House Passes Joint IPAB Repeal and Liability Reform Bill

On March 22, 2012, after two days of contentious floor debates on the bill and amendments to the bill, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 223-181 to pass the joint Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) repeal and liability reform bill, H.R. 5, "The Protecting Access to Healthcare Act."  This historic first vote on IPAB repeal was due in large part to the strong, coordinated grassroots and advocacy outreach of health care stakeholders including a medical organization coalition spearheaded by ASA. 

"The vote is a small, yet important first step, in what is likely to be a long battle to repeal IPAB, one of the health care reform law’s most onerous provisions," said ASA President Jerry A. Cohen, M.D.  "The current Medicare payment system is badly flawed. This unelected, unaccountable board threatens to exacerbate a nearly unsustainable Medicare payment situation for anesthesiologists," he added.

Seven Democrats joined with Republican majority to pass the package. They included Representatives Kathy Hochul of New York, Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Dennis Cardoza of California, Larry Kissell of North Carolina, Jim Matheson of Utah, Collin Peterson of Minnesota and David Scott of Georgia.

Ten Republicans joined House Democrats in voting against the package. They included Justin Amash of Michigan, John Duncan of Tennessee, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Morgan Griffith of Virginia, Tim Johnson of Illinois, Ted Poe of Texas, Bill Posey of Florida, Lee Terry of Nebraska and Daniel Webster of Florida.

IPAB repeal now moves to the U.S. Senate where it faces an uncertain future due to strong opposition from Senate Democrats to medical liability reform. