While IPAB defenders say the law specifically bars rationing, critics argue that cutting provider payments would have that effect.(Read the full text of "Will Congress Kill 'Death Panel 2.0'?")
They say IPAB-imposed payment cuts could accelerate doctors' exodus from Medicare, restricting seniors' access to care. In 2009, 13% of family doctors said they didn't participate in Medicare, up from 6% in 2004, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.
"Its power to set payments to doctors and hospitals would give it de facto rationing power," Paul Hsieh, a Denver-based physician, noted in his IPAB analysis.
The "IPAB analysis" they are referring to is my PajamasMedia piece from 4/22/2011, "We Call It 'Rationing,' Obama Calls It 'Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board'".
I'm honored and delighted to be cited by such a high-profile outlet as Investor's Business Daily, and I'd like to again thank PajamasMedia (including editors David Steinberg and Aaron Hanscom) for providing such a friendly outlet for my work.
(See the full list of my PajamasMedia writings.)
