How to curb health care costs in the Medicare program? One solution, included in the federal health reform law, is the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a controversial federal panel established to make some of the tough decisions Congress has shied away from.
But even as Medicare is a hot topic in Washington’s budget-and-deficit talks, opposition to the IPAB is growing, especially among House Republicans. On Tuesday, the GOP majority convened a hearing on IBAP and called Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to testify.
She told lawmakers they can neutralize the IPAB by addressing medicare costs themselves, according to this report in the Hill. NPR also did a good story in advance of Tuesday’s hearing. Click here to listen.