Despite House Vote, IPAB Lives
Margaret Dick Tocknell, for HealthLeaders Media, March 23, 2012
There's a chance that IPAB won't kick into gear for a while. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2011 that, based on Medicare spending trends, it could be a decade before any IPAB action is needed.
What happens next?
Republicans in the House effectively framed the IPAB debate as their effort to defend seniors from a rationing board. They may have a good campaign issue to appeal to Medicare beneficiaries. Although the Senate is unlikely to take any IPAB action, the issue will be top of mind for senior voters.
Still, the Department of Health and Human Services has proven itself adept at implementing the ACA despite its critics. Look for HHS to continue to press for IPAB.
Margaret Dick Tocknell is a reporter/editor with HealthLeaders Media.
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Tyco Branh (3/23/2012 at 12:10 PM)
IPAB is one of the strongest ways we can try to bring down costs and increase quality. Without the pressure of special interest groups, these members can look at the science and decide objectively. Of course groups like doctors and pharma companies, afraid of how the decisions will hurt the bottom line, hate this idea.