The Hill Publishes Fazio and Thompson Op-Ed Calling for the Elimination of the Independent Payment Advisory Board

June 29, 2017

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The Hill has published the op-ed “The little known threat that could change Medicare this August,” written by Akin Gump senior advisor Vic Fazio and adjunct senior advisor Tommy Thompson.

Fazio and Thompson address, what they say, is a potential threat to Medicare—the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Created in 2010 under the Affordable Care Act, the IPAB is charged “with making cuts to Medicare if the program’s spending hits a certain arbitrary level.” That level, they say, could be reached “in a matter of weeks…launching a process that will affect care for 55 million seniors and Americans with disabilities.”

The article notes that legislation that has been introduced to eliminate the IPAB, though it must be passed by August 15. The IPAB, Fazio and Thompson argue, “with its indiscriminate approach to budget-cutting,” would reduce access to healthcare improvements. They call on Congress to “do what’s right for tens of millions of Medicare beneficiaries and the sustainability of the program” and bring an end to the IPAB “before it can do real harm.”

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