The IPAB is a panel of 15 legislators created under a provision of the ACA and tasked with restraining Medicare’s cost growth. Theoretically, IPAB can recommend cost-cutting measures that immediately take effect unless Congress can propose an alternative but equal cost-cutting action.
The IPAB provision becomes effective when the growth per capita in Medicare spending exceeds its annual target — which has not yet happened, but could happen this year. The 2016 Medicare Trustees Report projected spending growth to outpace target growth by around 0.2 percent in 2017.
“The Independent Payment Advisory Board represents a very real and looming threat to the healthcare of tens of millions of Americans,” Mary Grealy, president and CEO of the Healthcare Leadership Council, said in a press release. “The threshold for triggering these Medicare cuts could be hit any day now, so Congress must repeal IPAB before it is too late.”
The list of organizations calling for the IPAB’s repeal is diverse, and includes the American Academy of Neurology, American College of Cardiology, American Medical Association, Caregiver Action Network and the Lupus Foundation of America, among others.
Becker’s Hospital Review previously reported on the coalition when it reached 650 participating organizations May 19.
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