WASHINGTON — After dozens of attempts to overturn the new health care law, House Republicans today took a different tack, promoting legislation that would come to the rescue of a prominent program in the new law at the expense of another vital element of the law.

The House bill, named the “Helping Sick Americans Now Act,” would prop up a faltering program that helps people with pre-existing conditions get insurance, doing so by taking money away from the 2010 law’s main prevention fund.

The legislation is likely to be ignored by the Democratic-led Senate and was met by a veto threat from the White House, but it does give Republicans a platform to talk about an aspect of the Affordable Care Act, or “ObamaCare,” that has not gone as well as hoped.

The Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan was a stopgap measure intended to help people who have trouble getting private insurance because of a medical condition. This would assist people who have been uninsured for at least six months to get coverage at average rates. The program is slated to disappear in 2014 when the consumer protections under the Affordable Care Act take full effect.