[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 48 (Thursday, March 22, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PROTECTING ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE ACT

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                               speech of

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              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. TOWNS. Mr. Chair. I rise today to express my objections to the 
inclusion of H.R. 5, the HEALTH Act into H.R. 452, Medicare Decisions 
Accountability Act of 2011. Medical malpractice tort reform does not 
belong as a part of the repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory 
Board, or IPAB.
  The HEALTH Act is an inherently flawed bill that should not be 
considered by the House and should not be included with H.R. 452. It 
does not fix the problem of medical malpractice or the supposed 
insurance ``crisis''. Instead, it takes control away from the states, 
where it belongs. This legislation was originally conceived over 20 
years ago and has yet to pass both houses. There is a reason for that.
  The cap imposed by H.R. 5 is both unjust and unfair. It does not take 
into account the severity of a patient's injury or whether negligence 
is at issue.
  The real problem we are facing is patient safety. If we fix that, 
then there will be no need to try and take away from the states their 
right to legislate this issue. In a Wall Street Journal article, it was 
found that by focusing on patient safety, anesthesiologists went from 
being one of the most risky specialties to insure to having one of the 
lowest malpractice insurance premiums. In fact, their premiums are 
lower now than they were 20 years ago. We should not focus on medical 
malpractice tort reform, but rather education and training for medical 
professionals.
  I am a strong proponent of repealing the IPAB, but cannot in good 
conscience vote for this bill because it is not a clean repeal.
  The IPAB takes away from Congress the ability to determine Medicare 
payments to doctors and hospitals. It consists of 15 members who are 
unelected by the People, but rather are appointed by the President. The 
members of the IPAB are not accountable to anyone once appointed and 
therefore Congress loses much of the power it has to shape Medicare 
payment policies. By repealing the IPAB, the ACA will be strengthened, 
not weakened.
  If this bill was as it was passed in both the Energy & Commerce and 
Ways & Means committees, there would be no controversy from many of my 
colleagues on the Democratic side. While I supported a clean repeal of 
IPAB in Energy & Commerce, I cannot support a bill that will have such 
a profoundly negative impact on the 74,000 Medicare eligible 
constituents in my district. I advise my colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle to vote ``no'' on this bill as currently written.

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