Health Subcommittee Hearing on the Independent Payment Advisory Board
Committee on Ways and Means
“Chairman Herger, thank you for holding this hearing. I’m proud of my work to help write the Affordable Care Act. It has already provided more than 2.5 million young adults health insurance coverage, reduced prescription drug costs for nearly 4 million senior citizens and people with disabilities, and provided free preventive services to 86 million people of all ages. Come 2014, it will go fully into effect and will expand coverage to over 30 million uninsured Americans and provide security for those who have already have coverage.
“That said, the Affordable Care Act is a large bill with many provisions. No one likely agrees with every single one of them. To that point, the Independent Payment Advisory Board, better known as IPAB, is a provision I strongly oppose. Remember, the House included no similar provision in our health reform bill.
“I oppose IPAB. But, let me be clear that I oppose IPAB for reasons entirely different from my Republican colleagues, and I wholeheartedly reject their hyperbolic rhetoric. Congress has always stepped in to strengthen Medicare’s finances when needed. I have always worked on this Subcommittee to protect and strengthen Medicare and ensure it works best for its 50 million beneficiaries.
“One only has to look at the ACA -- which extended solvency, slowed spending growth, lowered beneficiary costs, improved benefits, modernized our delivery system, and created new fraud-fighting tools -- to see we’ve done a damn good job. I see no reason why Congress would or should hand that authority over to the executive branch. To do so undermines the separation of powers. I also have concerns about IPAB’s processes, which I won’t go into in detail now, as I’m sure we will hear similar thoughts from several of our witnesses.
“Again, no one should interpret my position on IPAB as a knock against the Affordable Care Act. I stand by my vote for the ACA, and am proud of it.
“Nor should anyone interpret Republican support to repeal IPAB as sincere interest in preserving Medicare. They want to end Medicare as we know it, hand seniors an underfunded voucher, and slash and burn funding available for health coverage for seniors and individuals with disabilities.
“Despite my opposition to IPAB, it is far less dangerous to Medicare than the Republican voucher plan. IPAB doesn’t undermine Medicare’s guaranteed benefits and IPAB’s ability to reduce Medicare spending has guardrails. It doesn’t permit cuts to come from reducing Medicare benefits or from increasing costs on beneficiaries, it prohibits rationing, and it has annual limits on Medicare cuts. The Republican voucher plan has none of these protections.
“I believe the witnesses on our panel share my skepticism about IPAB, but I look forward to discussing with them if that means they believe the Republicans have a better plan for Medicare’s future. I think we’ll find that most of them don’t."
