Newly empowered conservatives are vowing to stymie Democrats' policy priorities in the lame-duck session. That could have repercussions on a couple of health-related bills, including childhood nutrition and food safety.

The nonprofit Americans for Prosperity is holding a "November Speaks" event on Monday to press lawmakers "not to pass any new legislation from the Left's agenda in the Lame Duck session." Expected speakers at the event include Republican Reps. Mike Pence (Ind.) and Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and congressmen-elect Morgan Griffith (Va.), Frank Guinta (N.H.) and Sean Duffy (Wis.).

Bachmann herself rejoiced on her Web site last week that Democrats' "train of big spending and big government has been stopped in its tracks." Still, she warned, "in the meantime, a dangerous agenda could be presented by the Democrats in the lame duck session of Congress and Americans must keep a vigilant eye."

Americans for Prosperity hasn't specified which bills it opposes, but conservatives in the past have objected to the cost of a childhood nutrition bill that White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said is one of three lame-duck priorities -- along with the new START treaty and the Bush tax cuts -- for President Obama.

The $4.5 billion bill would expand eligibility for school meal programs, establish nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools and provide a 6-cent increase for each school lunch to help cafeterias serve healthier meals.

The Senate passed its version unanimously right before the August recess, and Democrats see the lame-duck session as their last best chance to get it through the House before the new majority takes over in January. The bill got an extra boost last week when a diverse coalition of more than 1,100 groups announced their support and two liberals -- Reps. Jim McGovern (Mass.) and Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) -- got on board despite reservations that the bill is half paid for by ending an expansion of the food stamp program five months early.

For its part, the Senate is expected to take up food safety legislation this coming week. The bill was held up before the elections because Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) objected to passage by unanimous consent.

The House passed its version in July 2009 and a final bill could yet clear Congress this year if there's a speedy conference committee or if the House adopts whatever the Senate ends up passing.

Another priority is preventing a 23 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians that's scheduled to take effect Dec. 1. Both parties agree the cut needs to be prevented to keep Medicare functioning smoothly but finding pay-fors acceptable to both parties will be tough.

One thing's for sure: Lawmakers can expect to be inundated with calls from physicians next week. The American Medical Association, which wants Congress to pass a bill that will prevent cuts for 13 months at least, wants doctors across the country to call their senators for "White Coat Wednesday" on Nov. 17.

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said the provision will impose undue paperwork burdens on companies.

Thirty-five leading economists are opposing a court challenge supported by Senate Republicans Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah).

The conservative National Center for Policy Analysis calls for repealing several provisions of the healthcare reform law as part of a new brief on measures that Congress can take to spur the economy.

Eliminating the requirement that people buy insurance would help because the provision will increase labor costs, the group says; NCPA estimates the required minimum insurance coverage mandated by the law will cost $2.28 an hour for individual coverage and $5.89 an hour for family coverage — even though the mandate starts in 2014 and federal regulators haven't defined the minimum benefit package yet.

NCPA also wants to eliminate the penalties on larger employers that don't offer coverage.

The think-tank also wants to repeal the Medicare tax increases on people who make more than $200,000 a year.

Children can recover from autism thanks to behavioral care without drugs or institutionalization, according to a new study funded by the state of Arizona.

The three-year study was conducted by the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD), the world’s largest provider of early intensive behavioral intervention for children with autism. The study of 14 young children measured the effects of applied behavior analysis, which blends structured teaching with play-based behavioral intervention; it found that six of the children who participated in the study no longer display clinical symptoms of autism and most of the participants demonstrate significant improvements in functioning.

Among the study’s major findings, according to CARD, is that children who developed language skills early in therapy made greater gains over time. In addition to the children who recovered from autism, the other half of the program participants made substantial gains in their ability to communicate and live independently. Even the children whose progress was the slowest experienced significant decreases in challenging behaviors and increases in independent communication and leisure skills, thereby resulting in improved self-reliance and quality of life.

Massive coalition backs child nutrition bill: More than 1,100 groups signed a letter distributed Thursday on Capitol Hill that asks House members to immediately pass a childhood nutrition bill when they return next week.

Signers include food, beverage and supermarket companies; public health, education, anti-hunger, faith-based, children's, women's and minority groups; and unions. They want the House to pass a $4.5 billion bill that cleared the Senate by unanimous consent just before the August recess.

