Health reform implementation

The House will vote Thursday to repeal President Obama's healthcare law. Spoiler alert: The bill will pass. The healthcare law will not be repealed.

The real question surrounding Thursday's vote is whether it will open the door to a more targeted focus on specific provisions in the healthcare law, such as the tax on medical devices or the controversial new panel tasked with slowing the growth in Medicare spending. 

The vote on full repeal was scheduled after Republican leaders had to pull a bill to reprogram money from one part of ObamaCare to another. Conservatives feared they would be seen as trying to fix the healthcare law rather than waging a futile campaign to repeal it entirely, and said freshmen needed a chance to vote on full repeal before they were asked to support partial measures.

Conservatives still oppose the bill GOP leaders had to pull, but say freshmen might be better able now to support bills aimed at other specific provisions.

The rule: The House Rules Committee has chosen to bring the repeal bill to the floor Thursday under a closed rule, which prohibits amendments. The two sides will debate for two hours before the vote. One motion to recommit will be permitted.

No new score: Without releasing new figures, congressional budget analysts said Wednesday that the repeal bill will increase the budget deficit. Read about that notice, which cited last year's estimate, at Healthwatch.

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House Republicans are jumping on the recent woes of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and tying the agency's credibility to its forthcoming role in implementing President Obama's healthcare reform.

Republicans have said the recent revelation that IRS officials had targeted conservative groups leaves the agency with no credibility.

The CBO refused to provide a new estimate, but said scrapping the law's taxes and spending cuts would outweigh the reforms' costs.

The federal Health department announced a new initiative to bring down healthcare costs and improve care delivery through $1 billion in grants and evaluations.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the second round of Healthcare Innovation Awards will target new areas for improvement, including care for special needs populations.

The awards are also meant to reduce costs for Medicare and Medicaid patients in outpatient hospital settings, test new care and financial models for specific provider groups, and ensure care delivery accounts for preventive and population health. 

House Republicans have "truly lost their minds," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday.

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Three congressional committees are investigating the fundraising pitches HHS secretary has made on behalf of an outside group promoting ObamaCare.

Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee raised questions Tuesday about Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius's push to raise money for a group promoting the Affordable Care Act.

Sebelius has asked healthcare stakeholders to contribute to Enroll America, a non-profit group formed to promote the healthcare law and encourage people to sign up for its new coverage options.

Finance Committee Republicans criticized Sebelius for seeking funds from insurance companies that will soon submit bids to sell their policies through the federally run insurance exchange.

Unpopular taxes and mandates in President Obama's healthcare law will be weaker than expected, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Tuesday.

The CBO said fewer people will be affected by the law's individual mandate, and fewer businesses will have to pay penalties for not offering health benefits to their employees.

Those mandates are among the most politically unpopular elements of the healthcare law. But if the penalties affect fewer people, they'll also bring in less revenue to help the government pay for the health law's coverage expansion.