Healthcare Thursday

Wednesday was just the warm up: President Obama introduced it yesterday, but it's Thursday — the six month anniversary of health reform passage — that the Patient's Bill of Rights takes effect. It won't go down with a whimper.

Health Care for America Now (HCAN), a liberal supporter of the reform law, is hosting a slew of nationwide gatherings designed to explain the insurance reforms to a public that remains skeptical of the law's benefits. Venues will range from churches and universities to L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

"Polls show that the more people know about the [reform law], the more they support it," reads an HCAN release.

The Patient's Bill of Rights — a central component of the reform law — will ban insurance companies from denying coverage for sick kids; prohibit insurers from using technical errors to drop coverage when patients get sick; and prevent plans from setting lifetime dollar limits on coverage. 

The law will also allow young adults to remain under their parents' coverage up to age 26, and require all new plans to cover a minimum set of preventive care services. http://nyti.ms/cgzS5i

Don't try to convince John Boehner: The House minority leader issued a statement Wednesday saying the reform bill "represents everything that’s gone wrong with our government." 

Meanwhile… Opponents of the bill are hosting events of their own in hopes of shifting Thursday's media focus away from the newly arrived benefits. 

In that vein, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is ringing in the six-month anniversary with a press call with small business leaders, who will air their complaints with the new requirements in the law.

The Chamber will also release a survey — conducted by the prominent pollsters Frank Luntz and Doug Schoen — outlining the various gripes small businesses owners have with the law.

Top White House officials enter the act: Vice President Joe Biden and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are marking the occasion as well, hosting a conference call to tout the law's benefits for seniors. The discussion, the White House says, will include "an important announcement" on efforts to reduce seniors' prescription drug costs. 

Evoking Newt… GOP leaders on Thursday will officially unveil their "Pledge to America," a legislative wish-list that devotes an entire chapter to repealing healthcare reform and replacing it with Republican alternatives.

Still, the proposed solutions, the New York Times reports, are without many details. "While the document emphasizes a goal of long-term fiscal stability, including reductions in the deficit and a 'path to a balanced budget,' it offers no specifics about changes to big entitlement programs, including Social Security and Medicare, that would be required to achieve such stability," the Times writes.

The early reviews from some conservative commentators aren't wildly enthusiastic either. "It is dreck," Erick Erickson wrote Wednesday. 

GOP leaders will release their Pledge Thursday at a lumberyard in Sterling, Va. http://nyti.ms/aOXPtX

Obama takes on the repeal advocates: President Obama on Wednesday slammed those pushing to repeal healthcare reform, accusing them of putting political gain above the nation's healthcare needs.

"It makes sense in terms of politics and polls," Obama said Wednesday at a healthcare event in Virginia. "It doesn't make sense in terms of actually making people's lives better." 

Top Republicans to check Berwick's pulse: Leading Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee have invited Donald Berwick to appear Thursday at a forum gauging how the Medicare chief has performed so far. 

The lawmakers — including Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) — say they want to examine Berwick's "role and background" as he leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in implementing the largest overhaul of the healthcare system in 45 years.

In case Berwick doesn't show (hint: he's not going to show), the lawmakers also have back-up speakers: Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office; Bob Moffit, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation; and Michael Smith, representing the 60 Plus Association, a conservative alternative to AARP.

Coburn again denies food safety bill: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) on Wednesday again beat back the Democratic effort to pass sweeping food safety legislation by unanimous consent. The Oklahoma Republican offered an alternative bill, causing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to with his UC request to ponder Coburn's offer. http://bit.ly/ceyP8A

House panel to examine new meaningful use rules: The House Science and Technology Committee on Wednesday announced a subpanel hearing next week on Medicare's new "meaningful use" rules governing providers as they try to tap incentives for adopting electronic health records and other medical technologies. Witnesses scheduled to appear before the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee on Sept. 30 include David Blumenthal, HHS' national coordinator for health information technology.