House Republicans run the risk of overreach when it comes to attacking Obamacare. House GOP's Obamacare playbook

The House Republican leadership is coordinating an aggressive push to keep Obamacare’s problems front and center both on Capitol Hill and around the country.

The House GOP effort includes investigations by at least eight committees, subpoenas for testimony from key administration officials and an initiative by Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, to hold hearings around the country to highlight Americans’ problems with the law.


Top committees — like Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce — are leading the charge, but relatively small panels like the Small Business Committee are also in on the action.

House Republicans are doing their best to keep this issue in the forefront, without stepping on one another’s toes.

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The meticulous nature with which House Republicans are proceeding is a recognition of the reality that they need to avoid looking like they’re overreaching, as they have been wont to do in the past.

In that vein, the House GOP leadership has been hosting brainstorming sessions so committees can trade information and help keep the problems on the front burner.

That effort started in earnest last week, when 39 House Democrats joined with most Republicans to pass a bill last week to allow Americans to keep their canceled health care plans.

More hits are coming. Several pieces of legislation highlighting Obamacare troubles are emerging, although the House GOP leadership believes there may not be enough time left on the House calendar to take up any of them on the floor this year. After lawmakers return from Thanksgiving break, the House will have just two weeks left — which will most likely be consumed with conference committees for the farm bill, the budget and the water infrastructure bill. Legislation is sure to come up next year. Right now, Issa said he is working hard to ensure his Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act remains in the defense authorization bill.

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But Issa is doing more than that — his committee is barnstorming the country.

Beginning with an event in Gastonia, N.C., on Friday, the House oversight committee is seeking to highlight regular Americans’ problems with the law. Issa and his panel will later head to Georgia, Arizona and Dallas. Each location seeks to highlight different problems with Obamacare: for example, sticker shock and people getting dropped from their insurance plans.

Issa’s hearings will stretch into mid-December.

Subpoenas are flying, too. Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) has issued a pair of subpoenas to get enrollment data and health care contracts from the administration — a rare move from the powerful panel, as Democrats have pointed out. Camp and fellow Ways and Means Republicans demanded more information on Wednesday, with a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking for details on income verification issues in the Obamacare exchanges.

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“I don’t think we have to do anything but what we’re supposed to do: represent the people who sent us here and try to keep the federal government from messing with their lives,” said Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). “If you do that, there’s going to be a lot of things to talk about.”

Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) said Republicans are “just kind of waiting and seeing what’s happening to Obamacare before you get out in front of it.”

“You don’t know where it’s going,” he said in an interview.

Most of the hearings are public, but some gatherings are private. For example, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner testified to a closed-door meeting of the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday to follow up on unanswered questions. Republicans and Democrats were present.

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Even the House Science, Space and Technology Committee — best-known for hosting a series of hearings on potential asteroid collisions with Earth — has gotten involved. They have heard testimony from experts this week on whether data submitted through HealthCare.gov is safe.

After the hearing, the panel’s chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, called on President Barack Obama to take down HealthCare.gov.

House Republicans always run the risk of overreach. They’ve voted more than 40 times to repeal or defang the law — some efforts have been successful. The key, according to Republicans, is to make sure committees stay on topic and don’t overstate their case. Out of these hearings, House Republicans will seek some legislative solutions.

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There are bills sprouting up that could be politically difficult for Democrats. Cassidy introduced legislation this week that would allow insurers to keep selling existing health care plans in the group market. It partners with the Upton bill.

House Republicans predict other flaws will emerge as the rollout of the health care law continues, and they’ll be able to respond in kind — and subsequently keep Obamacare in the headlines.

For instance, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), a physician who sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee, said in an interview that he is concerned that a portion of Obamacare that affects payments to health care providers would not be functioning properly — pointing to that as another section of the law that needs to be investigated.

“That scares a regular doctor to death when you think about your cash flow being tied up,” Burgess said.