OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Democrats happy to keep spotlight on GOP’s Medicare proposal

Let’s get moving: The fitness industry wrapped up two days of lobbying with calls to support several bills that promote preventive health. The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association was on Capitol Hill as part of the 9th annual Summit for a Healthier America.

“The widespread practice of primary prevention is critical to public health and our country’s future economic competitiveness,” IHRSA President and CEO Joe Moore said in a statement. “It’s time that our lawmakers fully recognize the valuable and central role that primary prevention can play in creating a healthier America. We are asking them to actively promote public policies and legislation that support primary prevention and personal responsibility —and that remove barriers to healthy lifestyle choices.”

The association is supporting legislation that would:

• Amend the No Child Left Behind Act to increase students’ physical activity;

• Fund physical education through the Department of Education;

• Allow Americans to use their tax-favored accounts (such as Flexible Spending Accounts) to engage in physical activity;

• Allow employers to deduct the cost of benefits linked to off-site exercise facilities; and

• Require the government to periodically publish the latest research on the benefits of physical activity.

Beating the repeal drum: Reps. Charles Boustany (R-La) and Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) introduced legislation Thursday to repeal the healthcare reform law’s employer mandate.

Physicians unite: The Health Care Compact Alliance launched a new website to unite doctors against the healthcare reform law. The alliance’s compacts have been introduced in 14 states with the goal of allowing states to create their own health care policies by joining an interstate compact that supersedes prior federal law.

Health workers needed: The Eldercare Workforce Alliance is warning of a looming crisis in care for the elderly because of the growing shortage of medical professionals skilled in geriatric care. The group is pressing lawmakers to retain the funding for geriatric medicine called for in the healthcare reform law.

Hospitals ready: More than 76 percent of hospitals participating in a national preparedness program met 90 percent or more of all program measures for all-hazards preparedness in 2009, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Friday’s agenda:

Read my lips: The AFL-CIO is hosting a panel to push back against proposals to roll back and eventually eliminate the insurance tax exclusion that’s credited with creation of America’s system of employer-sponsored health coverage. Lawmakers are taking a hard look at the exclusion as they tackle the national debt, and both the Simpson-Bowles and Domenici-Rivlin plans have recommended phasing it out.

Lobbying registrations (since Tuesday): 

Sidley Austin / Actelion Pharmaceuticals US

Reading list:

Former insurance industry PR executive Wendell Potter, who is now sharply critical of the industry, says insurers have too much sway over the regulations implementing healthcare reform because the media have moved on.

The Boston Globe reports that drugmakers are looking increasingly toward products that treat rare diseases.

A nationally known doctor who treats autism in children has been suspended, reports the Baltimore Sun.

The American Medical Association has released its new guide on how physicians can become meaningful adopters of electronic medical records, writes amednews.com.

The New York Times‘s Gail Collins skewers Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) for signing Planned Parenthood defunding legislation into law.

SearchHealthIT.com shares the story of a doctor who says he quit his practice over frustration with electronic health records.

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