Enrollment is up six percent while premiums are down six percent, Berwick told the House Ways and Means Committee.

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Eager to exploit an opening to attack the healthcare reform law, Republicans on Thursday touted testimony by Congress' budget scorekeeper that the law would result in 800,000 fewer people working.

Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf first made the projection last summer, but it didn't stop Republicans from circulating his Thursday comments during a House Budget Committee hearing as fresh proof that the reform law "destroys" jobs.

"The Verdict Is In: CBO Confirms New Health Care Law Will Cost Jobs," was the title of a Senate Republican Conference press release.

"CBO: ObamaCare Will Destroy 800,000 Jobs," was the headline from the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Utah is seeking permission from the federal government to charge richer Medicaid beneficiaries higher co-pays, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday.

The sliding-scale authority is one of several issues Herbert brought up with Medicaid officials during his visit to the capital on Thursday. Utah is among the many states that want more flexibility with their Medicaid programs, which the healthcare law expands to 15 million more people.

"Making patients accountable is an important part of Medicaid reform," Herbert said during a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "They should participate ... and have a little skin in the game." Read more...

Enrollment in new high-risk insurance pools created by healthcare reform is up 50 percent over the past three months, but participation is still far behind original projections, according to new administration figures released Thursday.

More than 12,000 individuals are enrolled in the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan, up from 8,000 a few months ago, the Department of Health and Human Services said. 

The Medicare actuary had originally predicted the new pools, created for individuals who cannot obtain coverage because of preexisting conditions, would enroll 375,000 people by the end of 2010, but high enrollment costs have frequently been cited for keeping people away.

President Obama’s Medicare chief, appearing before a House committee for the first time since his recess appointment in July, strongly denied Republican claims that he supports rationing healthcare.

A 2008 quote from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Don Berwick about his love for the British national health system raised some Republicans’ eyebrows after his nomination last year. Thursday morning, Berwick fought back against the Republican accusations, saying that they have “no substance.”

"My entire life has been spent fighting rationing," Berwick, a pediatrician by trade, told the House Ways and Means Committee Thursday morning.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vowed to continue the fight to repeal healthcare reform Thursday in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

McConnell told the crowd that his goal is to ensure "Obamacare goes the way of Hillarycare," and called for another vote in the Senate to repeal the law.

"They know this bill is a disaster," McConnell said of Congressional Democrats. "That's why they're handing out waivers to their union friends. Let's take that repeal vote again and see if we can get a waiver for everybody in the United States."

Earlier this month, healthcare repeal failed in the Senate on a party-line vote, with all Senate Republicans voting in favor and all Senate Democrats in attendance voting against.

"We're not about to retreat," McConnell said. "I assure you, we're just getting started."

The healthcare law has strengthened the privately-run Medicare Advantage program, Medicare's chief testified Thursday. 

With growing pressure from the nation’s Republican governors to loosen healthcare reform requirements for states, President Obama’s top health official fired back at claims the overhaul nationalizes the healthcare system in a Thursday morning op-ed.

In the past month, governors have urged Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to drop a reform law provision requiring states to maintain their Medicaid eligibility standards as they grapple with massive budget deficits. Earlier this week, they demanded greater flexibility for running state health exchanges that open in 2014.

Sebelius argues in the Washington Post that the law provides flexibility to the states.

“The Affordable Care Act gives states incredible freedom to tailor reforms to their needs,” Sebelius wrote.

House Republicans are pushing legislation to restrict abortion rights to appease their conservative base, the chairwoman of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus said.

"Why they're doing this, I think it shows their true colors, which is that they're trying to cater to the far right," Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), one of the House’s leading abortion rights advocates, told MSNBC Wednesday evening.

House Republicans introduced two major anti-abortion rights bills this week, and Senate Democrats worry their GOP colleagues will use a variety of legislative maneuvers to force a vote on the Senate floor.

The bills aim to stop abortions by barring funding in the Obama administration's healthcare reform law, extending certain restrictions on abortions and slashing federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Two Senate Democrats, Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), have vowed to block any anti-abortion bills that come to the Senate.