The Council on Advocacy for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Chair Thomas C. Barber, MD, released a statement in support of H.R. 1190 that would be the next step toward Medicare program reform.
The House Ways and Means Committee released a mark up of H.R. 1190 which repeals sections of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act related to establishing the Independent Payment Advisory Board. IPAB develops proposals to reduce the per capita rate of Medicare spending growth.
"The AAOS recognizes the importance of lowering healthcare costs and is committed to providing quality care that is cost-effective," said Dr. Barber in the statement. "However, as we saw with the recent SGR debate, employing ineffective mechanisms for making Medicare spending decisions results in repeated turbulence down the road and threatens seniors' access to the healthcare they need."
If the Act is put into law, it would restore provisions of law amended by the IPAB-related sections.
Some of the providers are exempt from IPAB cuts until 2020, so cuts would disproportionately fall on non-exempt providers and suppliers initially, including orthopedic surgeons. Congress does not have oversight over IPAB.
"Not only does the IPAB severely limit congressional authority with little accountability, it eliminates transparency and precludes meaningful opportunity for stakeholder input," said Dr. Barber. "Further, requiring IPAB to achieve savings in one-year increments is not conducive to generating savings through long-term delivery reforms."