Monday, May 13, 2013

GOP Continues To Fight Obama's Health Reform Law

Fierce Healthcare has;
GOP Continues To Fight Obama's Health Reform Law
Refuses input on panel nominees; House plans vote to repeal

The fighting continues on Capitol Hill as Republicans refuse to offer input on a panel created to slow the growth of Medicare spending and prepare for a vote to repeal the 2010 healthcare reform law.

The Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), created by President Obama's healthcare law and set to be established in 2014, was designed to ensure bipartisan input. Once established, the IPAB would make targeted cuts in Medicare's payments to doctors and other providers if overall spending grows faster than a certain rate.

However, Congressional Republicans say they won't recommend anyone to serve on the panel, reported The Hill's Healthwatch. They maintain that reduced payments will result in providers refusing to see Medicare patients, which will lead to access problems, waiting lists and denied care for seniors.

"We believe Congress should repeal IPAB, just as we believe we ought to repeal the entire healthcare law … We hope establishing this board never becomes a reality, which is why full repeal of the Affordable Care Act remains our goal,"  wrote John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in a letter to Obama, Healthwatch reported.

Meanwhile, the House plans to vote again next week to repeal the 2010 healthcare reform law, according to The Washington Post.

House Majority Leader Eric L. Cantor (R-Va.) announced on Twitter Wednesday that he will schedule a House vote next week on the full repeal of the law. The vote will allow GOP freshmen lawmakers an opportunity to vote on the issue, according to the Post.

"It just keeps getting worse. I am scheduling a vote for next week on the full repeal of #Obamacare," he tweeted.
Next week's vote will be somewhere between the 33rd or 37th attempt to repeal all of part of the law since it was passed in 2010, according to the Post. The article notes the count is disputed because Republican House and Senate lawmakers have tried various legislative maneuvers--procedural moves and budgeting provisions--to undo the law.

To learn more:
- read about the panel refusal 
post
- read about the repeal 
vote

Related Articles:
Obama to tout access to mammagrams, cancer screenings under healthcare reform
Survey: More than 4 in 10 Americans don't know ACA remains in effect
Providers won't see IPAB-recommended till 2016
IPAB power increases in Obama's 2014 budget proposal
House moves to shut out Independent Payment Advisory Board
Is the IPAB unconstitutional?
Independent Payment Advisory Board: Too much power, groups say

Thank You Fierce Healthcare and Ms MacDonald.

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