[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3733]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {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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