Orshe

Yesterday the Senate effectively rejected a spending bill that included a 19-month fix for Medicare payments.

Here is the original: Medicare Doc Fix Update: 19-Month Relief Flops in Senate

Student loans appear to be a health overhaul headache: the reconciliation bill is going back to the House for a vote, thanks to Senate Republicans who found two provisions in the document — including one related to student loans — that violate its rules and can’t be included in the final bill.

This post by WSJ’s Naftali Bendavid also appears on the Washington Wire blog.

We’re not doing anything wrong. And besides, the Republicans did it more.

That was much of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s message today as he struck back at critics of the legislative tactics Democrats are using to push through their health overhaul bill. Dismissing the criticism as an inside-the-Beltway fixation, Hoyer said the American public cares about what’s in a bill, not the process by which it passes.

It’s another Monday and another week of to-ing and fro-ing on the health-care bill in Washington. But this week is different because there could actually be votes on the legislation.

The overhaul swirl of late has been focused largely on medical costs, insurance regulation, coverage mandates and the like. One pivotal issue has gotten less attention: abortion.

The clock is running out before a 21% cut in Medicare payments to doctors kicks in. Plans to block the reductions have gotten hung up in Congress.

The morning papers are full of speculation about what the Democrats will do with their health-care bill if Scott Brown, a Republican, wins the senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. Massachusetts is holding a special election for the seat today; if Brown defeats Martha Coakley, a Democrat, the Dems will lose their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

Some health-care news out of Washington this afternoon:

More fees may be coming for drug and device makers, the WSJ reports. Dems may add $10 billion in fees for device makers over 10 years, on top of the roughly $20 billion already included in the House and Senate bills. The final health-care bill may also cut reimbursements or increase fees on drug makers by an additional $10 billion over 10 years, beyond the $80 billion the industry agreed to last year.

Regulators don’t seem to like it much when big drug companies pay generics shops in deals that determine when branded drugs will face generic competition.

Today, for example, the head of the FTC and a few lawmakers will call on Congress to crack down on the deals as part of the pending health-care legislation. (The House health-care bill does this; the Senate bill doesn’t.)

If, like a kid after summer vacation, you’ve forgotten everything you learned before the holiday break, allow us to suggest a quick re-entry to the health-care debate.