The American Medical Association announced Thursday that it won't be renewing its top executive's contract when it expires on June 30 next year. Michael Maves, a head and neck surgeon, has been the AMA's executive vice president and CEO since 2001.

The announcement comes as the AMA's House of Delegates prepares to hold a four-day interim meeting starting Saturday to focus on its advocacy and legislative agenda.

The trade association, which represents fewer than 20 percent of doctors but is influential in Congress, has come under intense criticism from some of its members for its support of healthcare reform.

In a statement, Maves said the end of his contract represents "a natural opportunity to transition the leadership of the AMA to a new physician executive."

"Under Dr. Maves’ leadership, the American Medical Association restored its financial stability, weathered the recession and implemented a number of critical initiatives to improve quality of care, increase access to care and establish a fair system of payment for physicians within the Medicare program. We thank him for his many years of distinguished service," Board of Trustees Chairwoman Ardis Hoven said in a statement. "As we enter into a new era that is redefining the way health care is delivered, both Dr. Maves and the Board of Trustees share the belief that new top leadership is required to address these challenges and to ensure the rights of patients and physicians are passionately and effectively protected."

The AMA says it will soon hire an executive search firm to replace Maves. No other executive changes are expected.

More than 100 policy proposals will be considered at the meeting on emerging issues in science, ethics, government, public health and business, according to the AMA, and physicians will vote on proposals to be incorporated into the AMA healthcare agenda.

These include: 

• Stopping Medicare cuts to preserve healthcare for seniors and baby boomers;

• Protecting youth athletes from the health dangers of concussions;

• Increasing healthcare coverage for children of military families;

• Establishing ethical guidelines for the use of social media by physicians; and

• Advocating guiding principles for Accountable Care Organizations, the collaborative healthcare initiatives to coordinate care, enhance quality and curb costs.

Repeal on everyone's mind: President Obama pushed back Wednesday against the notion that his party's midterm rout amounts to a mandate for the GOP to repeal Democrats' healthcare reform law.

Republicans, meanwhile, argued the opposite.

"We'd be misreading the election if we thought that the American people want to see us for the next two years relitigate arguments that we had over the past two years," Obama told reporters.

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (Va.), however, told CBS News on Tuesday that he wants to put a repeal bill on the floor "right away" when Congress reconvenes in January. http://bit.ly/dA4z3v

But what about the cost? Meanwhile, Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (D-Calif.) issues what's basically a dare for Republicans to repeal the law.

"This healthcare bill … saves $100 billion in the first 10 years and $1 trillion in the second 10 years," Miller said Wednesday in an interview with San Francisco's KGO radio. "So, they're going to have to pay for those changes when they go back to their so-called commonsense ideas." http://bit.ly/aD5Gs1

An "adult conversation" on Medicare? Tuesday's elections might have been largely a referendum on the size of government and deficit spending. Still, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said victorious House Republicans have no specific plans to tackle entitlement spending — the most significant driver behind the nation's budget woes.

"We start with all of your discretionary spending," Blackburn told MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Tuesday night, "[and] then you have an adult conversation about how to address Medicare and Social Security and the entitlements."

The terminology is no accident. Last month, as Republicans were unveiling their "Pledge to America," House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) also declined to specify how the GOP intends to rein in entitlement spending. http://bit.ly/cA0FqB

DME contracts out: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Wednesday released the list of 356 suppliers who have won contracts to provide durable medical equipment for nine communities across the country.

The competitive bidding program, created by the 2003 Medicare reform law, aims to save patients and the government money by replacing standard fees with market competition among providers. The program, which slashes prices by 32 percent, begins Jan. 1 in nine areas. http://bit.ly/dA4z3v

Abortion foes claim big win: Seventeen of the 22 Democrats targeted by two prominent anti-abortion groups will not return to Congress next year, doomed in part by their support for a healthcare reform bill that many Americans worried would open the way to taxpayer-funded abortion. The Susan B. Anthony List spent $3.1 million on its "Votes Have Consequences" campaign targeting 19 self-described "pro-life" Democrats in vulnerable districts. Only five — Reps. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Sanford Bishop (Ga.), Nick Rahall (W.Va.) and Dennis Cardoza (Calif.) — survived. http://bit.ly/bTIH2V

Nonprofit health plans rank high: Nonprofit health insurance plans are the top-ranking plans in the country, according to a review of the 2010 rankings recently released by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). 

