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With Republicans in control of Congress and a fresh challenge to President Obama's health care law before the Supreme Court, the GOP is under renewed pressure to present a legislative alternative to Obamacare if the court rules against the law. "We're meeting together on a regular basis," said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., a physician and member of the Senate leadership who is part of a group of GOP lawmakers working on an alternative. "What we've been saying is Republicans are going to protect the people hurt by the law, but not protect the law." ... [But] Joseph Antos, a health care expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said building GOP consensus on health care will be difficult. (Davis, 3/4)

The outcome of the Supreme Court arguments about the new health-care law could turn on how to interpret a single hotly contested phrase in the massive bill. But the case has already highlighted this truism: Congress can sometimes be sloppy. (Kane, 4/3)

Some in Congress are weighing whether to tweak a seven-month old law allowing veterans facing delays in getting medical care to go outside the Department of Veterans Affairs system, or to pressure the VA to interpret the statute differently. The law, prompted by instances in which local VA officials lied about wait times, allows veterans to get treatment outside the VA if they can’t get an appointment within 30 days or if the patient's home is more than 40 miles from the closest VA facility. Several lawmakers at a Wednesday joint hearing of the House and Senate committees overseeing veterans’ affairs expressed concerns about the agency’s implementation of the law. (Adams, 3/3)