Opposition to the healthcare reform law grew in January as Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, but many oppose the GOP’s numerous efforts to chip away at the law, according to a new poll.

Unfavorable views of the law grew from December to January (41 to 50 percent), while the GOP’s opposition to the law resonated with independents, according to a survey from the Harvard Public School of Health and Kaiser Family Foundation. Independents’ opposition to the law jumped from 41 percent in December to 57 percent in January.

However, the poll found little support for Republican efforts to repeal, replace and defund the reform law. About the same number of people wanted to keep or expand the law (28 percent and 19 percent, respectively) as those who favored “repeal and replace” or entire repeal (23 percent and 20 percent).

Further, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) disapproved of the GOP’s plans to defund implementation of the law through the appropriations process.

Although nearly two-thirds said they are “very concerned” about the federal budget deficit, they have little appetite for slashing entitlement programs, including Social Security (64 percent) and Medicare (56 percent). Just under half (47 percent) supported Medicaid cuts. Meanwhile, very few endorsed cuts to Social Security (8 percent), Medicare (8 percent) and Medicaid (13 percent).

Many provisions in the reform law remained popular, while most still opposed the requirement for individuals to buy health insurance (76 percent) and the employer requirement to offer health insurance at risk of penalty (51 percent).

Welcome to The Hill's evening roundup of the day's health policy news and advance look at tomorrow's schedule.

Monday’s health news:

Defending reform before the nation: President Obama will have his most visible chance to defend the healthcare reform law in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, less than a week after the House GOP voted to repeal the law. Democrats, as well as the president himself, say they’re open to improving the controversial law, but insist the nation cannot go backwards by repealing it. http://bit.ly/gp4EG0

A Democratic congressman has signed on to a GOP effort to reform the nation’s medical liability laws, a highly partisan issue that has become a major part of Republicans’ plans to replace the healthcare reform law.

The Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011 – numbered H.R. 5 – would set limits on settlement amounts, deadlines for making a claim and standards for defining malpractice.

The bill, introduced by Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) and David Scott (D-Ga.) and backed by the American Medical Association, caps non-economic damages, such as emotional distress, at $250,000; bans claims more than three years after an injury occurs; sets requirements for determining punitive damages; and makes other reforms.

“Americans face many health care challenges including high annual insurance premium increases and too few doctors,” Scott said in a statement. “Our legislation focuses on expenses that doctors face in higher medical malpractice insurance premiums and the expensive defensive medicine they practice as a hedge against liability.”

Healthcare reform opponent Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) continued to stand apart from his fellow Democrats on Monday as he gathered with a slew of Republicans to address the annual anti-abortion March for Life.

"If we are going to change this country's laws, we need to have pro-life members of both parties," Lipinski said to loud applause from the tens of thousands of protesters gathered on the National Mall. "It's not easy being a pro-life Democrat. There are people who don't want me there. But I tell you, I have said I will never back down."

Already a heavily partisan issue, abortion has only grown more so with the defeat of numerous conservative Democrats in the mid-term elections. But Lipinski, who represents a socially conservative part of Chicago, has stuck to his beliefs and is co-sponsoring legislation with Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) that would ban taxpayer funding for abortions and abortion coverage, a top priority for House Republicans this year.

During the healthcare reform debate, Lipinski was among a dozen House Democrats - known as the "Stupak 12" after Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) - who threatened to vote against the Senate's healthcare reform bill unless it was changed to address their concerns on abortion funding. President Obama dealt with the concerns of most of them with an executive order, but Lipinski was not satisfied and is believed to be the only one of the 12 to vote against the bill (Stupak never officially revealed the names of the 12).

Subsequently, six of the Stupak 12 lost re-election, and Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) lost his Senate race. Stupak himself did not run for re-election.

In addition to Lipinski, only three were re-elected: Reps. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio).

During Monday's rally marking the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) made indirect reference to those defeated Democrats.

"We tried last year to prevent Obamacare from including abortion coverage," Sensenbrenner said to thunderous applause, "and we lost at the last minute because of some switches of members, some of whom are not with us anymore because they sold out life."

