House unlikely to seek health law defunding in bill to fund government; 'Doc fix' bill on the agenda

Meanwhile, another item on the congressional agenda is dealing with a scheduled Medicare pay cut for doctors.

Medscape:  1-Year Medicare 'Doc Fix' Looks To Avoid 'Fiscal Cliff'
A bill introduced by Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX), gives Congress a quick-and-dirty option for averting a 27% cut in Medicare pay for physicians in January by - in lawmaker parlance - kicking the can down the road for another year.  Of the 3 bills floated so far this year to deal with the Medicare reimbursement crisis, the legislation from Dr. Burgess appears to be the most passable. His so-called "doc fix," introduced July 18, would freeze Medicare rates at their current level through 2013, thereby postponing the cut until January 1, 2014 (Lowes, 7/24).

Some lawmakers are raising questions about Americans' privacy, including in regard to their health records.

Boston Globe: Data Brokers Stir Privacy Concerns From Congress
Concerned about the growing reach of data brokers into the day-to-day lives of Americans, members of Congress, including Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts, are demanding answers from ... some of the country's biggest collectors of personal data as part of a fact-finding process that could lead to regulating the lucrative industry. … In letters to nine ... data brokers, the bipartisan group of eight elected officials noted the rising concerns over how the data is being amassed - from age, race, marital status and education level to political leanings, buying habits, and health conditions of an individual (Calvan, 7/24).