NRSC: Baldwin Doubles Down On ObamaCare – Votes Against Legislation Abolishing IPAB

WASHINGTON, March 22 -- The National Republican Senatorial Committee issued the following news release:

Liberal U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin today voted against a bill to eliminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) created by ObamaCare.

President Barack Obama's intrusive healthcare bill which is now the law of the land, forces every Wisconsinite to purchase health insurance, but also includes a provision that gives 15 unelected bureaucrats the power to decide which healthcare decisions are best for the people of Wisconsin - IPAB.

In fact, the American Hospital Association, along with over 70 medical groups warned Baldwin and her fellow Democrats that the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) could limit seniors' access to Medicare and even the infrastructure for the entire healthcare system.

Additionally, it's been reported that the IPAB's true end game is to arbitrarily control the price of healthcare and decide what type of medical treatments patients in Wisconsin can receive.

As the Wall Street Journal reports:

Public opposition to the Affordable Care Act has grown in surprising and unpredictable ways since the entitlement passed two years ago, but few would have predicted then that so many Democrats would repudiate so many of President Obama's core promises. Yet that is happening now, as Congress targets the 15-member central committee that is supposed to control health costs. ... This turn is remarkable because the IPAB really does embody ObamaCare's innermost values and beliefs--to wit, that health decisions are too important to leave to the people receiving the care (patients), the people providing the care (doctors and hospitals), the people paying for the care (taxpayers), or even the people who got the government involved in the first place (politicians). (Editorial, Independent Payment Advisory Revolt, Wall Street Journal, 03/09/12)

The House of Representatives today in a bipartisan manner voted to strip the IPAB of their power, but liberal Democrat Tammy Baldwin made her position clear by voting against the repeal.

"Tammy Baldwin sent a loud and clear message today to the people of Wisconsin - she voted for ObamaCare and she's sticking by it," said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Lance Trover. "While Baldwin made her position clear today, the people of Wisconsin will make their position clear in November when they reject her and ObamaCare."

BACKGROUND ...

OBAMACARE ALLOWS FOR UNELECTED BUREAUCRATS TO CONTROL HEALTH CARE

ObamaCare Created The Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) "To Come Up With Ways To Cut Medicare Spending If It Grows Too Fast." "That's the job description for the 15 members of the Independent Payment Advisory Board - the new panel created by President Barack Obama's health care law to come up with ways to cut Medicare spending if it grows too fast." (David Nather, "Medicare Cost-Cutting Job Could Be Worst in D.C.," Politico, 5/14/11)

* "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" To Cut Medicare Costs. "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)

The Wall Street Journal : IPAB Embraces The Thought That Health Care Decisions Are Best Made By Bureaucrats Rather Than Patients. "This turn is remarkable because the IPAB really does embody ObamaCare's innermost values and beliefs-to wit, that health decisions are too important to leave to the people receiving the care (patients), the people providing the care (doctors and hospitals), the people paying for the care (taxpayers), or even the people who got the government involved in the first place (politicians)." (Editorial, "Independent Payment Advisory Revolt," The Wall Street Journal , 3/9/12)

IPAB Threatens Patient Care

Obama's HHS Secretary Admits That IPAB Threatens Seniors' Access To Certain Procedures. "'If Congress accepted the recommendations and made the decision that cuts in dialysis were appropriate,' Sebelius replied, 'I assume there could be some providers who would decide that would not be a service they would any longer deliver...'" (Kathleen Sebelius, "IPAB: The Controversial Consequences For Medicare And Seniors," House Energy And Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee, 7/13/11)

Witnesses At A Recent Congressional Hearing Argued That IPAB Would Reduce Access To Medical Care. "The Independent Payment Advisory Board, created under the health care law to help control Medicare costs, lacks flexibility to do much more than cut provider payments that would lead to a reduction in access to care, witnesses told a House Ways and Means panel March 6." (Ralph Lindeman, "IPAB Would Reduce Access to Care, Witnesses Tell Ways and Means Panel," Bloomberg, 3/7/12)

The Wall Street Journal : IPAB's "End Game" Will Limit Patient Care." "The only alternative, and the IPAB's true end game, is harsher and more arbitrary price controls and eventually limits on the care patients are allowed to receive. The New England Journalists (of Medicine) deny this reality because ObamaCare has a clause that prohibits 'rationing,' even as the law leaves that term undefined. But reducing treatment options will be inevitable as government costs explode." (Editorial, "Independent Payment Advisory Revolt," The Wall Street Journal , 3/9/12)

* The Wall Street Journal : IPAB Will Allow Bureaucrats To "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 , 5/26/11)

Industry Groups Worry That IPAB's Actions Will Result In "Rationing." "While the board is not supposed to be able to cut benefits, industry groups fear that its actions would result in rationing care. The board could cut payments to health care providers." (Duff Wilson, "Industry Aims At Medicare Board," The New York Times' " Prescription," 11/4/10)

Paul Howard And Douglas Holtz-Eakin: IPAB Is "Fatally Flawed," Spurns Innovation, And Will "Threaten Seniors' Access To Care." "IPAB is fatally flawed, structured to punish innovative health care providers and threaten seniors' access to care while leaving the largest sources of Medicare spending untouched. It continues Washington's obsession with price-fixing in Medicare's separate 'silos' rather than changing the incentives that have led to rampant overspending, fraud and uneven care quality." (Paul Howard & Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Op-Ed, "Repeal And Replace IPAB," Politico, 7/12/11)

IPAB BUREAUCRATS WILL HAVE NO ACCOUNTABILITY

Membership To The IPAB Is Not Limited To Health Care Professionals. "The Act requires the appointed membership of the IPAB to include individuals who enjoy 'national recognition' in several stated aspects of health policy, including health finance and economics, and further stipulates occupations which should be represented on the Board including physicians and 'experts in pharmaco-economics.' The Act specifies that the appointed IPAB members have broad geographic representation and that the Board be balanced between urban and rural representatives. In order to preclude conflicts of interest, the Act stipulates that a majority of the appointed members of the IPAB are not be persons 'directly involved' in the provision or management of the delivery of items and services covered by Medicare." (Congressional Research Service, Memo To Senator Coburn, 3/18/11)

ObamaCare Gives Obama The Power To Appoint Members To IPAB During Recess. "Because the President's recess appointment authority is unqualified, it appears that he could fill member positions on the IPAB by recess appointment during any period when he could otherwise make such appointments. Under certain circumstances, such appointments might be subject to pay restrictions, but the analysis of such a possibility is beyond the scope of this memorandum." (Congressional Research Service, Memo To Senator Coburn, 3/18/11)

The American Medical Association Opposes IPAB On The Ground That The Board Has Little "Accountability." "The AMA has consistently expressed its opposition to the IPAB on several grounds. The IPAB puts important health care payment and policy decisions in the hands of an independent body that has far too little accountability." (James L. Madara, American Medical Association CEO, Letter To Representatives Joe Pitts, 2/27/12)

TNS MJ88-120322-3815456 StaffFurigay