Overnight Healthcare: House GOP seeks permanent fix for Medicare payments

House GOP leaders are looking to hold a vote next week on legislation that would cost at least $174 billion to permanently change how doctors are paid under Medicare. The legislation, which has been quietly coordinated by House leaders, would end a decades-long battle, but it would also likely ignite a war within the GOP over how to pay for it. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will be in a tough spot to unite his party over a bill that would drastically drive up the deficit at a time when the GOP has pledged to balance the budget. The negotiations will have high stakes: Congress must act before March 31 to prevent Medicare doctors from seeing an automatic 22 percent cut in their payments. It must also finalize a budget proposal by April 15. Boehner will need to rely on Democrats to pass the bill, potentially putting House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the position of a dealmaker. The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, who has previously backed the proposal, was quick to weigh in Wednesday to praise the GOP's efforts. "What we are hearing from the House suggests there is real movement to fully repeal and replace the flawed formula for paying Medicare providers," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote in a statement Wednesday afternoon. He added that he will also be pushing to fund the Children's Health Insurance Program during the negotiations. Updating the Medicare payment formula, known as the "doc fix," has been a perennial headache for both parties for nearly 20 years. Each year, members of both parties move to end the planned cuts, but fail to reach agreements on how to offset the costs. Permanently abandoning the Medicare formula would be a widely unexpected move. As pressure mounts this month a "doc fix" bill, most healthcare lobbyists and experts were predicting another three-month or six-month patch. Plans about the permanent "doc fix" have been kept tight within GOP leadership, aides said. Read more here. BURWELL TOUTS TIES WITH PRIVATE INSURERS Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell on Tuesday touted the government's strengthened ties to private insurers and again called for their help to improve ObamaCare. Burwell told a group of insurance company executives that their relationship has been one of her "top priorities." She added that she met with members of trade group America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) the same afternoon that she officially took over HHS last year. She called on private insurers to help make ObamaCare more affordable by giving customers more plans to pick from in 2015. "They want your products in more markets, with better deals and more features – and so do we," she said. She also urged insurance companies to be more open with customers about what is included in their coverage. Read more here. GOP TO WHITE HOUSE: STOP CELEBRATING Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is throwing cold water on the burst of good news for ObamaCare this week. Barrasso, the 4th ranking Senate Republican, mocked the Obama administration for holding an event at the White House this week to cheer new healthcare enrollment figures at a time when the law remains mostly unpopular nationally. "It's time for the White House to stop celebrating and start thinking about the people," Barrasso said on the Senate floor on Wednesday. "Is the Obama administration pleased that the president's healthcare law is so much less popular than the president and Democrats expected it to be?" he added. Barrasso is leading the Senate's working group to create an ObamaCare alternative. Read more here. Thursday's schedule Steve Beshear, the governor of Kentucky, which proponents point to as an ObamaCare success story, speaks to an America's Health Insurance Plans conference. State by state Affordable Care Act fuels Dallas insurance company's acquisitions Study: Universal healthcare could save New York $45 billion Montana legislature kills Medicaid expansion What we're reading Mental health coverage unequal in many ObamaCare plans Congress won't unite behind ObamaCare alternative until 2016 UK military healthcare worker tests positive for Ebola CVS says biotech drug copies may bring price cuts of 40-50 percent Investors see potential opportunity in marijuana reform bill What you might have missed from The Hill Feds: Public transit helps keep you healthy House GOP plans votes on budget, Medicare cuts in March Please send tips and comments to Sarah Ferris, sferris@thehill.com, and Peter Sullivan, psullivan@thehill.com. Follow on Twitter: @thehill, @sarahnferris, @PeterSullivan4