By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    bowl of vegetable salad
    Raw Foods: benefits and harms
    November 9, 2021
    pros and cons of the keto diet
    Read This Before You Follow the Keto Diet
    May 18, 2022
    spinal cord injuries
    4 Potential Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries (and How to Seek Compensation)
    May 25, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    4 Reasons Why Medical Device Compliance Matters
    May 22, 2020
    What To Know About The Importance Of Healthcare Marketing
    November 23, 2019
    healthcare courses
    6 Supplemental Courses in Healthcare to Support Your HR Degree
    August 20, 2021
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Experts Blast Ryan’s Attack on IPAB
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > Experts Blast Ryan’s Attack on IPAB
Health Reform

Experts Blast Ryan’s Attack on IPAB

gooznews
Last updated: May 25, 2011 2:56 am
gooznews
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

In defending his controversial proposal to turn Medicare into premium support for buying private insurance, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Meet the Press last Sunday took a potshot at the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which is the key cost control component of President  Obama’s health care reform law.

In defending his controversial proposal to turn Medicare into premium support for buying private insurance, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Meet the Press last Sunday took a potshot at the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which is the key cost control component of President  Obama’s health care reform law.

Premium support would give seniors the power to choose the level of care in their plans, Ryan asserted. “The alternative to that is a rationing scheme with 15 bureaucrats the president is going to appoint next year on his panel to ration Medicare spending. We don’t think we should give the government the power to ration care to seniors.”

The House Budget Committee chairman didn’t explain why faceless bureaucrats working for insurance companies would be any different or better than their counterparts in government in choosing what should or should not be covered.  But a group of more than 100 academic and think tank health care experts  has rallied to the defense of the board,  which won’t swing into action until 2015.

More Read

Employer-Sponsored Insurance after Health Reform
Does Papa John’s Have a Legitimate Gripe About the Affordable Care Act?
Penalizing Readmissions May Not Improve Quality or Cut Costs
One Week Into the Heart of the ACA
Insurance Shopping Tools Online: Open Enrollment Nears

Their ranks include liberal economists like Brookings scholar Henry Aaron and Harvard’s David Cutler, who was one of the architect’s of the health care reform law. But they also include former Congressional Budget Office chief Alice Rivlin, who has her own version of a premium support plan, and Harvard’s Joseph Newhouse, who has been a big booster of private insurance plans over the years.

In a letter sent late last week to the House and Senate leaders of both political parties, the experts encouraged Congress “to keep, and indeed strengthen, IPAB’s role.” “To carry out its job effectively, Congress should mobilize the expertise of professionals who can assemble evidence on how payment incentives affect care delivery and suggest sensible improvements,” the letter stated.

Democrats on Capitol Hill have been suspiciously quiet about the IPAB, which is the backstop mechanism for enforcing cost control in the Affordable Care Act. The law’s payment reforms are designed to cut Medicare costs by  nearly $500 billion over the next decade and another $1 trillion in the decade beyond.

Republicans seized control of the House in last year’s election in party by categorizing those savings as unjustifiable “cuts.”  But whether savings or cuts,  they would stem from delivery system efficiencies that may or may not materialize under the health care reform law. That’s where the IPAB comes in. The new law calls for the presidentially-appointed panel – comprised of representatives from hospitals, physicians, patients, drug and device companies and other health care constituencies – to recommend program changes that will hold Medicare spending increases to  levels that are no greater than the pace of economic growth (GDP) plus one percent. In his April speech embracing many of his deficit commission’s goals, President Obama slightly raised the cost-saving goal.

Either way, the board’s proposals are only recommendations. They eventually go to Congress, which can either a) accept them; or b) vote them down and substitute its own proposals for bringing Medicare costs down to that level.

Ryan’s own proposal for cutting Medicare would limit the growth on government spending on vouchers to the consumer price index (CPI) plus one  percent. In virtually all years except the rare recession where prices continue to rise, the Ryan plan’s cost controls would be far more stringent than a GDP-based formula since health care costs without external controls have generally risen at twice the rate of GDP. That’s why CBO, in scoring the Ryan proposal, predicted seniors would wind up  having to pay for about 68 percent of their health care costs by 2033, up from about 20 percent today.

The letter from the experts gave their view on how the IPAB would work. Reform “sets up many demonstrations and pilot programs to learn how to structure payment to encourage more efficient delivery of quality care,” they wrote. “As Medicare undertakes payment demonstrations and pilots, we must aggressively analyze their impact, replicate successes, and bring demonstrably better payments methods into national policy.

“Giving a body of experts the capacity to propose ways to slow spending growth will not diminish the power of elected officials, because Congress may approve, disapprove, or replace the IPAB’s proposals with alternatives that achieve the same objectives,” the letter stated.  “Having the IPAB, however, will force debate on difficult choices that Congress has not thus far addressed.”

TAGGED:health care reformIPABPaul Ryan
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Do You Grind Your Teeth at Night? Here’s How Night Guards and TMJ Treatments Can Help
Do You Grind Your Teeth at Night? Here’s How Night Guards and TMJ Treatments Can Help
Dental health
May 21, 2025
The Secret To A Confident Smile: Top Tips For Better Teeth
The Secret To A Confident Smile: Top Tips For Better Teeth
Dental health
May 21, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025

You Might also Like

The Purple Health Plan

April 12, 2011

Driving Down the Real Cost of Healthcare: Pediatric and Teen Medical Homes

November 11, 2012
supreme court and the ACA
BusinessHealth ReformPolicy & Law

The Supreme Court and the Subsidy in the Bathwater

March 5, 2015

Innovating Medicaid with the Medical Home Model

July 29, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?