Political Quotes

“Today I rise in strong support of my bill, the bipartisan Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2017. I was proud to introduce this commonsense, bipartisan bill with my friend on the other side of the aisle, Congressman Dr. Phil Roe. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Roe and his staff for their many years of hard work and advocacy on this issue. I am pleased that our offices were able to work closely on this bill, building a strong, bipartisan working relationship. H.R. 849 eliminates the well-intentioned but misguided Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, that was created under the Affordable Care Act. Everyone can agree that we need to address the high cost of healthcare and strengthen the solvency of Medicare. However, the IPAB approach is misguided, because it establishes an appointed and unelected panel that would have the authority to make cuts to Medicare, with no accountability to seniors. Our constituents must be able to hold elected officials accountable for decisions made regarding changes to Medicare regardless of who is in power. What is more, if the board failed to act, the Health and Human Services Secretary, whether Democrat or Republican, would be able to singlehandedly make cuts to Medicare. Fortunately, the targeted Medicare growth rate to trigger IPAB has never been reached and the board has not yet been appointed. However, we must act now to ensure that it never happens.…”