CCAGW Supports “Death Panel” Repeal

Source: Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

Washington, D.C. - October 7, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) President Tom Schatz released the following statement regarding the respective mark-ups tomorrow of H.R. 849, the Protecting Senior’s Access to Medicare Act of 2017, by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and House Ways and Means Committee:

“I am pleased to see the House is moving to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), often referred to as the ‘Death Panel.’ IPAB is an outrageous and dangerous provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare. The board, composed of 15 unelected bureaucrats appointed by the President, would have unprecedented power to cut payments to Medicare providers and would be beholden to no one, including Congress.”

“IPAB is tasked with reducing the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending, but is prevented from raising premiums, increasing cost sharing, or restricting benefits for beneficiaries. What it can do is cut payments to doctors, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and other providers. Reduced payment rates will encourage providers to treat fewer Medicare beneficiaries. Even though the ACA specifically states the board cannot ration care, that is a distinction without a difference; if a physician must reduce the number of Medicare patients he or she treats because of reduced rates, seniors by default will have their care rationed. IPAB also has the power to consider the private sector’s effects on healthcare costs and the authority to write regulations that modify both government and private healthcare. Its decisions are not subject to judicial review and legislative oversight.”

“Repealing IPAB is one of the few healthcare-related matters that has bipartisan support. H.R. 849 has 221 Republican and 43 Democratic co-sponsors. Members of both parties understand the alarming power IPAB was given under ACA and must be eliminated for good.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.