This week: Reform anniversary approaches

The abortion debate heats up again Wednesday when a Ways and Means subpanel holds a hearing on the tax implications of H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-N.J.) bill would end tax breaks for private health plans that offer abortion services.
 
Pediatricians will merge on Washington for their annual legislative conference next week. They’re upset that president’s 2012 budget would cut more than $300 million for graduate medical education.
 
Home medical equipment providers are also heading to the Hill to ask lawmakers to repeal a Medicare competitive bidding program for home medical equipment and services.
 
Research!America is bringing together a star-studded panel of federal health research heads on Tuesday. On tap for a panel discussion: Carolyn Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health; Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. PhRMA CEO John Castellani will also take part.
 
Congressional Medicare advisers come to the Hill on Tuesday to make their annual report to Congress. House Ways and Means’s Health subpanel hearing will also give the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission a chance to talk about implementation of healthcare reform.