Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House Speaker Boehner Quiets Critics With Budget, Medicare Victories
It wasn鈥檛 even a month ago some of John Boehner鈥檚 closest friends feared he was so weak that he might not last as speaker. Now, after big-ticket victories this week on the budget and entitlement reform, the Ohio Republican is about to depart Washington for the two-week Easter recess with the gavel planted firmly in hand. No one鈥檚 claiming Boehner suddenly has his fractious conference under his thumb or that his current good fortune will necessarily last once Congress returns to a host of other treacherous legislative challenges this year. (Sherman and Palmer, 3/27)
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi bruised some longtime liberal allies when she worked with Speaker John Boehner to craft a rare bipartisan accord on Medicare. But lawmakers say it will enhance her stature as a dealmaker, and may help her party avoid being sidelined by majority Republicans over the next two years. Pelosi and her fellow Democrats disappointed friends in the abortion-rights lobby by backing a bill to avoid future cuts in Medicare physician payments. As Thursday's 392-37 House vote suggests, the bill was a compromise, with appeal to both parties. (3/27)
Meanwhile, in news from the Senate, Minority Leader Harry Reid announced that he wouldn't seek re-election -
Reid's departure will set off a spirited battle for Democratic leader between his top two lieutenants, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and New York Sen. Charles Schumer. Showing off the combative streak that has been his signature as Democratic leader, Reid had a special message for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: "Don't be too elated. I am going to be here for 22 months ... doing the same thing I've done since I first came to the Senate." Reid has been a strong ally of President Obama and pushed hard as Democratic leader to pass the White House's agenda, including the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010. Reid also helped Obama win Nevada, which has been trending Republican, in the 2008 and 2012 elections. (Camia and Kelly, 3/27)
Also in the headlines -
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich doesn't think Obamacare should be repealed, and congressional Republicans who say they want to repeal it really don't want to either, he told a Washington, D.C. health conference Wednesday. Instead, he thinks more minor parts of the law that aren't working will be addressed because the core parts of the law have broader support than is often acknowledged. (O'Donnell, 3/26)
