On the recordMarch 21, 2012
I thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman, this is Washington, so we have to have an acronym for everything up here. The IPAB isn't a new techie device but is an example of one of the many misguided parts of the budget-busting health care reform law. What is this debate really about? We all know that Medicare is headed toward financial catastrophe, and the health reform law only succeeded in putting the program in a more precarious position. There is no easy solution to this problem, but Republicans have put forward a plan that would actually set the program on a healthy fiscal path again, without hurting those who are already on the program. Of course, because this is Washington, rather than having a hearty debate, this proposal continues to be demagogued and derided. Instead, the health reform bill gave us IPAB, an unaccountable board tasked with limiting procedures and treatments in order to control costs. It's a top-down, unconstitutional, ineffective, and inefficient way to solve Medicare's fiscal problems. And if you think that this board won't make recommendations to limit the use of expensive but life-sustaining treatments, you haven't been paying attention. But here's something that gets lost in this debate: IPAB doesn't just apply to Medicare benefits for seniors who are on a government program. First off, those of us who have been here for a while know that private insurers tend to follow Medicare. We see it all the time.…