The review found that nonprofits took:

• The first 10 spots for the 183 Medicare plans reporting; 

• The first 10 spots for the 104 Medicaid plans reporting;

• Nine of the first 10 spots for the 227 private plans reporting.

States get help for Medicaid and insurance exchanges: The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday announced new federal support for states to develop and upgrade Medicaid IT systems and systems for enrollment in state Exchanges.

Proposed regulations published in the Federal Register would make Medicaid eligibility systems potentially eligible for an enhanced federal matching rate of 90 percent for design and development of new systems and a 75 percent federal matching rate for maintenance and operations. http://bit.ly/ad84X4

Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and HHS's Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight are issuing initial technical guidance that will help States decide how they will design, develop and implement new or improved IT systems for the new health insurance Exchanges, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). http://bit.ly/dvlexA

Biomedical research grants announced: The federal government on Wednesday announced the recipients of the $1 billion in new therapeutic discovery project credits and grants created by the healthcare reform law. The program will help nearly 3,000 small biotechnology companies across the country produce new and cost-saving therapies. http://bit.ly/a0b4D9

Georgia docs blast AMA: The Medical Association of Georgia's House of Delegates recently adopted a resolution calling on the American Medical Association to "rectify the negative aspects of the [health reform] bill and diligently continue to pursue avenues to retract the positions previously taken by the AMA."

New medical professionals elected to Congress: Republican victories have added 11 new medical professionals to the ranks of Congress. Here's the breakdown:

Senate

Arkansas: John Boozman (optometrist)

Kentucky: Rand Paul (ophthalmologist)

House

Arizona 1: Paul Gosar (dentist)

Indiana 8: Larry Bucshon (cardiothoracic surgeon)

Maryland 1: Andy Harris (anesthesiologist)

Michigan 1: Dan Benishek (general surgery)

Nevada 3: Joe Heck (emergency physician)

New York 19: Nan Hayworth (ophthalmologic surgeon)

North Carolina 2: Renee Ellmers (nurse)

Tennessee 4: Scott DesJarlais (physician)

Tennessee 6: Diane Black (nurse)

Repealing healthcare reform — a top priority of the newly empowered Republicans — won't be cheap, a top House Democrat warned this week. 

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) is wondering how Republicans would pay the tab in a political environment where deficit spending is seen as toxic. 

"This healthcare bill … saves $100 billion in the first 10 years and $1 trillion in the second 10 years," Miller said Wednesday in an interview with San Francisco's KGO radio."So they're going to have to pay for those changes when they go back to their so-called commonsense ideas." 

Republicans have been largely united in their calls to repeal and replace the Democrats' new healthcare law, slamming reforms as a government takeover of the healthcare system the country can't afford. But they've been largely silent about how they'd rein in skyrocketing healthcare costs, particularly in Medicare and Medicaid.

Miller, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, warned that cost isn't the only hurdle facing repeal supporters. As patients and consumers start to benefit from the provisions contained in the law, he said, public resistance to repeal will grow more entrenched.

Republicans, Miller said, "have to understand that when they repeal healthcare … senior citizens will pay more for prescription drugs, young people will lose their healthcare coverage, and once again we'll have pre-existing conditions that keep women and children and others from getting access to healthcare when they need it." 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Wednesday released the list of 356 suppliers who have won contracts to provide durable medical equipment for nine communities across the country.

