We Need to Protect Access to Quality Healthcare in Medicare

Nearly 800 organizations representing patients, employers, veterans, minority groups, and every sector of American healthcare are urging Congress to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).

IPAB is a board of political appointees poised to assume unprecedented executive power when Medicare spending will inevitably exceed an arbitrary, formula-based target. Once the CMS Actuary determines IPAB will be triggered, IPAB’s 15 members, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate (or the Secretary of Health and Human Services, if a board has not been appointed), would be required to submit proposals to Congress that make sufficient cuts to Medicare to meet the arbitrary savings target. IPAB’s cuts would take effect unless Congress approves an alternative plan to meet the arbitrary savings target.

The answer to this problem is simple: Congress needs to act immediately to repeal IPAB and keep healthcare decision-making between patients and their physicians.  Groups representing tens of millions of Americans are insisting this needs to happen and that access to Medicare for seniors and persons with disabilities must be protected.

To see the organizations that sent a letter to Congress urging IPAB repeal, click here.