In particular, he notes that if the Supreme Court strikes down just part of ObamaCare (such as the individual mandate), then the de facto IPAB rationing board could still wreak havoc for America's elderly patients.
Catron observes:
...IPAB will in theory only propose Medicare cuts, but its recommendations will take effect automatically unless Congress and the President intervene with some alternative to its recommendations. This means that the welfare of patients will inevitably take a back seat to the political exigencies of the moment.IPAB thus creates the mechanism for de facto rationing, while giving elected officials a veneer of "plausible deniability" for those cuts.
Indeed, the political dynamics of the 2012 election cycle are already dictating the actions or lack thereof by both the Republicans and the Democrats where IPAB is concerned. Knowing full well that the bill hasn't a prayer of going anywhere in the Senate, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed a measure repealing IPAB last month. And the President, who doesn't want to spend time talking about death panels in the run-up to November 6, has declined to appoint anyone to the panel.
(Read the full text of "Will the Supreme Court Let the Death Panel Stand?")
