A top House Republican on Wednesday said GOP lawmakers will put forward an alternative to the health care reform law after the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the law.
?We will be ready to respond to the Supreme Court decision, which is expected in June, with a replacement package,? House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee chairman Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) told a small group of reporters in the Capitol on Wednesday.
Continue ReadingPitts said he personally anticipates that the court could strike the mandate but is unlikely to strike the entire law. He said House leadership is looking to the timing of a likely court decision to make its case against the Democrats? signature health reform law.
?We?ll have a window of opportunity to ? with everyone looking ? to explain that the Affordable Care Act is not fully implemented yet. A lot of people think it is,? Pitts said. ?So we?ll use that opportunity in that window to discuss the full ramifications of the Affordable Care Act and what we?ll replace it with.?
Pitts pointed to several health policy ideas that Republicans have routinely supported that are likely to be in the plan, such as giving the tax break for health insurance to the employee instead of the employer, medical liability reform, creating high-risk medical ?pools? and allowing insurers to sell their products across state lines.
?There are others we will be discussing and will have ready in response to the Supreme Court decision,? Pitts said. ?We think that a free-market alternative is much better as far as making health insurance affordable and available to everyone.?
The timing, Pitts said, is ?a decision above my pay grade. We anticipate the leadership acting on the replacement package after the decision.?
Any plan would have to be crafted in response to how the court handles the law, Pitts said, as the court could leave the whole law in place, get rid of the whole thing, strike the mandate alone or strike other pieces with the mandate. It could also say that a federal tax law prevents it from ruling on the mandate?s constitutionality until after 2015.
The court is planning to hold oral arguments on the health law in March. If the court rules on the mandate, it is likely to do so before the end of its term in June.
Democrats have routinely criticized Republicans for holding numerous votes to repeal the health law without presenting a complete alternative.
This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 2:29 p.m. on January 25, 2012.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated Joe Pitts's title. He is the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee.
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