The House chamber was silenced Thursday night when California Rep. Jackie Speier revealed she had to have an abortion.

The administration is asking a judge who struck down the healthcare law to clarify that states must still implement it.

1099 gets trickier: Efforts to repeal an unpopular IRS reporting requirement included in the healthcare reform law will be more difficult after a House panel approved a pay-for opposed by Democrats. The Ways and Means Committee, by party-line vote, passed a bill that would pay for repeal of the reform law's 1099 reporting requirement by increasing the amount of subsidies recaptured for overpayment on new health exchanges opening in 2014. The GOP said the pay-for is similar to the most recent one-year "doc fix" approved in December, but Democrats accused the Republicans of trying to hike taxes. The bottom line: Though repeal of the 1099 requirement has bipartisan support, this pay-for won't get it. 

Minnesota received federal approval Thursday to expand its Medicaid rolls ahead of the healthcare reform law's requirement to do so in 2014.

Starting March 1, 83,000 people who are enrolled in two state-funded programs will be able to join Medicaid, along with 12,000 uninsured people who are also expected to enroll. Medicaid has more comprehensive benefits and lower co-pays than the state programs — General Assistance Medical Care and MinnesotaCare — said Gov. Mark Dayton (D).

Many states have been sharply critical of the new law's expansion to all Americans who make less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level, starting in 2014. But the federal government picks up most of the tab in the early years of the expansion, so making the transition sooner rather than later makes fiscal sense for states that run their own programs that complement Medicaid.

Dayton signed an executive order approving the expansion on Jan. 5, something his predecessor — possible 2012 GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty — had declined to do. Since then, the state's Department of Human Services has been working with healthcare providers to ensure a smooth transition.

"Community agencies, health care providers, health plans and other stakeholders have stepped in to help the transition go as smoothly as possible in a short timeframe," Commissioner Lucinda Jesson said in a statement.

Connecticut and the District of Columbia have already expanded their Medicaid rolls.

When the Senate voted overwhelmingly earlier this month to repeal an unpopular IRS reporting requirement included in the healthcare reform law, it seemed like the provision was destined for elimination.

But the bill approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday is setting up another partisan showdown on how to pay for repealing healthcare reform's much-maligned 1099 reporting requirement.

The healthcare overhaul's 1099 provision requires businesses to report purchases of goods and services of over $600 from each vendor. President Obama and Democrats have joined with Republicans in calling for the $19 billion provision's repeal, but over the past few months, lawmakers have clashed over how to pay for it.

The Ways and Means Committee approved a 1099 repeal bill (H.R. 705) that would increase the maximum amount the federal government could recapture from individuals participating in new state health exchanges whose income disqualifies them from receiving a subsidy. The most recent "doc fix" patch to stave off cuts in Medicare physician reimbursements also boosted the penalties for recapturing exchange subsidies.
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The co-chairwoman of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus is hoping celebrity athletes and last month's shooting tragedy in Arizona will boost interest in her legislation to fund mental health services at public schools.

Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) unveiled her Mental Health in Schools Act on Thursday alongside L.A. Lakers forward Ron Artest and boxer Mia St. John, both of whom are long-time advocates for mental health services. The legislation authorizes $200 million in competitive grants that would provide mental health professionals in 200 or so public schools.

"If we don't do it now, with our little ones, we're going to have big ones with big problems," Napolitano told The Hill.

The Food and Drug Administration defended its approval process for medical devices during a congressional hearing Thursday and said industry comparisons with Europe are off the mark.

Device makers argue that the United States is losing its global competitive edge, in part because the federal approval process is both less predictable and slower than in other countries — about two years slower than in Europe for low- and moderate-risk devices and even longer for riskier devices. 

The FDA's director of devices and radiological health testified before the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee that a recent study overestimated the FDA's review time because it included "the substantial pre-submission assistance to the industry that FDA offers."

"Some would say that, despite the record of growth and prosperity in the U.S. device industry, the European regulatory system is better for industry and patients," Jeffrey Shuren said. "It is difficult to make direct comparisons between the U.S. and European systems given their fundamental differences, including, at the most basic level, differing approval standards — the EU lacks the requirement in U.S. law that a device be shown to be effective."

FDA is under considerable pressure from industry and its allies on Capitol Hill to streamline its so-called "510(k)" expedited approval process for low-risk devices. Device makers say the process is too slow and unpredictable, while some patient advocates believe it's used for far too many approvals.

House Republicans are looking to deny funding for IRS enforcement of the mandate to buy insurance.

A bipartisan pair of senior senators reintroduced a bill that would lift a cap on Medicare services for mentally ill patients.

The bill, introduced by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), would eliminate a lifetime cap of 190 days on inpatient psychiatric hospital care.

“There is no good reason why Medicare should randomly shut down benefits and force mentally ill seniors to go without treatment," Kerry said.

"Eliminating the lifetime cap on inpatient psychiatric hospital care takes another critical step in ending the unfair distinction between physical and mental disorder," Snowe said.

The bill was first introduced last year with the support of the AARP and the American Psychological Association.

Mental health issues have taken on a new level of importance in the aftermath of the Arizona shooting tragedy last month that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) seriously wounded.

Meanwhile, Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) was trying to build support Thursday for a bill that would boost federal funding for therapists and mental health services in schools.