Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said to defund healthcare, Republicans should use precedent set by Democrats in defunding Vietnam War.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says he expects an amendment to eliminate funding will be offered next week.

Lawmakers heated up the abortion debate on Tuesday as the House began hearings on legislation that would place new restrictions on abortion. Democrats hammered the GOP for shifting the focus away from the economy, while Republicans said they are making good on a campaign pledge.

Tax argument in abortion debate: Senate Dems, battling back against two abortion-related House bills, are pushing a new fiscal message early in the abortion battle. The Democrats, speaking at a Tuesday morning press conference, said the newly proposed abortion restrictions are not only harmful to women, but they would raise taxes on employers. For example, the Democrats said small businesses would no longer be eligible for a healthcare tax credit if their plan covers a "full range" of reproductive health services. 

"The Republicans in the House are proposing tax hikes because they don't like a health plan a private sector business chooses," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Many American businesses want more guidance from the Obama administration before they make decisions about the healthcare benefits they offer, a new poll found, though the majority think Republicans will not succeed in repealing the reform law.

The Society for Human Resource Management conducted the poll in late December, before a federal judge struck the law down and the House voted for repeal. At the time, 48 percent of respondents said they were waiting for more regulatory guidance from the administration on specific provisions of the reform law, while 13 percent said they were hoping for full repeal.

"A majority of organizations are not counting on repeal. They are seeking guidance and moving forward to make sure they comply with the law," Mark Schmit, the group's director of research, said in a statement. "This is the smart approach because a health-care plan design affects the entire organization."

The drug industry has hired one of K Street's top lobby shops to make sure manufacturers aren't squeezed by healthcare reform regulations, according to newly released disclosure forms.

Since Jan. 1, Cassidy and Associates has been lobbying federal agencies on behalf of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), records show.

The firm was hired to focus on "application and implementation" of the law's comparative effectiveness research provisions, which will enable Medicare to compare treatment options. Drug makers are worried that regulations written too broadly could enable Medicare and private health plans to refuse to cover certain treatments based on cost.

The disclosure form says Cassidy will also be lobbying for PhRMA on "mission support and budget" at the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates pharmaceuticals.

PhRMA did not immediately return a call for comment.

Cassidy was in the news late last year after it shed 20 percent of its staff, including its longtime CEO, former Rep. Marty Russo (D-Ill.). The firm, which has been a K Street powerhouse for decades, has fallen behind some of its top competitors in recent years and is reportedly looking to expand its healthcare practice.

The lobbyists listed on the PhRMA account include Cassidy Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Gregg Hartley, who was chief of staff to now-Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) when he was House majority whip in the 1990s.

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday proposed a new approval pathway for cutting-edge medical devices. 

The proposal comes amid industry complaints that the U.S. medical device sector is losing ground to Europe, where devices are approved at least two years faster on average. Consumer groups however worry that easing the approval process could be dangerous for patients. 

The proposal, outlined in a White Paper, proposes ways to "help accelerate and reduce the cost of development and regulatory evaluation of innovative medical devices safely and based on sound science."

These include: 

• Establishing a voluntary, third-party certification program for U.S. medical device test centers designed to promote rapid improvements to new technologies during a product's development and clinical testing stages; 

• Creating a publicly-available core curriculum for medical device development and testing to train the next generation of innovators; and

• Using more device experience and data collected outside the United States.

Also Tuesday, the FDA announced that it had accepted its test case for the program: a brain-controlled, upper-extremity prosthetic submitted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The agency is seeking public comment on the proposal before it can be used more broadly and has announced a public meeting on March 15.

President Obama’s Medicare chief, whom Republicans have been waiting to interrogate, will make his first appearance before what will likely be a hostile House panel Thursday morning.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Don Berwick will testify before the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday about the healthcare reform law’s impact on Medicare, but Republican lawmakers will have a lot to get off their chests.

Berwick’s nomination became a lightning rod for the Obama administration after his controversial recess appointment last July. Since his nomination, Republicans have seized on Berwick’s past statements that the government should “ration [care] with our eyes open.” Republicans say those statements and the reform law’s cuts in Medicare payments indicate Berwick’s goal to limit expensive care to seniors.

The administration renominated Berwick last month after President Obama’s State of the Union address, sparking a new wave of Republican criticism.

“A day after the president committed to coming together to move our country forward, he’s chosen to renominate one of his most contentious nominees to head an agency that impacts the lives of more than 100 million Americans,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said at the time.

On Thursday, Berwick will likely be grilled about his personal healthcare views, as well as parts of the reform law that Republicans say have revealed the overhaul’s flaws. This includes more than 700 waivers that have been granted to organizations for the law’s annual coverage limit requirements and significantly low enrollment in new high-risk insurance pools.

The CMS chief actuary, Rick Foster, will testify in a separate session Thursday morning. Republicans have seized on Foster’s comments that the reform law likely won’t hold costs down and some will be forced to change their insurance.

The liberal group Americans United for Change is out with an early radio ad going after Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.) for his vote to repeal the healthcare law.

The group is partnering with Daily Kos to fund the spot, which will run on five stations in Bass's congressional district starting Tuesday. Listen to the ad here.

"Congressman Bass gets affordable healthcare, with protections against insurance companies cutting him and his family off," the ad says. "No lifetime limits. No annual caps. No pre-existing conditions. But last month Bass voted to deny you and your family these same protections." 

Daily Kos is also going after Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) with a similar spot set to air in Milwaukee, Racine and Janesville for the next week. 

Reps. Sandy Adams (R-Fla.) and Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) are also targets of radio ads funded by the Blue America PAC.  

Bass's district has been an early target for Democrats. The Democratic-leaning district was one of 19 GOP-held districts the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee targeted with early radio ads last week.  

The Democratic nominee last cycle, Ann McLane Kuster, earned the backing of several liberal groups nationwide, ultimately losing a close contest to Bass. 

Obama administration defends CLASS Act: The administration is on a full-court press in defense of health reform's long-term care insurance program as efforts to repeal it are gaining steam on Capitol Hill. Republicans and centrist Democrats have called the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act a "Ponzi scheme" and the president's own fiscal commission has recommended reforming or repealing it.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius vowed Monday to make the program solvent. Options include allowing premiums to increase over time, shutting out more poor people and making it easier for employers to enroll their workers. Healthwatch story: http://bit.ly/dZIQFt

Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee also has a blog post outlining the program's benefits.