The Independent Payment Advisory Board, the agency created by the Affordable Care Act, has the power to force payment cuts to service providers if costs rise beyond certain levels and Congress fails to substitute its own plan for savings. But the law explicitly forbids the board from rationing care, shifting costs to seniors, or cutting their benefits. The board would put the burden of providing cost-effective outcomes on service providers, such as drug companies and insurers.
In their hysterical cries against “rationing,” the IPAB naysayers conveniently neglect to note that the system we currently have includes rationing — rationing dictated by insurance companies and one’s ability to pay. Logically, the only people who should be opposed to IPAB are providers who reap the benefits of fee-for-service medicine, and the only people opposed to the individual mandate should be those who now are getting a free ride. Yet the GOP has convinced millions that this is somehow an assault on their freedom. In a way, I suppose it is. They are no longer free to get sick and stick the rest of us with the tab.
Robert Cuti
Battle Ground