Rep. Steve Driehaus has called billboard ads claiming he "voted for taxpayer-funded abortion” false; a hearing is set for Thursday.

The New Jersey Democrat wants the smokeless tobacco banned in the dugout and on the field during the series.

Republican leaders are insisting they'll make good on the party's election-season pledge to fight for full repeal of the new healthcare reform law.

But don't try to convince Rush Limbaugh. 

The conservative talk-radio host said last week that, at a recent closed-door meeting in Florida, unnamed GOP "senators" told party donors that the Republican strategy is to restructure the healthcare law, not repeal it. 

"I talked to a couple people that were there and they told me they went up to the senators and said, "Well, if this is your attitude, you can kiss 2012 goodbye,'" Limbaugh said on his show last Tuesday. "If this is the way you're looking at it, you can kiss any money from us and you can kiss 2012 goodbye.' So that's what [the lawmakers] were told by, quote-unquote, big donors and quasi-important people.  

"That's just two of them that I know who were there."

The controversy over the GOP's approach to the healthcare law took off last week after outgoing Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), the senior Republican on the Budget Committee, suggested that repealing the law isn't the right strategy. 

"I don't think starving or repealing is probably the best approach here," Gregg told the Fox Business Network last Tuesday. "You basically go in and restructure it."

On the same day, the Davis Intelligence Group reported that Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) recently told "high-dollar GOP donors" that most Senate Republicans — including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — also don't support the full repeal being pushed by conservatives on the campaign trail.  

Both Corker and McConnell say that report is simply wrong, noting that Senate Republicans voted unanimously in March for full repeal of the law, just days after it was enacted. 

"While we were unable to block the Democrats from passing the health spending bill — the single worst piece of legislation that’s passed since I’ve been in the Senate — the Republican leadership in the House and Senate is committed to its repeal," McConnell said last week in an e-mail. 

"While Democrats will filibuster our efforts — and if we’re successful the President will veto — I believe we should give them that opportunity. We should vote, again, for repeal. Americans have spoken out, loud and clear, and we heard them. Repeal is part of the Pledge to America, and the Republican leadership is united in that effort."

Still, the idea that Republicans won't urge full repeal took off in the conservative blogosphere, with RedState's Erick Erickson taking shots at GOP leaders for being too moderate.

"You can be sure that Judd Gregg is not speaking out of turn and is not a lone wolf on this issue," Erickson wrote. "His view reflects that of the Senate GOP leadership despite their protestations to the contrary."

More recently, Limbaugh spokesman Kit Carson said Limbaugh's conversation with Florida donors only bolsters the credibility of reports that GOP leaders won't fight for full repeal. 

"Rush spoke to people directly who attended the fundraiser in [Florida]," Carson said in an e-mail, "and the Davis Intelligence Group seems to in essence back up the conversation he had with the couple who attended the fundraiser."

It remains unclear which "senators" attended the Florida fundraiser to which Limbaugh referred. Corker's office said he wasn't in Florida for any recent fundraisers, and Carson didn't respond when asked about the identity of the GOP lawmakers. 

The saga highlights a dilemma facing Republicans running on a platform of full repeal. Aside from the likely veto of such a measure by Obama, many of the consumer protections contained in the bill are enormously popular. On top of that, a full repeal is estimated to cost roughly $100 billion. 

Still, Limbaugh's comments highlight that conservatives aren't ready to accept anything less. 

"I had a bunch of people over for a Monday Night Football party, and I couldn't make it," he said of his invitation to the Florida fundraiser.

"But I did talk to a couple people who went. And they tell me full-force that they said after the message, 'If this is what you're thinking, that you can't repeal and that you don't have that much power, and you're not gonna really be able to effect change, then you can kiss 2012 good-bye.  

"'Obama and the Democrats are gonna be back in power if that's the way you're gonna approach this.'"

The Obama administration is weighing whether to allow companies to switch health plans without losing their coveted "grandfathered" status, reports Bloomberg.

The provision under consideration exempts health plans from some of the coverage requirements established by the healthcare law. Plans that are grandfathered in do not have to comply with all of the new rules.

In June, the Department of Health and Human Services issued regulations spelling out what would cause companies to lose their grandfathered status. Among the listed actions was changing insurance providers. 

"If an employer decides to buy insurance for its workers from a different insurance company, this new insurer will not be considered a grandfathered plan,'" the regulations state.

Now, Bloomberg reports, the American Benefits Council, which represents employers that sponsor health plans, is in discussions about the grandfathering rules with the Health and Human Services Department's (HHS) Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. The report cites an unnamed White House official as saying that the administration is "weighing whether to allow employers to avoid the requirements, even with a new insurer, as long as benefit levels stay the same."

The Chamber of Commerce has made replacing the provision with less stringent requirements a priority. On Sept. 29, senators rejected 59-40 a resolution of disapproval by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) that would have required HHS to withdraw and re-issue the rule.

According to HHS estimates:

• 40 percent to 67 percent of individual policies will lose grandfathered status by 2011;

• 34 percent to 64 percent of large employer group plans (100 or more employees) will lose their grandfathered status by 2013; and

• 49 percent to 80 percent of small-employer group plans (three to 99 employees) will lose their grandfathered status by 2013.

