House Begins Floor Debate on Repealing a Medicare Payment Board-cqhealthbeat.com:
An IPAB repeal measure is combined with limits on malpractice awards, while a House panel queries the CMS insurance regulator.
The House is set to begin consideration today of a bill that would eliminate a major fiscal control element of the health care overhaul law — the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). The board’s unusual provider payment adjustment process, established by the health overhaul law, offers more than advisory suggestions. The board’s payment determinations and any congressional alterations are afforded protected legislative procedures that effectively limit lawmaker interference. The extreme legislative limitations for action on the board’s recommendations have earned some bipartisan ire amongst lawmakers. The House Rules Committee on Tuesday packaged the IPAB repeal measure (previously HR 452) with a separate bill (HR 5) limiting malpractice awards. The malpractice limitation bill, a longstanding objective of many Republicans, offers a fiscal offset that counters the higher health spending without the payment adjustment board. Adding the malpractice bill, which is widely opposed by Democrats, effectively cancels that group’s support for eliminating the IPAB.
