I commend The Columbian for publishing the story on Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler’s (R-Camas) alleged false and misleading statements about the powers of the Independent Payment Advisory Board created by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) (“Herrera Beutler Medicare flier’s claims challenged,” April 20). The story effectively rebuts her claim that this board could ration Medicare and some of her other misconceptions mailed to her voters at taxpayer expense.
One of the false statements in Herrera Beutler’s mailing, not mentioned in The Columbian story, was that “Board members would specifically be allowed to ‘accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of services or property,’ making them susceptible to lobbyist influence.” The Act does not give this power to board “members,” but to the “Board” of 15 doctors, economists, researchers and technology experts whom Herrera Beutler calls “bureaucrats.” A majority vote of the “board” to accept appropriate donated computer services or office space is far different from a lobbyist enticing a single “member” with a golfing trip to Scotland.
Henry Curtis
Vancouver