President Barack Obama signaled in his State of the Union address that he may spend little time this year defending healthcare reform, even as Republicans vying for his job and in the House are making plans to undermine the law.

Obama's lack of attention to the issue also comes in the year when the U.S. Supreme Court will determine the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which many of the president's supporters view as one of his greatest achievements as president.

A year ago, House Republicans vowed to “repeal and replace” the law soon after they took control of the lower chamber. On Wednesday, the chairman of a House health subcommittee said a replacement package will come later this year after the U.S. Supreme Court reaches its decision on the 2010 law.

Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, last week laid out an agenda for 2012 that looks very much like 2011, when his panel held 25 hearings and approved 14 healthcare-related bills, of which seven passed in the House. Specifically, Pitts said the subcommittee will focus on legislation related to the Food and Drug Administration; oversight and repeal of the Affordable Care Act; and the sustainable growth-rate formula for physicians who participate in the Medicare program.

The House voted last year to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act, but the measure was rebuffed by the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Continued efforts to repeal provisions in the health reform law are under way as the House will vote this week to repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, and Pitts said there could be a vote to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board as early as this spring.

“Then we will be ready to respond to the Supreme Court decision, which is expected in June, with a replacement package,” Pitts told reporters. “We've already had our hearing on medical liability reform; we've had a hearing on across-state-lines competition,” he continued. “We need to have the ability to look at what other states provide and have competition to help drive down the costs.”

As Obama laid out what was viewed largely as his case for re-election, he addressed healthcare within the context of the national deficit, which was a hotly debated issue on Capitol Hill throughout 2011.

“As I told the speaker this summer, I am prepared to make more reforms that rein in the long-term costs of Medicare and Medicaid, and strengthen Social Security, so long as those programs remain a guarantee of security for seniors,” Obama said, though he did not offer further details.

Meanwhile, Obama took a shot at the nation's insurers, saying he will not “go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny you coverage, or charge women differently than men.”