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A key House panel on Wednesday approved a GOP plan to eliminate the federal budget deficit without tax increases demanded by Democrats, relying on sharp cuts to federal health care programs, government aid to the poor, and hundreds of domestic programs supported by lawmakers in both parties. The 20-16 Budget Committee vote could be the high point for the GOP blueprint, which is short of the majority votes needed to advance through the GOP-controlled House. Two tea party Republicans defected on the otherwise party-line vote. (3/16)

A key committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to send a mental health bill sponsored by Sen. Chris Murphy to the Senate floor, but not until certain provisions were dropped. The Mental Health Reform Act, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., would establish a new a new assistant secretary for mental health and substance abuse and establish a new grant program for early intervention aimed at helping children and young adults. (Radelat, 3/16)

A bipartisan bill designed to improve the health and safety of babies born to mothers who used heroin or other opioids during pregnancy was approved by a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday. The bill, which will now move to the Senate floor, was prompted by a Reuters investigation last year. Reuters found 110 cases of children who were exposed to opioids while in the womb and who later died preventable deaths at home. No more than nine states comply with a 2003 law that calls on hospitals to alert social workers whenever a baby is born dependent on drugs, Reuters found. (Shiffman and Wilson, 3/16)

Lawmakers, health policy experts and the chief executive of one of the nation's largest insurers believe Medicare Advantage could help keep the Medicare program solvent. On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee's Health Subcommittee held a hearing on Medicare's future. The Medicare board of trustees said in its most recent annual report that Medicare will be able to cover its costs until 2030, but suggested congressional action to strengthen the program's future. (Muchmore and Herman, 3/16)

House appropriators at a hearing on the National Institutes of Health budget flatly rejected the Obama administration’s proposal to use mandatory spending, rather than discretionary appropriations, to fund part of the biomedical research agency. President Barack Obama’s proposed fiscal 2017 budget designates $33.1 billion for NIH, including new funds for the “moonshot” initiative to cure cancer being spearheaded by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. The fiscal 2016 omnibus boosted the agency’s budget by $2 billion, bringing it to $32.1 billion. (Zanona, 3/15)