On March 22, the House voted to pass H.R. 5, the Protecting Access to Health Care Act, repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) and enacting comprehensive medical liability reform. The vote heads to the Senate next.

Earlier in March, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee approved H.R. 452, legislation introduced by Rep. Phil Roe, MD, (R-TN) to repeal the controversial IPAB by voice vote. On March 6, the House Energy and Commerce Committee favorably reported H.R. 452 and the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the legislation. 

The IPAB is a 15-member Board tasked with developing and presenting proposals to the President and Congress, starting in 2014, to extend the solvency of Medicare, slow cost growth, improve quality of care, and reduce national health expenditures.

Early in the health reform debate, the College hoped the IPAB concept would offer an opportunity to break down the silos of parts A and B in Medicare and modernize the program by focusing on quality improvement. Unfortunately, the ACC believed significant modifications were necessary to the IPAB as enacted in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

In July 2011, ACC CEO Jack Lewin, MD testified before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee stating, “the ACC fully supports the purpose of IPAB … our problem is that the current structure of IPAB will not do that, and will have many unintended and negative effects on health care.”

The ACC strongly supports efforts to align financial incentives to inspire greater focus on providing care that is patient-centered, evidence-based and cost-effective. The College remains committed to setting a new standard for health care delivery in a way that is centered on increasing the quality of care and ensuring greater patient value.

For more information on IPAB read the IPAB Issue Brief and visit the Payment Innovation Community.

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