The competitive bidding program, created by the 2003 Medicare reform law, aims to save patients and the government money by replacing standard fees with market competition among providers. The program, which slashes prices by 32 percent, begins Jan. 1 in the following areas: 

• Charlotte – Gastonia – Concord (North Carolina and South Carolina)

• Cincinnati – Middletown (Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana)

• Cleveland – Elyria – Mentor (Ohio)

• Dallas – Fort Worth – Arlington (Texas)

• Kansas City (Missouri and Kansas)

• Miami – Fort Lauderdale – Pompano Beach (Florida)

• Orlando – Kissimmee (Florida)

• Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania)

• Riverside – San Bernardino – Ontario (California)

Industry groups have objected to the program, saying its cuts are too steep for many small companies to survive. And several experts have criticized the way the bidding program is structured.

A House bill to repeal the competitive bidding program has attracted more than 250 sponsors.

President Obama pushed back Wednesday against the notion that his party's midterm rout amounts to a mandate for the GOP to repeal Democrats' healthcare reform law.

Republicans, meanwhile, argued the opposite.

"We'd be misreading the election if we thought that the American people want to see us for the next two years relitigate arguments that we had over the past two years," Obama told reporters.

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (Va.), however, told CBS News on Tuesday that he wants to put a repeal bill on the floor "right away" when Congress reconvenes in January.

"Tonight's election is about listening to the people, and that was the message that's being sent across this land, is they don't like this healthcare bill, and they want to see us focus on jobs, and there's just been no results that match the expectations of the people," Cantor said. "So I believe that when we take [over] in January, I hope that we're able to put a repeal bill on the floor right away because that's what the American people want."

To be sure, dozens of Democrats who voted for their party's signature domestic achievement paid a hefty price at the polls: At least 33 Democrats who lost reelection Tuesday had voted for the bill. 

But voting against the bill was no guarantee of survival either. Seventeen of the 34 Democrats who voted against the bill lost reelection to the House, while "no" vote Charlie Melancon lost his challenge to Sen. David Vitter (R-La.).

State referendums on the individual mandate were also split. Arizona and Oklahoma voted to amend their state constitutions to protect citizens from the federal requirement that they buy insurance, while Colorado rejected its citizen ballot initiative on the issue.

And in exit polling, fewer than 20 percent of respondents said healthcare reform was the main motivator for their vote. Adding to the confusion, 48 percent of respondents said they favored repeal, while 31 percent wanted the law to be expanded and 16 percent said it should be left alone.

The expected speaker-to-be, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), for his part fell short of calling for immediate repeal on Tuesday.

"The American people are concerned about the government takeover of health care," Boehner said. "I think it’s important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity and replace it with commonsense reforms that will bring down the cost of health insurance in America."

Obama, for his part, offered to work with Republicans on amending the law.

"Now, if Republicans have ideas on how to improve our healthcare system, if they want to suggest modifications that would deliver faster, more effective reform to a healthcare system that has been wildly expensive for too many families, businesses and certainly for the federal government, I'm happy to consider some of those ideas," he said. "There are going to be examples where we can tweak and make improvements on the progress that we've made. That's true of any piece of legislation."

The president in particular said the so-called "1099" provision of the bill, which requires businesses to file IRS tax forms on many of their purchases, was "too burdensome" and "probably counterproductive."

Outside observers said Republicans should view the elections as a mandate to do what Boehner has said he wants to do: go through regular order and the slow and deliberative committee process to air out differences and produce compromise legislation.

"Half the bill is terrific," former Energy and Commerce health subcommittee head Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) said at a post-election briefing organized by Disruptive Women in Health Care.

And former Rep. Jim Slattery (D-Kan.) said the poll results suggest that most Americans want to repeal healthcare reform but don't know what's in it. 

If Republicans tackle the bill with an axe instead of a scalpel, he said, many Americans will respond "that's not what I meant when I said I was in favor of repeal."

Slattery also expressed hope that Tuesday's vote would spark Democrats in competitive races — he mentioned Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Ben Cardin (Md.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) — to become "more receptive"  to the idea of amending healthcare reform "in a cooperative fashion with Republicans."

Seventeen of the 22 Democrats targeted by two prominent anti-abortion-rights groups will not return to Congress next year, doomed in part by their support for a healthcare reform bill that many Americans worried would open the way to taxpayer-funded abortion.

