Doctors praise bill to repeal Medicare cost-cutting board

The American Medical Association praised the reintroduction Wednesday of a bill to repeal the controversial Medicare payments board in President Obama's healthcare law.

Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) reintroduced his bill to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) — a panel of 15 healthcare experts with the power to cut Medicare payments to doctors if spending grows faster than a prescribed rate.

The AMA and other healthcare providers strongly oppose the IPAB, which would essentially have the power to make Medicare cuts now reserved for Congress — and thus subject to intense lobbying by groups trying to avoid a cut to their payments.

"IPAB is a panel that would have too little accountability and the power to make indiscriminate cuts that adversely affect access to healthcare for patients," AMA President Jeremy Lazarus said in a statement.

Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) is again cosponsoring Roe's bill, as she did in the last Congress.

Republicans — including Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) — have called for IPAB repeal to be on the table in debt and deficit negotiations, but because the IPAB reduces costs, repealing it would add to the deficit.

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