Lipinski was one of 13 out of 34 Democrats who voted against the bill and were re-elected in November. In so doing he attracted the wrath of many abortions rights groups such as the reliably pro-Democratic Planned Parenthood.

But Lipinski has also upset some in the anti-abortion movement with his refusal to join House Republicans' bill to repeal the healthcare reform law.

"While deeply flawed, the healthcare law includes some beneficial reforms, and Congressman Lipinski does not support a repeal that does nothing to maintain those policies and simply reestablishes the status quo of a year ago," a spokesman told The Hill via e-mail earlier this month.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List, told The Hill that while the Smith-Lipinski bill would "absolutely resolve" her group's issues with the reform law, they still support repeal.

"Anybody who votes against repeal is saying there's no problem regarding abortion in the bill," Dannenfelser told The Hill. "When you know you've got a chance to do the right thing, you don't put it off."

On the Roe anniversary, Eric Cantor vowed to leverage the "the most pro-life freshman class in memory" against abortion rights.

The cost of treating heart disease will triple within 20 years partially because of an aging population, according to a new American Heart Association (AHA) report.

About one in three Americans currently have some form of heart disease, and that will increase to about 40 percent by 2030, according to AHA. The cost of treating heart disease will jump from $273 billion to $818 billion over that time, the report said.

The association urged for effective prevention strategies to combat cardiovascular disease, which it said accounts for 17 percent of all national health expenditures.

“Unhealthy behaviors and unhealthy environments have contributed to a tidal wave of risk factors among many Americans,” AHA CEO Nancy Brown said in a statement. “Early intervention and evidence-based public policies are absolute musts to significantly reduce alarming rates of obesity, hypertension, tobacco use and cholesterol levels.”

The federal government recovered more than a record-high $4 billion in healthcare fraud prevention and enforcement efforts in fiscal 2010, according to a report released Monday that highlights boosted oversight efforts from the Obama Administration.

The report highlights new efforts to fight healthcare fraud through improved cooperation between the Health and Human Services and Justice departments, heightened attention to fraud hot spots and new anti-fraud tools provided by the healthcare reform law. About $2.5 billion of the recovered funds came from healthcare fraud judgements.

"Many of the savings can be traced directly back to steps this administration has taken over the past two years," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said during a press conference Monday afternoon.

The administration touted the creation of HEAT in 2009 to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and the expansion of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams. In fiscal 2010, strike force teams in seven cities imprisoned 146 individuals and racked up 140 indictments against 284 defendants who billed Medicare for almost $600 million, according to HHS.

Anti-abortion activists should watch the president's State of the Union address Tuesday and judge him on his stated commitment to ban taxpayer funding for abortion, Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in her "State of the Unborn" message Monday.

The message comes as more than 40,000 anti-abortion rights activists prepare to march in the nation's capital to mark the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion. The Obama administration says its healthcare reform law prevents taxpayer-funded abortions, but House Republicans disagree and have introduced three bills that have SBA's support.

"Watch that State of the Union message," Dannenfelser said. "See if the president decides to follow up on his promise [to ban taxpayer-funded abortions] because right now if the moment, a moment in time which we have not seen since 1973, where we have the momentum."

“It’s time for us to flex the muscle that we just flexed in this election and do everything we can in this Congress to protect human lives," she said.

Read more...

Most Americans believe that the Arizona shooting that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) seriously wounded was caused by the failure of the mental health system to identify dangerous individuals, a new poll found.

Fifty-five percent blamed the Arizona shooting on the mental health system’s failures, according to the USA Today/Gallup poll conducted a week after the tragedy.

That’s more than the 48 percent who have blamed other recent U.S. shootings on the same failure. Reports of accused shooter Jared Loughner’s personal life have detailed numerous warning signs that the 22-year-old may have had mental health issues.

Fifteen percent of Americans surveyed agreed that creating better mental health screenings and support could help prevent similar shooting incidents in the future. Only improving gun control laws (24 percent) received more support.

In the aftermath of the shootings, lawmakers have called for hearings on mental health issues.