After several failed attempts by lawmakers, a bipartisan group of House members have issued a new bill to attempt to kill the federal health law's Independent Payment Advisory Board, arguing the panel gives unelected bureaucrats too much control over healthcare spending.
Rep. Phil Roe, MD, (R-TN) introduced H.R. 351, called the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act, which Democrats and Republications both cosponsored.
In March 2012, the House voted 223-181 in favor of a similar bill that would have stopped implementation of the IPAB, a 15-member appointed board that would make binding decisions about Medicare spending starting in 2015, but similar legislation did not pass the Senate. The original House bill had 230 cosponsors from both parties, and the current one has only 83.
The American Medical Association supported the new bill.
"IPAB is a panel that would have too little accountability and the power to make indiscriminate cuts that adversely affect access to healthcare for patients," AMA President Jeremy Lazarus, MD, said in a statement. "We must move away from these broken systems and focus on new payment and delivery models that give physicians the ability to improve patient care and reduce costs to stabilize Medicare for seniors now and in the future."
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Rep. Phil Roe, MD, (R-TN) introduced H.R. 351, called the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act, which Democrats and Republications both cosponsored.
In March 2012, the House voted 223-181 in favor of a similar bill that would have stopped implementation of the IPAB, a 15-member appointed board that would make binding decisions about Medicare spending starting in 2015, but similar legislation did not pass the Senate. The original House bill had 230 cosponsors from both parties, and the current one has only 83.
The American Medical Association supported the new bill.
"IPAB is a panel that would have too little accountability and the power to make indiscriminate cuts that adversely affect access to healthcare for patients," AMA President Jeremy Lazarus, MD, said in a statement. "We must move away from these broken systems and focus on new payment and delivery models that give physicians the ability to improve patient care and reduce costs to stabilize Medicare for seniors now and in the future."
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