Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Now that Republicans know they’ll control the House starting in January, they’ve begun outlining plans for battling key provisions of President Obama’s healthcare reform bill. Since they are still a minority in the Senate, making a full-scale repeal of the bill implausible, Republicans have opted to focus on funding aspects of the bill.

One way to restrict funding would be limiting resources available to the Internal Revenue Service so it could not afford resources needed to assure people obtain health insurance. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the IRS would need $5 billion to $10 billion over 10 years to determine individuals’ eligibility for tax credits and subsidies.

Another strategy GOP leaders have proposed is using spending bills to obstruct legislation they don’t like. This could wind up preventing access to government subsidies to healthcare plans that cover abortion services, for example.

Top Republicans, including House Whip Eric Cantor (VA) and Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (KY) have said they are willing to repeal the law piece-by-piece if necessary, the New York Times reported in Monday’s editions.