President Obama's signal that he's open to more cuts to federal health programs during the State of the Union address earned him a scolding from the AARP, a key ally in getting his healthcare reform passed. Centrist Democrats, however, embraced the idea as key to avoid a debt crisis.

"The only way to tackle our deficit is to cut excessive spending wherever we find it — in domestic spending, defense spending, healthcare spending, and spending through tax breaks and loopholes," Obama said Tuesday. "This means further reducing healthcare costs, including programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which are the single biggest contributor to our long-term deficit."

The president's fiscal commission has proposed tackling Medicare head-on, including by cutting payments to doctors and hospitals, having beneficiaries pay a greater share of out-of-pocket costs or even raising the age at which people become eligible for program. Obama said he doesn't "agree with all their proposals" but that they "made important progress" and made it "crystal clear" that reforming entitlements is crucial.

"We were pleased to hear the President acknowledge the vital importance of Social Security and the need to protect this lifeline for future generations, but we are disappointed that he, like his fiscal commission did late last year, seeks to address this bedrock of financial security in the context of reducing a deficit it didn't cause," AARP CEO Barry Rand said in a statement. "Furthermore, any attempt to control spending in Medicare and Medicaid without addressing the causes of skyrocketing costs throughout the health care system will not reduce these costs, but rather shift them on to the backs of people of all ages and generations."

Some Senate Democrats vowed to take on the challenge nonetheless.

Democrats on the House Budget Committee deflected hard questions Wednesday about their healthcare reform law's fiscal consequences by seeking to make panel Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his Roadmap for America's Future the stars of the show.

Ryan has proposed replacing Medicare with healthcare vouchers in the future for younger Americans.

During the hearing, Democrats responded to concerns that their law contains unsustainable cuts to Medicare payments for hospitals and other healthcare providers by turning the tables on Ryan.

Sen. Jim DeMint introduced legislation, with 35 GOP co-sponsors, to finish what the House started: repeal Democrats' reform law.

Repealing the healthcare reform law would cause “needless economic harm,” a group of 272 academics wrote to influential House panels on Wednesday.

Further, repeal would “set back efforts to create a more disciplined and more effective health care system,” wrote the group, which includes several Nobel laureates, former members of the Council of Economic Advisors and former Congressional Budget Office Chief Alice Rivlin.

“Rather than undermining health reform, Congress needs to make the Affordable Care Act as successful as it can be,” the letter reads.

Arranged by the liberal Center for American Progress, the letter was sent to the House Ways and Means Committee and the Budget Committee before they opened hearings on the reform law Wednesday morning. The letter also comes a week after the American Action Forum (AAF) wrote a letter, signed by hundreds of conservative scholars, arguing against the reform law.

“We believe the [law] is a threat to U.S. businesses and will place a crushing debt burden on future generations of Americans,” the AAF letter read.

A day after President Obama urged lawmakers to consider improvements to the healthcare reform law, one of his top economic advisers provided little insight into what improvements the administration would recommend.

In his State of the Union address last night, Obama reiterated his support for repealing the so-called 1099 IRS filing requirement for small businesses and endorsed reforming medical liability laws.

Chairman of the Council for Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee, pressed by Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday morning, did not offer specific areas of the reform law the administration would like to see improved.

“I would say that the president’s open to working with you if you identify other items,” Goolsbee said.

The hearing marked a start in House Republicans’ plan to shine a spotlight on a law they believe is deeply flawed. Pointing to the 1099 provision, Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said it was worth probing the bill further.

A House Republican introduced a bill Tuesday that seeks to weaken the healthcare reform law's requirement for individuals to purchase insurance.

The bill, introduced Tuesday by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), would prevent the Treasury Department from hiring new employees to enforce the so-called individual mandate.

The individual mandate doesn't kick in until 2014, and the provision, considered central to the law's success, is facing several challenges in federal court.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said, “I’m all for weeding out frivolous lawsuits but how you do that is incredibly important.”

Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union, will say the healthcare reform law “is driving the explosive growth” of the nation’s debt.

Ryan, considered a rising star in the GOP, says the reform law is causing healthcare costs and insurance premiums to rise, and it will force millions to lose the coverage they already have, according to text of his speech sent to reporters before the State of the Union address.

Ryan reiterates GOP plans to replace the reform law with “fiscally responsible, patient-centered reforms that actually reduce costs and expand coverage.”

Citing a recent presidential order to review federal regulations, Ryan said the reform law should be front and center in those efforts.

“The President mentioned the need for regulatory reform to ease the burden on American businesses," Ryan said. "We agree – and we think his health care law would be a great place to start."

In his speech, Ryan takes issue with waivers for reform law requirements that have been granted to more than 200 groups.

“Washington should not be in the business of picking winners and losers,” he said.

President Obama's State of the Union speech is already causing consternation among trial lawyers, half an hour before he even delivers it.

According to his remarks as prepared for delivery, Obama will throw a bone to Republicans by vowing to take up medical malpractice reform. For the GOP, that usually means a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages and other restrictions, as spelled out in legislation introduced this week by Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) and David Scott (D-Ga.).

"I'm willing to look at other ideas to bring down costs," Obama is scheduled to say, "including one that Republicans suggested last year: medical malpractice reform to rein in frivolous lawsuits."