In a letter to CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf, PhD, Rep. Roe asked the CBO to study the impact of IPAB’s future cuts if Congress enacts a “doc fix” by extending current Medicare payment rates, something it has done every year since 2003.
In the letter, Rep. Roe writes that the CBO’s current scoring “likely underestimates” the impact IPAB’s impact on physician payments since the scoring did not consider the extension of current payment rates.
The IPAB was created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and is tasked with reducing Medicare spending to certain levels, beginning in 2015.
The most recent extension of Medicare physician payment rates expires on Jan. 1, 2003. If the extension is not renewed, Medicare’s sustainable growth rate will go into effect, reducing physician payments by more than 27 percent.
More Articles on the IPAB:
House Approves IPAB Repeal
House Republicans Make Progress Toward Repeal of Medicare IPAB
Second House Committee Passes IPAB Repeal; CBO Says Repeal Would Cost $3.1B
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