Dems’ War on Medicare Continues

As House Committee Prepares to Repeal Democrats’ Plan to Gut Medicare, White House Won’t Budget

• A House committee today is expected to pass a bill that repeals one of the signature creations of the Democrats’ government healthcare takeover, but Democrats are throwing a fit. The Independent Payment Advisory Board was created by Democrats to find ways to gut Medicare to pay for the government healthcare takeover.
• Indeed, Democrats are insistent on giving IPAB even more authority to gut Medicare than it already has, with President Obama laying out plans to do so in his latest budget proposal.
• Even Democrats have said that IPAB’s ruthlessness will threaten seniors’ access to quality care, yet top Democrats still want to give power to this unelected, unaccountable board of Medicare-gutting bureaucrats.

A House committee today is expected to pass a bill that repeals one of the signature creations of the Democrats’ government healthcare takeover, but Democrats are throwing a fit. The Independent Payment Advisory Board was created by Democrats to find ways to gut Medicare to pay for the government healthcare takeover:

“WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS IPAB AHEAD OF REPEAL VOTE”: “The White House defended a controversial Medicare cost-cutting panel Wednesday, just as a House committee was set to pass a bill that would repeal the board.” (Sam Baker, “White House Defends IPAB Ahead of Repeal Vote,” The Hill, 2/29/2012)

PELOSI BRAGGED ABOUT HER CUTS TO MEDICARE TO PAY FOR GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER IN OCTOBER: “And we have proven that we’re willing to make cuts in the cost to initiatives. We took half a trillion dollars out of Medicare in the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare bill, already.” (Remarks from Nancy Pelosi, CNBC, 10/28/2011)

Indeed, Democrats are insistent on giving IPAB even more authority to gut Medicare than it already has, with President Obama laying out plans to do so in his latest budget proposal:

MEDICARE WILL “BE IN THE RED FOR MUCH OF THE NEXT DECADE” UNDER OBAMA’S NEW BUDGET: “One of Medicare’s trust funds also will be in the red for much of the next decade, according to the numbers in the briefing book that the White House provided to Congress along with the budget, which lays out Mr. Obama’s tax and spending plans for fiscal year 2013 and beyond.”(Stephen Dinan, “Social Security’s Reserves Forecast to Run Dry in 2022,” The Washington Times, 2/13/2012)

“OBAMA BUDGET WANTS MORE TEETH” FOR IPAB: (Phillip Klein, “Obama Budget Wants More Teeth for Medicare Board,” The Washington Examiner, 2/13/2012)

OBAMA BUDGET CLAIMS IT “STRENGTHENS THE INDEPENDENT PAYMENT ADVISORY BOARD”: “In addition, it strengthens the Independent Payment Advisory Board to reduce long-term drivers of Medicare cost growth.” (p. 112, “The Budget for Fiscal Year 2013: Department of Health and Human Services,” The White House, 2/13/2012)

IN SHORT, DEMS’ UNELECTABLE AND UNACCOUNTABLE BOARD OF BUREAUCRATS TO GET MORE POWER:

OBAMA’S MEDICARE PLAN: EMPOWER “15 SAGES” WITH “THE POWER OF THE PURSE”: “Fifteen members will serve on the Independent Payment Advisory Board, all appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. If per capita costs grow by more than GDP plus 0.5%, this board would get more power, including an automatic budget sequester to enforce its rulings.So 15 sages sitting in a room with the power of the purse will evidently find ways to control Medicare spending that no one has ever thought of before and that supposedly won’t harm seniors’ care, even as the largest cohort of the baby boom generation retires and starts to collect benefits.” (Editorial Board, “The Presidential Divider,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/14/2011)

WSJ: OBAMA MEDICARE PLAN IS MEDICARE “RATIONING”, WILL “THROW GRANNY OVER THE CLIFF”: “One place to start is by attacking the Democratic plan to cut Medicare via political rationing. Mr. Ryan’s budget had the virtue of embarrassing President Obama’s spend-more initial budget, and the White House responded by proposing to increase the power of the new Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) to decide what, and how much, Medicare will pay for. The ObamaCare bill goes to great lengths to shelter this 15-member, unelected board from Congressional review, with the goal of letting these bureaucrats throw granny over the cliff if Medicare isn’t reformed. Yet few Americans know anything about IPAB or its rationing intentions.” (Editorial, “The GOP’s New York Spanking,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/26/2011)

