Republicans Proposing Vote on Obamacare Alternative

Republicans have vowed to be ready with a replacement for Obamacare if the Supreme Court pokes a hole in the signature law later this summer, and will vote in the House Tuesday to both repeal the law and to give themselves a mandate to find the replacement.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy tasked a working group of three committee chairmen — Reps. Paul Ryan of Ways and Means, Fred Upton of Energy and Commerce and John Kline of Education and Workforce — to look at a patchwork of GOP proposals and replace Obamacare with “patient-centered” reforms.

Although Republicans haven’t laid out a singular plan, their discussions have focused on scrapping insurance mandates and putting in place provisions that promote individual responsibility for health costs, such as the use of tax-advantaged health savings accounts.

The House group and a parallel group led by Republican Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee are hoping the Supreme Court, in a decision due by June, strikes down Obamacare’s subsidies in 34 states that rely on the federal exchange, giving GOP reforms an opening.

“We want to make sure the American people know we’re going to be there to help people who are being harmed by the law,” Mr. Barrasso said in a phone interview.

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