Health law politics cause sparks to fly among GOP presidential hopefuls

In the background, Republicans on Capitol Hill are renewing their criticisms of the health law's Independent Payment Advisory Board as a "rationing" panel. Also reverberating — how candidates are handling the GOP anti-abortion pledge, and findings from a new poll suggest Americans are leery of the Medicare plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

USA Today: News Analysis: Comparing Obama And Romney Health Laws
When the federal health care overhaul now demonized by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and others was being crafted in 2009, Democrats found a role model: the Massachusetts health care overhaul signed in 2006 by then-governor Mitt Romney. … Today, Romney is in the awkward position of taking credit for that Bay State law, which has extended coverage to 98 percent of the population, while denouncing Obama's version as overreaching and unaffordable. The White House and Romney's Republican opponents argue that the two laws are near-mirror images. Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty went so far as to coin a term: "Obamneycare" (Wolf, 6/23).

Los Angeles Times: Seeking Breakthrough, Tim Pawlenty Is First Republican To Launch Iowa TV Ad
Making a move to regain momentum and boost his standing in the leadoff nominating state, Tim Pawlenty is launching the first television ad campaign by a presidential candidate in Iowa, his campaign announced Wednesday. … "In a liberal state, I reduced spending in real terms for the first time, took on the government unions and won, appointed a conservative Supreme Court, and passed health care reform the right way - no mandates, no takeovers," Pawlenty says. "If I can do it in Minnesota, we can do it in Washington." The health care point, in particular, is another shot at front-runner Mitt Romney. But it's one again fired on the air, like his criticism of "Obamneycare" made during a Sunday show appearance (Memoli, 6/22).

Politico: Phil Gingrey: IPAB Will Cause Seniors To Die
The much-maligned independent Medicare board created by the Democrats' health reform law will cause seniors to die — and might actually be worse than "pushing grandmother over the cliff," the co-chairman of the GOP House Doctors Caucus charged Wednesday afternoon (Millman, 6/22).

The Hill: GOP Refocuses Health Care Attacks On Charges Of 'Rationing'
After arguing for weeks that Democrats don't have a plan for Medicare, some congressional Republicans are switching gears and making the case that President Obama does have a plan — a horrifying plan that will deny seniors the care they need. The new focus in Republicans' attacks is the Independent Payments Advisory Board, or IPAB — a panel created under health care reform explicitly to make Medicare cuts (Baker, 6/22).

NPR: GOP Hopefuls Divided Over Anti-Abortion Pledge
For the first time in memory, every Republican candidate running for president in 2012 proclaims him or herself to be anti-abortion. But just how anti-abortion are they? (Rovner, 6/23).

Bloomberg: Ryan Medicare Plan Would Make Americans Worse By 57%-34%, Poll Shows
Representative Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman who has become a star in the Republican Party with his plan to overhaul Medicare, is emerging as a polarizing figure among Americans. Twenty-six percent of people view the Wisconsin lawmaker unfavorably while 23 percent see him favorably, according to a Bloomberg National Poll conducted June 17-20. The only public figures in the survey with higher net unfavorable ratings than Ryan, who six months ago was known chiefly to his southeast Wisconsin constituents and health-policy experts, were former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin (Pryzbyla, 6/23).