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