Republicans and Democrats alike are anxiously awaiting the Supreme Court's judgment regarding the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law, which is expected by June 25.

Democrats appear to be girding themselves for a loss by accusing Republicans of lacking an actionable plan for fixing America's health care system if ObamaCare is invalidated.

Journalists have bought the line. One described the GOP as "vulnerable to charges the party has no credible reform plan of its own," while another claimed that candidate Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans "still have nothing positive to say on health care."

But the facts do not support these claims.

In recent months, the GOP has coalesced around several specific ideas that, if enacted, would lead to affordable, accessible, quality care for all Americans.

Both Republicans and Democrats acknowledge that scrapping ObamaCare won't solve the nation's health care woes. Even if the law were repealed, health care spending would be on track to consume one-fifth of the U.S. economy, or $4.6 trillion, by 2020.

Today, by contrast, health care accounts for 17.9% of U.S. GDP, or $2.6 trillion.

Government is responsible for half of American health care spending. More than 20% of the federal budget goes toward public health care programs — and that share is rising.

With or without ObamaCare, public insurance programs are headed toward insolvency.

Medicare's main trust fund is set to go bankrupt by 2024, according to a report from the program's trustees. And the Congressional Budget Office just reported that the program will cost more than $1 trillion in 2022 absent changes.

If Congress overrides cuts in payments to doctors scheduled for 2013 — as it has every year for about a decade — then Medicare will go bankrupt even sooner.

The private health care market is no better off. Employer health costs are projected to rise nearly 10% this year. CBO estimates that 20 million people could lose employer-based coverage under ObamaCare.

And the House Ways and Means Committee recently estimated that America's hundred largest companies could save $422 billion between 2014 and 2023 by dropping their workers' health coverage and foisting them on the law's state-based insurance exchanges, which are scheduled to be operational by 2014.

Unless the cost curve is truly "bent down," health care will bankrupt public coffers, private businesses and average citizens alike.

Republicans know that. Indeed, Romney said in March that "abolishing ObamaCare will only be half the battle. Just as important is the question of what to put in its place." Fortunately, that question has several easy answers.

First, the feds must expand the availability of high-deductible plans coupled with health savings accounts (HSA), where patients can save pre-tax dollars for health services.

This one-two punch empowers patients to spend their health care dollars as they see fit—and permits them, not the government, to determine the treatment they'll seek.

Expanding HSAs beyond the 11.4 million people who already use them would force health care providers to compete for patients' business and thereby rein in costs.

Federal lawmakers must also grant individuals the ability their employers enjoy to purchase health benefits tax free.

The current system is a legacy of World War II, when government-imposed wage controls caused employers to compete for workers by offering untaxed health benefits.

By eliminating this discrepancy, the government would give individuals control over their health insurance. People could buy policies that suited their needs — not their employers'.

Finally, policymakers must shore up the finances of public health care programs. Just as in the private market, patient control of health care dollars represents the best way to do so.

Medicare recipients should be able to choose among many federally-subsidized private insurance choices. Subsidies should depend on beneficiaries' age and income — preserving the most generous benefits for the neediest.

A similar approach would work for Medicaid — with the feds empowering individual states with block grants to administer their Medicaid programs as they see fit.

The Medicaid population in each state is different, so states should have the flexibility to determine their own eligibility requirements, benefit levels, and means of delivering care.

Block grants would also discourage states from expanding Medicaid willy-nilly, as some do now, with the federal government matching state spending on the program.

A GOP plan to replace ObamaCare must empower individual patients and doctors, create real incentives for cost savings, and inject competition into the health care marketplace.

That's the only way to provide affordable, accessible, quality health care for all Americans.

Source: http://news.investors.com/article/612500/201205231730/gop-has-alternatives-ready-if-obamacare-is-repealed.htm