[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 20, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              REPEAL IPAB

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, we now have reached a landmark, 2 years 
since the passage of ObamaCare. More and more, the American people have 
been hearing about something called IPAB, the Independent Payment 
Advisory Board--the centerpiece to ObamaCare and its inevitable 
rationing of health care.
  This is a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable and not necessarily 
health care-experienced individuals who will have more power than even 
Congress, itself, when it comes to deciding what care every American 
will receive. The board members will not be under congressional 
oversight and will not answer the phone when you call to complain. 
Americans agree by 57 percent to 38 percent margins ObamaCare and IPAB 
should be fully repealed.
  So far, Democrats have been unwilling to listen to the outcry from 
the American people. They will have yet another chance to respond to 
``we the people's'' unhappiness with ObamaCare by voting with 
Republicans this week to repeal IPAB. And, hopefully, they will be 
willing to vote to repeal ObamaCare, itself, in its entirety when it is 
brought up for a vote sometime in the future.

                              {time}  1730
                                  IPAB

  (Mr. ROE of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow we begin debate on a bill 
that would eliminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board, one of the 
most toxic components of President Obama's Affordable Care Act. This 
denial-of-care board is comprised of 15 unelected, unaccountable 
bureaucrats that will be empowered to cut Medicare in order to meet 
arbitrary spending targets.
  Not only will this result in seniors being denied access to medical 
care they need, it will also put the government in the middle of the 
patient-doctor relationship.
  Spending cuts proposed by the IPAB will automatically go into effect 
unless Congress finds alternative cuts of the same amount. And because 
implementation of the board's recommendations is exempted from judicial 
review, citizens can't even turn to the courts for help.
  As a physician with over 30 years in practice, I can tell you that 
the President's proposal, which he has repeatedly defended, is 
wrongheaded and dangerous.
  We must act to save Medicare from bankruptcy, which will come as soon 
as 2016, but IPAB is not and must not be the answer.

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