With no clear direction yet from the "208 commission" studying health care, Republican lawmakers announced their own ground game for health-care reform today at a news conference miles from the Capitol--at a walk-in, retail health clinic. The GOP lawmakers said their agenda highlights the need to give health care recipients and providers greater control over decisions about treatment rather than ceding authority to a growing web of government programs.

The Republicans made their plan public at a SmartCare Family Medical Center--a new-generation retail health clinic offering services including flu shots--in a Wal-Mart discount store to demonstrate the ways in which the private sector can provide affordable health care. The GOP said the quality, flexibility and efficiency of private-sector health care makes it the obvious choice over more government-imposed mandates--including for those of modest means.  

"It's clear that our health care system has some significant gaps that need to be bridged, and the public has made it obvious they want that problem addressed," said the GOP's Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield, who is carrying one of the bills in the GOP health plan.

"But let's be honest," Mitchell said. "Our health care is still the best in the world.  We don't need to tear down the whole system. We need to make it accessible and affordable to more people."