NOT A DOCTOR? DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT: “The appointment membership of the board shall include (but shall not be limited to) physicians and other health professionals, experts in the area of pharmaco-economics or prescription drug benefit programs, employers, third-party payers, individuals skilled in the conduct and interpretation of biomedical, health services, and health economics research and expertise in outcomes and effectiveness research and technology assessment. Such membership shall also include representatives of consumers and the elderly.” (p. 402, “Sec.3403. Independent [Medicare] Payment Advisory Board,” Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 5/3/2010) 

IPAB MEMBERS CAN SERVE UP TO TWELVE YEARS, OR TWO SIX YEAR TERMS, WITHOUT EVER FACING VOTERS: “Terms are for six years, and members may serve no more than two consecutive terms.” (Jack Ebeler, Tricia Neuman, and Juliette Cubanski, “The Independent Payment Advisory Board: A New Approach to Controlling Medicare Spending,” The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, April 2011)

Even Democrats have said that IPAB’s ruthlessness will threaten seniors’ access to quality care, yet top Democrats still want to give power to this unelected, unaccountable board of Medicare-gutting bureaucrats:

GOP BILL TO REPEAL IPAB HAS 16 DEMOCRAT CO-SPONSORS: (“Cosponsors,” H.R. 452, Clerk of the U.S. House, Accessed 2/29/2012)

REP. SCHWARTZ SAYS OBAMA’S MEDICARE BOARD WILL “CUT PAYMENTS” AND SHOULD BE REPEALED: “We all agree that Medicare costs must be contained and that the payment system is flawed and needs to be replaced.But simply cutting reimbursements is not the answer. IPAB brings unpredictability and uncertainty to providers and has the potential for stifling innovation and collaboration.” (Rep. Allyson Schwartz, “Opposing View: Repeal Medicare Board,” USA Today, 5/23/2011)

REP. PETER STARK (D-CA): IPAB IS A “MINDLESS-RATE CUTTING MACHINE THAT SETS THE PROGRAM UP FOR UNSUSTAINABLE CUTS”: “I oppose the inclusion the Independent Payment Advisory Commission, called IPAB.  Some of my colleagues support this Commission because it shields them from having to take tough votes when it comes to cutting Medicare provider payments. It’s my experience that Congress always does what is needed to protect and strengthen the Medicare program.  IPAB is a dangerous provision.   By statute, this Commission would be required to hold Medicare spending to an arbitrary and unrealistic growth rate.  It is a mindless-rate cutting machine that sets the program up for unsustainable cuts. That will endanger the health of America’s seniors and people with disabilities.  It is an unprecedented abrogation of  Congressional authority to an unelected, unaccountable body of so-called experts.  I intend to work tirelessly to mitigate the damage that will be caused by IPAB.” (“Statement of Congressman Pete Stark Supporting Health Care Reform,” Office of Rep. Pete Stark, 3/21/2011)

FORMER REP. RON KLINK (D-PA) SAYS IPAB “IS DEMOCRATS’ ACHILLES’ HEEL,” WILL “GUT MEDICARE”: (Ron Klink, “IPAB Is Democrats’ Achilles’ Heel,” The Hill, 6/15/2011)

LEFT-WING GROUP: “IPAB TURNS MEDICARE INTO A SCAPEGOAT”: “The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, a prominent supporter of the law, is now actively lobbying for its repeal, too. …

“For more than a year, the National Committee and other supporters of the reform law who didn’t like the IPAB were willing to put up with it for the greater good of the law. But in recent weeks, that support has waned.

“‘IPAB turns Medicare into a scapegoat,’ said Max Richtman, executive vice president and acting CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. ‘Medicare will be forced to make reductions without addressing the rest of the health care costs.’” (Jennifer Haberkorn, “Medicare Pay Board Is Losing Vital Support,” Politico, 6/8/2011)