GOP: Repeal health care quickly, replace slowly

WASHINGTON -- Congressional Republicans intend to seek quick repeal of any parts of the health care law that survive a widely anticipated Supreme Court ruling, but don't plan to push replacement measures until after the fall elections, or perhaps 2013.

Instead, GOP lawmakers cite recent announcements that some insurance companies will retain a few of the law's higher-profile provisions as evidence that quick legislative action is not essential. Those are steps that officials say Republicans quietly urged in private conversations with the industry.

Once the Supreme Court issues a ruling, "the goal is to repeal anything that is left standing," said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of the party's leadership. Beyond that, "we ought to go step by step to lower the cost" of health care, he added, a formula repeated by many other Republicans interviewed in recent days.

Across the political aisle, neither President Barack Obama nor congressional Democrats have said how they will react to a high court ruling that could wipe out the legislation they worked so hard to enact.

"We're not spending . . . time planning for contingencies," Obama said earlier this year. He expressed confidence the court would uphold the law, and neither he nor his aides have said what fallback plans are under discussion. "We will be prepared," White House aide David Plouffe said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" without elaborating.

Among Republicans, aides to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other key lawmakers have convened a series of meetings in recent weeks to plan a post-ruling strategy.

House Republicans have voted 30 times to eliminate, defund or scale back parts or all of the health law, most recently approving a measure to wipe out a tax on medical devices.

With the party united around repeal of the existing law, Republicans said they want to avoid an internal squabble over the details of any replacement legislation, at least until after the elections this fall.