Republicans looking ahead with plans to dismantle health law

GOP activists, who increasingly consider both the Senate and White House to be within reach, are developing multi-pronged strategies to roll-back the health law beginning in 2013.

Los Angeles Times: Republicans Lay Groundwork For Health Care Repeal
Republican activists, increasingly optimistic they can win the White House and Senate next year, are beginning to lay the groundwork for a multi-pronged campaign in 2013 to roll back President Obama's sweeping health care overhaul. The push includes an effort to pressure Republican candidates to commit to using every available tool to fully repeal the law, a tactic pioneered by conservative activist Grover Norquist, who made an anti-tax pledge de rigeur for GOP politicians (Levey, 10/17).

The New York Times: A Tea Party Panel Supports Health Care Law's Repeal
A Tea Party commission trying to "crowd-source" a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit says it found broad support for repealing the health care legislation passed last year and eliminating entire federal departments, but much less enthusiasm for changes to Medicare and Social Security (Zernike, 10/17).

On the legal front -;

Politico Pro: States To SCOTUS: Ours Is The Best ACA Case
The 26 states that are suing to overturn the health care reform law told the Supreme Court on Monday that their challenge presents the best opportunity to decide whether the law is constitutional. "This unprecedented challenge -; involving over half the states in the nation -; is the ideal vehicle in which to consider" the constitutionality of the law, the states wrote to the court. The 26 states filed the brief in response to the Obama administration's petition asking the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision that struck the law's individual mandate. The court is considering six petitions in four separate, but similar, cases filed against the health care law. The court is likely to consider the issue this term, but has to decide which case or cases to accept (Haberkorn, 10/17).