The Susan B. Anthony List spent $3.1 million on its "Votes Have Consequences" campaign targeting 19 self-described "pro-life" Democrats in vulnerable districts. Only five — Reps. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Sanford Bishop (Ga.), Nick Rahall (W.Va.) and Dennis Cardoza (Calif.) — survived.

Conversely, the SBA List supported Illinois Democrat Daniel Lipinski's reelection campaign with an $8,500 donation. Lipinski, who voted for the bill in November but against the final version because of his concerns about abortion, easily won reelection 69.9 percent to 24.4 percent.

Americans United for Life's action fund, meanwhile, spent $600,000 on its "Life Counts" campaign to defeat 12 Democrats, all but three of whom were also targeted by the SBA List. Donnelly was the only one of the 12 to win Tuesday night.

"During the debate over the health care bill, we urged Members of Congress to reject taxpayer-funded abortion," Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life Action, said in a statement Wednesday. "Yesterday, eleven politicians learned that Life Counts, and voters elected a new Congress committed to defending Life."

Two of the SBA's targets never even made it to Tuesday's election: Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) retired after his vote provoked an avalanche of criticism from anti-abortion-rights groups. Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) was defeated in the Democratic primary by the more conservative Mike Oliverio.

And Rep. Brad Ellsworth was badly beaten, 40 percent to 54.7 percent, in his race to replace retiring Sen. Evan Bayh in Indiana.

The House candidates defeated Tuesday are:

• Rep. Steve Driehaus (Ohio);

• Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (Pa.);

• Rep. Baron Hill (Ind.);

• Rep. Paul Kanjorski (Pa.);

• Rep. John Salazar (Col.);

• Rep. Jim Oberstar (Minn.);

• Rep. Bob Etheridge (N.C.);

• Rep. John Boccieri (Ohio);

• Rep. Chris Carney (Pa.);

• Rep. John Spratt (S.C.);

• Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (Texas):

• Rep. Tom Perriello (Va.); and

• Rep. Alan Grayson (Fla.)

Also, Americans United targeted Joyce Elliott, the Democrat running to replace retiring Rep. Vic Snyder in Arkansas, who was crushed 38.2 percent to 57.9 percent.

SBA's ads against Driehaus garnered national attention when the lawmaker complained about them to the Ohio Elections Commission. The commission is expected to rule after the elections on whether the ads' message claiming that Driehaus "voted for taxpayer-funded abortion" violates the state's restrictions on "false statements."

Tuesday's elections might have been largely a referendum on the size of government and deficit spending. Still, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said victorious House Republicans have no specific plans to tackle entitlement spending — the most significant driver behind the nation's budget woes.

"We start with all of your discretionary spending," Blackburn told MSNBC's Chris Matthews Tuesday night, "[and] then you have an adult conversation about how to address Medicare and Social Security and the entitlements."

The terminology is no accident. Last month, as Republicans were unveiling their "Pledge to America," House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) also declined to specify how the GOP intends to rein in entitlement spending. 

"I don't have all the solutions," Boehner said. "It's about having that adult conversation in an honest, open way that'll get us the answers to lay out the plan that will solve this problem once and for all." 

Instead of taking on the popular entitlements, Blackburn said Tuesday, Republicans will initially tackle deficit spending with "across-the-board" cuts to discretionary programs — except for those related to the military.

"You start with discretionary spending and you do across-the-board cuts," Blackburn said, responding to how Republicans would pay for their plan to extend all the Bush-era tax cuts. 

Asked by Matthews if discretionary spending includes defense costs, Blackburn said, "No, you do not cut defense."

It's a sentiment — popular among GOP veterans — that could cause a rift with some incoming members of the party.

Newly elected Sen.-elect Rand Paul (R-Ky.), for instance, said this week that balancing the budget will require conservatives to accept some defense cuts and liberals to accept decreases in domestic programs.  

"There's waste everywhere," Paul told CNN's "American Morning." 

"I do believe national defense is the most important thing the federal government does, but I do think there is waste in the military budget."

The losses added credence to Republicans' claim that the American public wants them to repeal healthcare reform.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who first voted for the law and later against reconciliation, has lost reelection to Republican Rep. John Boozman.