What Board Sets Medicare Rates

TIPTON: Patients, not politics

The message of seniors in the Third District is clear: Any health care or budget solution should strengthen Medicare and secure it for future generations. I ensured that this was incorporated in the Republican Budget, which we passed in the House earlier this year. The Republican Budget keeps Medicare as it is for those 55 and older, while strengthening and sustaining the program for our children and grandchildren. The president's plan raided $500 billion from Medicare to fund his health care mandate at the expense of seniors. Not only did the president's plan fail to increase affordability, it restricts access to health care by empowering a board of 15 arbitrarily appointed bureaucrats to unilaterally decide when and how to cut Medicare funding. Under the law, the president's appointees to the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) are guaranteed a six figure salary and terms longer than the president and members of Congress. This set-up ensures that those in charge of running what is essentially the president's “Medicare IRS” never personally feel the pain of the cuts they make. There is no oversight from the courts, no appeals process, and no accountability for the 15 people in control of life-and-death decisions for hundreds of millions of Americans. They have the unilateral authority to decide what cuts should be made to Medicare, even to the extent of revising laws passed by Congress, without Congressional approval. I'm concerned that IPAB will restrict patients' access to their doctors, and even make decisions that will limit access to important treatments and care. To add insult to injury, there is no requirement that the members of IPAB have medical backgrounds — placing decisions currently made between patients and their doctors in the hands of people with no health care experience.

GOP Presidential Hopefuls: Where They Stand On Health Care ...

Washington, DC, United States (KaiserHealth) - The declared candidates for the Republican presidential nomination have already been campaigning in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. They've held several debates and competed in the Iowa straw poll. But they're still developing their platform positions and honing their stump speeches.

KHN has assembled this chart to show where five of the candidates currently stand on major health care issues. The candidates are Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former Utah Gov. John Huntsman, Rep. Ron Paul and Gov. Rick Perry, both from Texas and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney. We will be adding issues - and candidates - in the days ahead.

We have sorted the positions by issue. To compare the beliefs and statements, you can scroll down the page or jump to from these links:

Medicare & Aging

Michele Bachmann

Voted for the Ryan budget plan, but later qualified her support, saying she thought it could hurt senior citizens.

Supports reducing future Medicare benefits for people who are now 55 or younger.

Claimed during the health overhaul debate that the law would create death panels and lead to rationing.

Opposes creation of the 15-member Independent Payment Advisory Board, saying the panel, charged with making binding recommendations to reduce Medicare spending, will cause seniors to lose control over their care.

Voted against allowing the government to bargain with pharmaceutical companies to get lower drug prices for Medicare Part D, arguing it would lead to draconian price controls.

Voted to override Obama's veto of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, which temporarily blocked a Medicare pay cut for physicians, prohibited some Medicare Advantage marketing practices, expanded coverage of mental health services and authorized Medicare to cover new preventive services.

"Senior citizens will lose control over what they actually get in Medicare, because a politically appointed 15-member board that's unelected and unresponsive to the will of the people called IPAB will make the decisions about what care we get and what care we don't.

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