That doesn't mean those plans would no longer be offered — only that they would have to comply with new mandates of the healthcare reform law. 

The debate comes as HHS is struggling to put in place the law's costly new consumer protections without causing employers to drop coverage ahead of the midterm elections. Earlier this month, HHS granted waivers to 30 companies from the requirement that the annual limit on their coverage be at least $750,000 next year, sparking criticism from both liberals and conservatives.

The latest news is also fueling speculation that the administration could show flexibility in applying the reform law's medical-loss ratio, which requires health plans to spend a certain percentage of premiums on medical care.

One week ahead of the midterm elections, the focus for health-policy observers is largely on battleground races and what a change of leadership could mean for healthcare. Still, Congress continues to move forward with its nitty-gritty work of oversight, including a flurry of recent activity by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member on the Finance Committee.

Payments to physicians questioned: Grassley, who is up for reelection this year, wrote to the Food and Drug Administration on Friday demanding to know whether the agency monitors medical device companies' payments to doctors who are involved in clinical studies of the companies' products, reports the Star Tribune. In his letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, Grassley raises concerns with a recent report that discovered that of 50 clinical investigators studying Medtronic products, "almost all ... received significant payments" from the company. http://bit.ly/dvqKjV

The new letter follows similar concerns Grassley has raised with Medtronic's payments to Stephen Ondra, who was appointed by President Obama as the senior policy advisor for health affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In a letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki late last month, Grassley pointed out that Ondra had been the lead principal investigator or an active participant on six recent Medtronic-funded studies focusing on the spine.

Grassley followed up last week with letters to the VA and to Medtronic.

Separately, Grassley has been going after doctors who overprescribe mental-health drugs paid for by Medicare and Medicaid. The concerns were sparked by reports that doctors in Miami and Ohio wrote about 100,000 prescriptions each in just two years. http://bit.ly/9S3ob0

Pro-reform union gets out the vote: The AFL-CIO — one of the biggest proponents of healthcare reform legislation — is sending out 10 million pieces of mail during the final week of the 2010 midterm campaign.

Campaigning hard since the summer, the nation’s largest labor federation is now moving towards revving up its massive get-out-the-vote effort after working to persuade union members to vote for Democratic candidates this November. By the end of the week, the AFL-CIO will have sent out more than 28 million direct-mail pieces during the 2010 election cycle. http://bit.ly/cAGgzg

American Action Network launches new ads: The conservative American Action Network is launching new television and Internet ads in 12 battleground districts. While 10 of them focus on the lame-duck session (urging incumbent Democrats to vote for the extension of tax cuts for example), several take issue with incumbents' vote for healthcare reform.

"As the lame duck session approaches, Congress must realize that higher taxes, growing deficits, and a government takeover of healthcare will not help small businesses struggling to stay afloat or families trying to make ends meet," CEO Norm Coleman and President Rob Collins said in a statement. "These campaigns urge incumbents to reject the free-spending, big government policies that got us into this mess and support fiscally responsible center-right solutions during the lame duck."

The 10 Democrats being targeted:

• Rep. Charlie Wilson (Ohio);

• Rep. Mark Critz (Pa.);

• Rep. Steve Kagen (Wis.); 

• Rep. Ed Perlmutter (Col.);

• Rep. Joe Donnelly (Ind.):

• Rep. Martin Heinrich (N.M.);

• Rep. Kurt Schrader (Ore.);

• Rep. Chris Murphy (Conn.);

• Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (S.D.);

• Rep. Tom Perriello (Va.)

The American Action Network is also running ads in the districts of Rep. Alan Mollohan (W.Va.) and Rep. Marion Berry (Ark.), who are not running for reelection.

Planned Parenthood spells out strategy: The Planned Parenthood Action Fund explains in a press release what it's doing in "targeted, competitive races where women voters hold the key."

• Direct voter contact: Over the weekend, volunteers reached nearly 50,000 undecided women voters in select regions through live phone calls and door-to-door canvassing in key races across the country;

• Aggressive mail program: Multiple mail brochures to more than 1.4 million households will be sent between now and Election Day in specific areas;

• Active social media: More than 250,000 online supporters, primarily young women, are being rallied to get out the vote through Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and text messaging alerts;

• Targeted TV ads: TV ads that appeal directly to women voters are airing in select markets with tight races. The commercials will run on cable channels that are popular with women viewers, including CNN, Lifetime, MTV, TLC, VH1, MSNBC, HGTV and Food Network. 

• Financial support: More than $320,400 has been contributed to pro-women’s health candidates in the 2009–2010 cycle by the the Planned Parenthood Action Fund PAC. The PAC gave contributions to 101 candidates, with more than three quarters (79%) of the contributions going to candidates in competitive races. In total, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund will spend $2.2 million helping elect pro-women’s health candidates in the midterm elections. 

