The House GOP has fallen short of what it promised on health care. Still no GOP plan to 'replace'

Even as they cheer their “Obamacare” repeal vote, here’s a reality check: House Republicans have done next to nothing they promised they would when it comes to health care.

Sure, they’ve voted to kill parts of President Barack Obama’s law more than 30 times, slashing funding, using the votes as red meat to rally the base — even squeezing some into law.


But they’ve fallen short of what they promised the American people they would do when it comes to actual health care policy.

Flash back to the campaign promises of 2010: GOP leadership told voters they would “enact medical liability reform,” allow Americans to buy health insurance across state lines, expand health savings accounts, “ensure access for patients with pre-existing conditions” and “permanently prohibit taxpayer funding of abortion.”

( Also on POLITICO: Voters shift on health care constitutionality)

Eighteen months after taking the majority, they’ve passed only two of those: an abortion bill and liability legislation.

Republican leaders have passed a resolution asking committees to draft a replacement for the Obama health care law, but don’t look for any thick, comprehensive proposals; they don’t exist.

Also, when Republicans passed their repeal of the health care law Wednesday, they did it using a restrictive floor process that limits debate and minority party amendments, which they had said they would avoid.

Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), who snatched his seat from a Democrat in 2010 who voted for the law, says he’s ready to pass health care bills. There’s only one thing stopping him.

“I’d love to do them,” he said. “I’m not in leadership. I’d love to dig into this stuff.”

The retort from Republicans is simple: They don’t have to replace the health care law. The Democratic Senate won’t take any of their ideas anyway. And politically, they can bank on public distaste from the Supreme Court ruling, anger at stubbornly high unemployment rates and what Republicans frame as the bill’s adverse impact on small businesses.

That’s not what they were saying in 2010. Then, they wrote that Obama’s plan expanded “the size and scope of government with more debt, higher taxes and burdensome mandates.”

“Americans are calling for reforms that lower costs for families and small businesses; increase access to affordable, high-quality care; and strengthen the doctor-patient relationship,” they wrote. “We have a plan to do just that.”

They didn’t say they would repeal it, wait until they have a Republican Senate and White House and then replace it.

Some lawmakers have offered bills that, if passed, would make good on the Republican pledge. Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, for instance, introduced legislation that allows for the sale of insurance across state lines. And Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia has a comprehensive health overhaul bill.

Both are in holding patterns.

Asked if he thought Republican leaders could move the bills before the end of the year, Broun sounded a pessimistic note.

“I doubt it, because Barack Obama is going to obstruct any effort Republicans have made for political purposes,” he said.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), said the House Republicans’ “focus has been on repealing this law, because it is making it harder for small businesses to create jobs. Once that is accomplished, we can begin working to enact common-sense, step-by-step reforms like the ones outlined in the Pledge to America.”

The Pledge to America didn’t lay out such a sequence.

The strategy may leave the more conservative wing of the Republican Party wanting more.

Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann are circulating a letter that calls for stiffer action from party leaders, including a commitment to choke off funding to agencies like the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services, which administer the law.

“We also urge you to take legislative steps necessary to immediately rescind all ObamaCare-implementation funds,” the letter states.

Many Republicans who campaigned hard against the health care bill are now hedging their bets, believing the repeal vote will resonate with voters while they take a slower path toward any of their own health care reforms.

“I think everybody knows what our position is,” Indiana Rep. Larry Bucshon said, ticking off a list that includes medical malpractice reform, the expansion of health savings accounts and transparency in health costs. “These are policies that we believe in, and when the president’s health care bill is repealed, we’re ready to offer all of those as replacements.”

The short-term chances for significant legislating on health care are nil at this point. This week, Democrats and Republicans joined hands to overwhelmingly pass a bill that rolled back requirements for banks to disclose their fees on ATMs. Next week, the House will be focused on defense appropriations and the automatic cuts known as the sequester. The following week, they’ll be concentrated on regulations, and after that, they’ll extend tax rates for all Americans. They have nothing related to health care on their immediate agenda. They also have to deal with extending a massive farm bill.

Even so, Blackburn said she believes some of the GOP replacement bills could make their way to the floor before the November elections.

Blackburn said GOP leaders intentionally want to slow-walk legislation, working it first through the committee process, adding policy in markups and then ultimately moving bills piecemeal to the floor.

“We’re going to push our bills through the standard process,” she said, disagreeing that the abbreviated legislative calendar could gum up the process. “I think we’re going to have plenty of time in September to take up some of these measures.”

Serious legislating two months before a presidential and congressional election almost never happens.

There are other pressing concerns to deal with now. Still lingering is an extension of the farm bill, which the Agriculture Committee marked up Wednesday.

Many Republicans say the hardened focus on repeal is all they need right now to show constituents where they are on “Obamacare.”

Freshman Rep. Bobby Schilling of Illinois beat a Democrat who voted for the bill in 2010 and has a tough race in a newly drawn Democratic district in 2012. He said the hatred for Obama’s health care law will help deliver him another term in Congress. He makes no apologies about not passing a replacement.

Asked why Republicans haven’t put forth their plan for replacing the law, he said, “You’ve got to have somebody willing to come to the table to negotiate with you.” He blamed the “D.C. insider media” for not focusing on the bipartisan work he’s doing in his district. He also blamed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

“The facts are this: When Nancy Pelosi controlled the floor, our folks weren’t able to bring their plans,” Schilling said when asked where the Republican plan is.