WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - House Republicans say they are preparing legislation that would replace President Barack Obama's much maligned health care law.

U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pennsylvania, said this week that his party would be ready with its own bill after the U.S. Supreme Court makes a decision on the law.

Whether the Court strikes down the law's individual mandate or the law in its entirety, Republicans will present their own plan, he said.

"We'll have a window of opportunity with everyone looking to explain that the (Patient Protection and) Affordable Care Act is not fully implemented yet... We'll use that opportunity and that window to discuss the full ramifications of the Affordable Care Act," Pitts said, according to The Hill.

A total of 14 states, later joined by 12 others, filed a challenge to the law in 2010. The 26 states contend that its mandate requiring that all Americans purchase health insurance or face a $695 penalty every year is unconstitutional.

The states filed a petition in September to have their challenge heard immediately by the nation's highest court.

The Court, which agreed in November to hear the case, will hear oral arguments on the four issues involved in the challenge to the law over three days in March. It is expected to make a ruling in June.

Pitts said at that point the GOP would propose what he described as "state-based pools."

He explained that the government, instead of private insurers, would handle the cost of the sickest patients.

The GOP bill also would include limits on medical malpractice lawsuits, he said.

From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.