Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas introduced legislation Thursday to abolish the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which was created by the Affordable Care Act.
IPAB — a panel of 15 unelected officials tasked with finding ways to cut Medicare spending — was dubbed a “death panel” by opponents of the ACA and has long been criticized by Republicans as an example of government getting in between patients and their doctor. Cornyn’s package will help begin the process of repealing and replacing Obamacare.
The Protecting Seniors’ Access to Medicare Act would permanently repeal the provisions allowing for the board’s creation.
“Obamacare created a board of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats to make health care decisions on behalf of American families and seniors,” he said in a statement. “The American people have made clear they are tired of expensive care that continually fails them—and it’s well past time for change.”
Board members were never appointed by President Barack Obama, since Republicans held a majority in the Senate and confirmation was unlikely.
The House passed a bill in 2015 in a 244-154 vote, largely along party lines, to repeal IPAB. The measure wasn’t taken up in the upper chamber.
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