The groups are increasingly defending the reauthorization as a key tool to fight childhood obesity — the goal espoused by first lady Michelle Obama in her Let's Move campaign. President Obama last month rekindled hope that the bill can pass shortly when his spokesman, Robert Gibbs, listed childhood nutrition alongside ratification of the new START Treaty and the Bush tax cuts as being the Democratic priorities for the lame-duck session. http://bit.ly/93l0md

Pawlenty joins healthcare reform lawsuit: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a lawsuit challenging the new healthcare law. 

Pawlenty, a possible 2012 presidential candidate, has been a longtime critic of healthcare reform. In August, he restricted his state's participation in the new law, signing an executive order that directed state agencies to decline all discretionary participation.  

And he's said that repealing healthcare reform would be his campaign platform if he ran for president. http://bit.ly/ap1cIv

HHS pressed to resist health insurance lobbying: Health insurance industry efforts to lobby for weaker federal regulations should be strongly resisted, a consumer advocacy group warned this week.

In a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, California-based Consumer Watchdog asks that she reject insurers' attempts to weaken regulations on how much insurers can raise premiums and how much they have to spend on care. The letter points to a recent story in The Hill outlining the insurance industry's plans to lobby federal regulators as cause for concern. http://bit.ly/agVlsZ

Debate on flexible spending accounts reopened: An employer-backed group is pressing the new leaders in Congress to alleviate restrictions placed on flexible spending accounts by the healthcare reform law.

The law limits contributions to FSAs and imposes restrictions on how they can be used to help pay for healthcare reform. Liberals argue FSAs, which are designed to allow employees to pay out-of-pocket healthcare costs with pre-tax dollars, encourage the overuse of healthcare because they can be spent on many healthcare services or items regardless of their value or effectiveness. http://bit.ly/djHn8l

Grassley says healthcare repeal will die in Senate: GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) admitted Wednesday that a full repeal of President Obama's healthcare law will die in the Senate. 

Speaking to Iowa radio station KCIM, the current ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee conceded that Senate Republicans do not have the 60 votes necessary to force through a full repeal. http://bit.ly/a2C8gZ

Autopsy guidelines for post-9/11 deaths requested: The three co-authors of a compensation bill for victims of 9/11 want federal regulators to develop autopsy guidelines for people who were exposed to toxins after the 2001 terrorist attack in New York City. http://bit.ly/drkI1C

Drug lobby has new top lobbyist: The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America on Thursday announced that Chip Davis has been named executive vice president of advocacy. He'll be responsible for leading and managing PhRMA’s federal, state and international government relations and advocacy efforts.

Davis comes from AstraZeneca, where he was vice president of corporate external relations. http://bit.ly/cC3C8R

Tips, comments, corrections? Drop me a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 202-628-8527.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a lawsuit challenging the new healthcare law.

Pawlenty, a possible 2012 presidential candidate, has been a longtime critic of healthcare reform. In August, he restricted his state's participation in the new law, signing an executive order that directed state agencies to decline all discretionary participation. 

And he's said that repealing healthcare reform would be his campaign platform if he ran for president.

“I think ObamaCare is one of the worst pieces of legislation passed in the modern history of the country,” Pawlenty said on CNN’s "State of the Union" this weekend.

Voters signaled their unhappiness with the law during the 2010 midterm election, which returned control of the House to Republicans.

Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) joined Pawlenty in the brief, which states that the two governors are trying to safeguard their citizens from "federal abuse of the spending power." They argue that the law places liabilities on states through a Medicaid expansion program, according to The Associated Press.

A total of 20 states have signed on to the lawsuit, which originated in Florida. In October, a federal judge ruled the lawsuit could proceed.

The groups are defending reauthorization as a key tool to fight childhood obesity — a top goal of the first lady.

The three co-authors of a compensation bill for victims of 9/11 want federal regulators to develop autopsy guidelines for people who were exposed to toxins after the terrorist attack in New York City.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health began working on such guidelines several years ago, but they were never completed. In a letter this week to NIOSH Director John Howard, Democratic Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler and Republican Rep. Peter King urge the agency to "develop autopsy guidelines that would help to better understand the causes of the illnesses being experienced by World Trade Center responders and survivors."

"Setting guidelines for autopsies for those who were exposed to toxins at Ground Zero," they write, "could help to better understand the effects of 9/11 exposures both for that individual and for the larger affected group."

The three New York lawmakers are co-sponsors of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which guarantees healthcare for first responders to the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City. It cleared the House 268 to 160 in September but has yet to come before the Senate.