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Congressional Republicans will have their governing bona fides tested again this week with key votes on the 2016 budget and a plan to revamp the payment system for doctors who treat Medicare patients. On the budget resolution, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) will be in familiar territory, trying to pass an austere spending plan with votes entirely from his side of the aisle but facing a revolt from the far-right flank, which insists on more ideological purity in budgeting (and nearly everything else). For the Medicare provision, Boehner worked preemptively with Democrats. The proposal, which has not provoked much division within his party’s ranks, could create some of the structural changes to entitlement programs that Republicans have long sought. (Kane, 3/23)

A rare bipartisan health care bill taking shape in the House poses a real gut check for Senate Democrats as to what they care about most. Will it be pride of authorship and purity on issues like abortion rights? Or making the most of their reduced power in this Congress to solve problems and help those left behind in the economic recovery? (Rogers, 3/23)

House Republicans quietly deepened recommended budget savings from the government’s chief health care program for the poor by about $140 billion in recent weeks to offset part of the cost of higher payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients, according to officials familiar with the tradeoff. The maneuver comes as Republicans in both houses struggle with competing priorities, in this case a desire to stabilize what is widely viewed as a dysfunctional system of provider payments under Medicare, while pursuing a 10-year goal of balancing the budget. (Espo, 3/24)

Language has been added to an emerging bipartisan deal on Medicare clarifying that the agreement’s abortion restrictions on community health centers are temporary and won’t be inscribed into permanent law, House Democrats said Monday. The Democrats said they believe the new provisions will ease concerns that have threatened Democratic support for the overall package, which is mostly aimed at protecting doctors who treat Medicare patients from imminent, deep cuts. (Fram, 3/23)

The permanent “doc fix” bill under consideration on Capitol Hill may not get through Congress before the latest round of cuts to physicians go into effect on April 1, prompting speculation that yet another patch — albeit a short one — may be needed. (Haberkorn, 3/23)

The developing deal to replace Medicare’s physician payment formula is expected to make about 2 percent of wealthier beneficiaries pay more for their coverage and restrict Medigap plans from being used to pay for some deductibles, according to a working summary of the package. (Attias, 3/23)

If Republicans can agree to a joint budget resolution, which sets spending levels for the upcoming fiscal year, they could also trigger a protected legislative process known as reconciliation. Republicans intend to use that process to repeal Obamacare, because it requires only a majority vote and cannot be filibustered. Even if they are successful, however, Obama would veto the measure if it reaches his desk. GOP leaders are hopeful that the appeal of targeting Obamacare will help ease ongoing intra-party divides over defense spending. (Davis, 3/23)

The federal budget proposed by House Republicans would reduce the amount of money that government employees earn on a popular retirement plan and potentially increase the amount they have to contribute to their health-care plan, according to newly released details. House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) last week unveiled the spending blueprint — which aims to achieve several hundred billions of dollars in savings through measures affecting federal employees — but did not initially release the specifics. (Hicks, 3/24)