If congressional Republicans succeed in blocking a controversial new Medicare board created in the Affordable Care Act, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius can step in instead.

GOP leaders have resisted the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a 15-member panel tasked with slowing the growth in Medicare spending. The IPAB would make targeted cuts in Medicare's payments to doctors and other providers.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) recently said they would not recommend members for the IPAB, as the law asks them to. The House's internal rules also call for ignoring the IPAB's proposed cuts.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa baited the White House into a Twitter fight Thursday afternoon ahead of a scheduled vote to repeal the president's signature healthcare law.

The California Republican urged supporters to use the hashtag "#ObamaCareInThreeWords" to describe how they felt about the Affordable Care Act.

Hey folks, #ObamaCareInThreeWords -- go!

— Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) May 16, 2013

Republicans and Democrats clashed on Twitter over President Obama’s healthcare law ahead of a House repeal vote.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said Thursday she's afraid the IRS might use its role in enforcing President Obama's healthcare law to blackmail Americans.

The House is set to vote Thursday on a bill, sponsored by Bachmann, to repeal the healthcare law.

Republicans have sought to tie the repeal vote to the scandal over IRS agents targeting conservative groups for additional tax scrutiny. 

Pelosi says Republicans did the same thing with Medicare's prescription drug benefit.

Legislation to repeal ObamaCare passed a procedural test in the House on Thursday afternoon, which will allow members to approve the bill later in the day.

Members voted 226-192 in favor of the rule for the legislation, which calls for two hours of debate before the final vote. Every Republican voted for the rule, along with two Democrats — Reps. Jim Matheson (Utah), Mike McIntyre (N.C.).

The Obama administration wants higher standards for federally funded child care.

A proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services issued on Thursday would strengthen standards for the 1.6 million children who are served by providers that get money from the Child Care and Development Fund, a federal program to aid low-income children under the age of 13.

The administration claims that current regulations resemble a patchwork of regulations for child care centers, with state laws varying on whether providers need background checks or first aid and CPR training. One in 10 children who are served by the program are cared for in totally unregulated facilities, the department asserts in the proposal, which "can leave children in unsafe conditions, even as their care is being funded with public dollars."

Drugs with ingredients derived from starch or grain would have to disclose those materials under a new Democratic bill, the Gluten in Medicine Disclosure Act. 

Reps. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) introduced the measure to assist the roughly 3 million Americans with celiac disease, an autoimmune condition caused by a negative reaction to gluten.

"For millions of Americans, avoiding gluten is a medical necessity," said Lowey, top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, in a statement. 

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) predicted Thursday that President Obama will renounce his signature healthcare law in the face of mounting conservative opposition to the reform.

Bachmann said the ongoing scandal involving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and challenges in implementing the Affordable Care Act put the law's survival "back on the table."

"The issue is now revived," she said at a press conference. "We believe that the heat will become so hot that even the president of the United States will be forced to repudiate his signature legislation."