GOP views repeal vote as only the first part of its health strategy

The Washington Post: GOP Has 2-Prong Strategy To Repeal Health Care Bill
With the House preparing to vote this week on whether to repeal the health care law, the chamber's new Republican majority already confronts a far more delicate task: forging its own path to expand health coverage and curb medical costs. The House's GOP leaders have made clear that they regard the repeal vote, scheduled to begin Tuesday, as the prelude to a two-prong strategy that is likely to last throughout the year, or longer. They intend to dismember the sprawling law, pushed through Congress by Democrats last year, by individual pieces before major aspects of it go into effect. At the same time, Republicans say, they will construct their own plans to revise the health care system, tailored along more conservative lines (Goldstein, 1/15).

The Hill: Healthcare Repeal Effort Will Bring Abortion Debate To The Forefront
An intense debate on federal funding for abortions is expected to begin shortly as Congress resumes debate on repealing the healthcare law. The House is scheduled to vote on a repeal bill next week, after a one-week hiatus following last weekend's shooting in Tucson that left six people dead and gravely injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have since called for the political rhetoric to be toned down, but a looming showdown over abortion may make that especially difficult (Pecquet, 1/15).

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.