In a new letter to the nation’s governors, President Obama’s top health official is trying to dampen calls from states for the federal government to loosen Medicaid requirements.

The letter, from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, comes a week after Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) requested a waiver from the healthcare reform law’s Medicaid requirements as her state grapples with a massive budget deficit. Sebelius said her department is reviewing whether she has the authority to waive so-called “maintenance of effort” Medicaid requirements, but she stressed that states have other options for reducing Medicaid costs while avoiding enrollment cuts.

Sebelius said department leadership will be available to meet with governors and their staffs to discuss plans to achieve Medicaid savings.

The letter points out that states have the leeway to make changes to optional programs and services, such as prescription drugs, dental services and speech therapy, and they may require individuals to bear more of the costs.
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Rep. Henry Waxman is accusing panel leaders of abusing their powers after they launched several investigations into the reform law.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is out with a new Web ad linking Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to President Obama one day after the centrist Democrat voted against repealing the healthcare reform law.

Manchin, who won his seat in a special election last year and is facing a tough 2012 reelection battle, has been critical of some of the reform law's key provisions in the past, but he voted Wednesday night to keep the law intact.

“I don’t think that throwing out the good parts of this bill, like helping seniors afford prescription drugs or ending discrimination against people with preexisting conditions, makes good common sense,” Manchin said in a statement after the vote. “That’s why I have repeatedly said that we should make every effort to work together on repairing this bill before we start talking about repealing it.”

The NRSC ad, released Thursday morning, compares Manchin and Obama to other duos, like Sonny and Cher, Siegfried and Roy, and bacon and eggs. They are “doing everything together,” the ad claims.

Manchin has repeatedly said in the past that he prefers fixing the reform law as opposed to throwing it out entirely. In particular, Manchin is looking for fixes to the law’s requirement for individuals to purchase insurance, as well as expanded Medicaid requirements for states.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the healthcare fight "is behind us" and it's time to return to Senate business.

Virginia's top lawyer said the court should expedite a ruling to settle the confusion surrounding lawsuits against healthcare reform.

Republicans say they aren't content to wait idly until the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the healthcare law.

Efforts to eliminate a healthcare reform tax on medical device manufacturers are picking up steam in Congress, where at least three bills have already been introduced and another two are expected shortly.

The 2.3 percent excise tax starts in 2013 and raises $20 billion over 10 years to help pay for Democrats' healthcare overhaul. The medical device industry has always resisted the tax, unlike other healthcare groups such as hospitals and drug makers that agreed to concessions because the law expands insurance coverage to 31 million Americans.

Now, the industry trade group Advanced Medical Technology Association sees signs its effort to repeal the tax is gaining traction following the Republican mid-term victory and Democrats' renewed focus on jobs.

"The reason you're seeing traction around the device tax on a bipartisan basis is simple: these are the kinds of jobs that every member of Congress either wants to protect or wants to add to their district," AdvaMed President and CEO Stephen Ubl told reporters Wednesday as he laid out the group's priorities for 2011. "These are the kinds of high-tech jobs the president and Congress either want to create, or want to protect."

The Senate vote on repealing the healthcare reform law came down to party lines. 

It failed in the upper chamber 47-51 on Wednesday night, but this will hardly mark the end of Senate Republican efforts to repeal, defund and dismantle healthcare reform. "We think this is just the beginning," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said after the vote. 

McConnell did not say when he would bring up another repeal measure, but Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) are expected to push a bill that would allow states to opt out of the most essential parts of the reform law, including the requirement for individuals to purchase insurance by 2014. Republicans have already introduced several other bills that would eliminate certain provisions of the reform law, including a medical device tax and a new Medicare payment advisory board.

Senate strikes down 1099: After months of trying to repeal an unpopular IRS reporting requirement, the Senate voted 81-17 Wednesday night to remove the reform law's 1099 provision. A number of Democrats supported repeal, but Democrats supplied all 17 "no" votes as well. Democrats, positioning themselves as eager to work with Republicans on improving the reform law, have repeatedly pointed to the 1099 repeal. It will be interesting to see what they turn to next.

The Senate on Wednesday rejected Mitch McConnell's effort to repeal of President Obama’s healthcare law in a party-line vote.