Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Obamacare, Units and Neurosurgical Intervention
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Old 11-27-2011, 10:32 PM
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This is what the neurosurgeon was referring to - the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).

by Doug Schoen, in Huffington Post
Quote:

.....For conservatives, Independents and a growing number of Democrats, the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) that was created with the passage of last year's health care law represents the worst of health care reform. IPAB would allow an unelected board to singularly enact spending cuts in the Medicare program through binding recommendations to reduce Medicare spending.

Last weekend, Reps. Tim Bishop of New York and Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas were the latest Democrats to join the increasing bipartisan effort that opposes IPAB as they signed on as co-sponsors of Rep. Phil Roe's bill to repeal it. Quite simply, IPAB has so many opponents because it embodies centralized planning from Washington, D.C., and enables unelected bureaucrats to make decisions about people's health care. The contrast couldn't be more clear: a new government body (IPAB) charged with taking resources away from the beloved Medicare program.

Further, IPAB is a threat to critical medical treatments and services for all Medicare beneficiaries. Proponents of the board have argued that IPAB will improve the quality of care as a result of the cost-cutting measures it enacts in order to save. However, it is doubtful this will happen because the board will have to make cuts that reach annual targets. Thus, standard line item cuts will result, which will only reinforce systemic problems, not fix them, and create unsustainable savings.

Major changes in the Medicare program should be decided by elected officials who will be held accountable for their decisions. Such an arbitrary system lacks transparency and oversight, and according to the Congressional Budget Office, IPAB will save no money over the next decade because Medicare spending won't hit the threshold level to activate its powers.

Health care reform gets far greater savings from ideas that no one objects to, like developing new approaches to delivering health care services and creating policies that support medical innovation. The president can help health reform's sustainability by tossing the unnecessary baggage and leaving the primary engine intact.

When the health care bill was still working its way through Congress, more than 70 Congressional Democrats sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi asking that IPAB be excluded from the final legislation. Today, many Congressional Democrats share doubts and concerns held among conservations and Independents regarding IPAB, but they are reluctant to move against the preferences of President Obama.....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-s..._b_909213.html