Frontrunner for no. 2 GOP House post seen as health policy 'blank slate'

A CQ Healthbeat look at Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California finds a light footprint when it comes to health care matters. Meanwhile, physician and health care groups seek an extension of a health law provision that boosts Medicaid payments to primary care doctors.

CQ Healthbeat: Frontrunner For No. 2 House GOP Post Seen As 'Blank Slate' On Health Policy
For a former aide to one of the most influential congressional Republicans involved in health policy in recent decades, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the frontrunner to succeed Rep. Eric Cantor as House majority leader, hasn't left big footprints in the field. "He's pretty much a blank slate for healthcareville," said one longtime GOP health lobbyist of McCarthy, who worked for ex-Rep. Bill Thomas when he ran the House Ways and Means Committee and in 2006 succeeded his boss representing California's 23rd congressional district, encompassing most of Bakersfield and parts of Tulare and Los Angeles counties (Reichard, 6/16). 

In other Capitol Hill news -

Modern Healthcare: Primary Care Docs Resist End To Medicaid Pay Boost
A mix of 21 physician associations and healthcare organizations signed on to a letter to congressional leaders seeking an extension of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's two-year provision equalizing Medicaid and Medicare payments for primary-care services (Robeznieks, 6/16).