On the recordMarch 21, 2012
I thank the chairman for yielding. I rise today in support of the Protecting Access to Healthcare Act. This bill will take an important step forward in dismantling the government takeover of health care that was passed by this body some 2 years ago. The PATH Act essentially would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board included in ObamaCare, and I strongly support it. Now, quite frankly, the IPAB that is the acronym that's been used often on the floor in this debate is probably something that most Americans are unfamiliar with. But they deserve to know that buried in section 3403 of ObamaCare, there's a powerful board of unelected bureaucrats, this so-called Independent Payment Advisory Board, whose sole job will be to save money by restricting access to health care for Medicare beneficiaries. That's the purpose of IPAB. IPAB is required to achieve specific savings in years where Medicare spending is deemed to be too high. It will lead, inexorably, to rationing. It will take medical decisions out of the hands of doctors and patients, and it will reduce patient choice, unambiguously. Furthermore, ObamaCare doesn't even require that IPAB do all of this in the public domain. There's no requirement that IPAB hold public meetings or hearings, consider public input on its proposal, or make its deliberations open to the public.…