Cell phones bad for the heart? There was already some evidence linking cell phones' microwave radiations to brain tumors, but new research published this weekend in the European Journal of Oncology suggests they could increase heart rates as well. Cordless phones, which transmit a similar pulsed signal as Wi-Fi networks at 2.4 Gigahertz, have been shown to almost double heart rates in some cases according to a double-blind, peer reviewed study. http://bit.ly/a76GbC

New boss for pharmacy group: The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) on Sunday announced the appointment of Kathleen Jaeger as Executive Vice President and CEO. NCPA President Joseph Harmison made the announcement during his address to NCPA’s 112th Annual Convention and Trade Exposition.

ACOs are FUN: Someone made a video of the benefits of Accountable Care Organizations. Seriously: http://bit.ly/cZQ5Xy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) entered the fray over food legislation on Friday with a "fact sheet" blaming Republicans for delaying passage of the bill.

"Republican opposition to tough food safety legislation is just another example of how the GOP’s plan for regulatory rollbacks puts the special interests first and Americans health and safety at risk," the statement reads.

The reality is more complicated.

While 122 Republicans did vote against the bill when it cleared the House in July 2009, so did 20 Democrats. And 54 Republicans voted for the bill, which would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to recall tainted food, quarantine geographical areas and access food producers’ records. 

In the Senate, only one member — Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) — held up the bill after members of the Health Committee reached a compromise this summer. A vote could occur as early as Nov. 17.

An amendment by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) that would exempt small farmers is now seen as the biggest threat to the bill's passage in the upper chamber. Consumer advocates say the amendment would gut the bill, and have been pressing senators not to vote for it.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday called on restaurants and food markets to hire food-safety managers to protect the public's health.

The recommendation is based on the findings of a 10-year study of retail establishments' efforts to reduce five key risk factors, released Friday. This comes as the nation is reeling from recent recalls of tainted eggs and peanut butter.

"In looking at the data, it is quite clear that having a certified food protection manager on the job makes a difference," FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael Taylor said in a statement. "Some states and localities require certified food protection managers already, and many in the retail industry employ them voluntarily as a matter of good practice. We think it should become common practice."

In addition to calling for certified food-protection managers to be common practice, Taylor said the FDA initiative will include:

• Increased efforts to encourage widespread, uniform and complete adoption of the FDA Model Food Code by state, local and tribal regulatory agencies that are responsible for retail food-safety standard setting and inspection. The Food Code recommends standards for management and personnel, food operations and equipment and facilities; and
• Increased efforts for adoption of FDA’s National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards by state, local and tribal agencies that enforce the Food Code and other measures to create an enhanced local regulatory environment for retail food operations. 

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported Friday that the voluntary quality-control system of independent inspectors who audit the nation's food producers is rife with conflicts of interest and is largely ineffective.

Doctors in Massachusetts think the state's healthcare overhaul — the model for Democrats' national reform law — was a poor choice, according to a new poll.

The Massachusetts Medical Society surveyed 1,000 practicing doctors in its annual Physician Workforce Survey and found only 14 percent recommended Massachusetts's 2006 overhaul as a model for the nation. The Massachusetts reform effort, signed into law by then-Gov. Mitt Romney, created a "Health Connector" and required people to buy subsidized, government-regulated insurance — much like the federal law enacted in March.

A plurality of respondents — 34 percent — preferred a single-payer system, while 32 percent favored a public-private mix with a public option. And 17 percent opted for the status quo before reform, when low-premium, high-deductible health plans were allowed.

Single-payer advocates immediately embraced the results.

"Massachusetts physicians realize that the state's health reform has failed to make health care affordable and accessible, and won't work for the nation," said Rachel Nardin, chair of neurology at Cambridge Hospital and president of the Massachusetts chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program. "These findings show the high support for single-payer Medicare for all by physicians on the front lines of reform."

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Friday that, to rein in federal spending, Congress should change Medicare so wealthier seniors pay more for their benefits. 

That system of "means testing" already governs Medicare's prescription drug benefit (Part D) and physician services (Part B), but not the traditional hospital-benefits program (Part A).

Corker said that should probably change. 

Asked how to tackle Medicare spending "without rationing," the Tennessee Republican said lawmakers "need to look at things, I'm sorry, like means testing."

"The program cannot continue as it is," he said on CNBC. "And you have to look at how payments are made. … The fact is it's a fee-for-service program with almost unlimited intake. So we've got to look at outcomes. 

"Medicare is $37 trillion in the hole as far as unfunded liabilities," he said. "We can't continue on that path."

The comments came as Republicans, running in unison on a platform of eliminating deficit spending, are being prodded to provide some specifics about how they'd do it.

Critics of the means testing, including many liberal Democrats on Capitol Hill, argue such a system might encourage wealthier seniors to abandon Medicare for private insurance. That, they say, would turn Medicare into a welfare-like program — and threaten to erode public support.

Still, with Medicare projected to go belly up in 2029, Congress will have to step in sooner or later to address the crisis. 

Corker said Friday that nothing — not defense programs, not entitlements — should escape congressional scrutiny. 

"Nothing's off the table," Corker said. "Nothing."