Rep. Issa Tussles With Treasury Dept. Over Health Law Subpeona
Treasury officials rejected the subpoena threat from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Politico: Treasury Rejects Issa Subpoena Threat On Health Care
[The Treasury Department] is citing executive branch "confidentiality interests" in its refusal to turn over documents on an IRS rule allowing subsidies in federal health insurance exchanges. "Obamacare" opponents argue that the law only allows subsidies to flow through state-run health exchanges — the new marketplaces for health insurance that are supposed to begin in 2014 — and that the IRS rule oversteps legal bounds. Under the law, the Department of Health and Human Services is supposed to set up federal exchanges in states that don't build their own (Millman, 10/26).
Meanwhile, advocates for medical research funding offer new report lamenting the impact of the scheduled funding cuts known as the "sequester" -
The Hill: Advocates Lament Shrinking Funds For Medical Research
Declining federal investment in medical research weakens U.S. global competitiveness, a coalition of advocacy groups charged Thursday. In a new report, Research!America found that federal spending on medical research and development declined by 14 percent, or more than $6 billion, between fiscal years 2010 and 2011. Automatic spending cuts set to hit in January would further decrease the National Institutes of Health's budget by $2.53 billion. Advocates for U.S. research investment have criticized the automatic cuts, known as the "sequester," for months (Viebeck, 10/26).
