WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 3, 2015) – Today, the Physician IPAB Repeal Coalition — 27 medical organizations, representing 450,000 physicians — applauded Reps. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) and Linda Sánchez (D- Calif.), and the more than 200 original cosponsors, for introducing the Protecting Seniors’ Access to Medicare Act. If enacted, this legislation would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a government board that has the power to implement steep cuts to Medicare.
Created by the Affordable Care Act, the IPAB is a board of 15 unelected and largely unaccountable individuals whose primary purpose is to cut Medicare — a mission that, under the guise of controlling costs, will deny patients timely access to care and will undercut efforts to implement long-term, structural improvements to the Medicare payment system. Moreover, the IPAB sets a dangerous precedent by allowing such drastic changes to be made while circumventing the regular legislative process.
In their letter supporting the legislation, the coalition pointed out that physicians fully support efforts to stabilize Medicare and make our healthcare system more affordable, but the IPAB is simply the wrong solution for addressing these challenges. Seniors who rely on Medicare are already dealing with the instability caused by the broken physician payment formula. The IPAB is merely another arbitrary system that will only exacerbate an already stressed system and it must be repealed.
The Physician IPAB Repeal Coalition looks forward to working with Reps. Roe and Sánchez to gain passage of the Protecting Seniors’ Access to Medicare Act this year.
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Members of the Physician IPAB Repeal Coalition include: Alliance of Specialty Medicine • American Academy of Dermatology Association • American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery • American Academy of Neurology • American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery • American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists • American Association of Neurological Surgeons • American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons • American College of Emergency Physicians • American College of Mohs Surgeons • American College of Radiology • American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists • American Gastroenterological Association • American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Association • American Society of Anesthesiologists • American Society of Breast Surgeons • American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery • American Society of Echocardiography • American Society of Nuclear Cardiology • American Society of Plastic Surgeons • American Urological Association • Cardiology Advocacy Alliance • Congress of Neurological Surgeons • Heart Rhythm Society • Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions • Society for Vascular Surgery • Society of Gynecologic Oncology
About the AANSFounded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with more than 8,600 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. Fellows of the AANS are board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, or the Mexican Council of Neurological Surgery, A.C. Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the spinal column, spinal cord, brain, nervous system and peripheral nerves. For more information, please visit www.aans.org.
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