Roe Reintroduces Bipartisan Bills to Protect Seniors, Repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.) released the following statement after introducing two resolutions to repeal Obamacare's Independent Payment Advisory Board:

"One of the most troubling parts of Obamacare is the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). If this Obamacare provision is triggered, this unelected, unaccountable board could have a widespread control over Medicare spending, potentially affecting seniors' access to care without any accountability to Congress or the administration. While we certainly need to take steps to preserve Medicare for future generations, I have grave concerns the IPAB could drastically cut Medicare benefits with little to no Congressional oversight. There is bipartisan agreement in Congress that the IPAB is a gross overreach of power, and I am glad to introduce the House version of these bipartisan, bicameral measures to protect seniors' access to Medicare while we work to repeal Obamacare as a whole."

Background: The IPAB is a board of fifteen unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats created by Obamacare to reduce Medicare spending. The IPAB, once triggered, makes recommendations regarding cuts to Medicare without any Congressional oversight or input. IPAB proposals are considered using "fast track" procedures and, absent a three-fifths vote in the Senate, only allows Congress to modify the type of cuts to Medicare, not the amount. If Congress fails to act on the board's recommendations, they automatically go into effect. The IPAB is exempt from any judicial or administrative review.

The two bills introduced would repeal the IPAB. The first, H.J. Res. 51, would allow the Senate to utilize a "fast track" parliamentary mechanism to repeal the IPAB. The second, H.R. 849, is the same bill Rep. Roe has introduced in previous Congresses to repeal the board. Both bills have bipartisan, bicameral support.

Read this original document at: http://roe.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398119