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Cantor: Obama healthcare policies threaten rule of law
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) charged Tuesday that President Obama is autocratic and arbitrary when it comes to healthcare policy.
The complaint came as part of a longer report, "The Imperial Presidency," in which Cantor argued that Obama has an undemocratic tendency that threatens the rule of law.
"While administrations of both political parties have been known to test the bounds of the limits of their power, the breadth of the breakdown in the rule of law in recent years has reached new levels," Cantor wrote.
The report cited many aspects of the Affordable Care Act that have long troubled conservatives, including the birth control coverage mandate and the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).
"IPAB has the power to reduce what Medicare will pay doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers and their recommendations will have the force of law unless Congress enacts a law to stop them. ... This is an unprecedented power that has the potential to dramatically impact the availability (by limiting reimbursements) of care for the nation’s seniors," the report stated.
IPAB is tasked with cutting payments to Medicare providers if the program's per-capita spending becomes too great. The Affordable Care Act states that IPAB cannot "ration healthcare, raise revenues or Medicare beneficiary premiums … or otherwise restrict benefits."
Cantor's report also took up a cause from House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who claims the Obama administration launched an $8 billion Medicare demonstration project to distract voters from the healthcare law's cuts to Medicare Advantage plans.
The report said the demonstration intends to "delay the impact of the cuts to Medicare included in the president's healthcare law until after the election" and challenged the administration's authority to launch it.
Federal health officials have said the pilot program will improve Medicare Advantage.
Cantor assembled the report with help from GOP committee staff and released it two weeks ahead of the election. The report came on the same day Obama released a glossy repackaging of his own policy proposals.
