[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 48 (Thursday, March 22, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E416-E417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PROTECTING ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOSEPH CROWLEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 21, 2012

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5) to 
     improve patient access to health care services and provide 
     improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the 
     liability system places on the health care delivery system:

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chair, today, the House is considering legislation 
that would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB. To 
be clear, I am not a big fan of IPAB--I had concerns with this new 
entity when it was first being discussed, and I remain concerned with 
it today.
  I do find it interesting, however, that my colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle are suddenly so troubled about IPAB's effect on 
Medicare, when their plan to end Medicare is so much worse.
  I fear that today's floor action is less about a real concern for 
seniors, hospitals and physicians in the Medicare program, and more 
about trying to win a battle in the war against health insurance 
reform.
  They have shown with their words and their actions, even down to 
their choice of offsets, that this yet another political exercise.
  But that is a game that I refuse to play. Our seniors deserve real 
answers and real solutions, not yet another repeal-but-not-replace 
attempt.
  So even though I don't think that IPAB is the best answer to 
strengthening Medicare, I can't in good conscience vote for this bill, 
at

[[Page E417]]

this time, with this kind of clear and blatant political agenda at the 
core of this debate.
  What we need is a real, substantive discussion about solutions to 
keep Medicare costs, and medical malpractice costs as well, under 
control for the long term. But with today's floor action, these needed 
discussions are too likely to get lost in a sea of shouting.
  And that's not what we need right now.
  If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to work with us 
to address the concerns that many of us have with IPAB, to make 
changes, then I'm willing to meet them halfway.
  But if they want to blame the Affordable Care Act for everything 
wrong in the world, even when it has controlled costs so well that IPAB 
won't even come into play for years to come, and even when it has given 
millions of American families control back over their health care, I 
can't join them in these political attacks.
  So I have to oppose passage of this bill today.

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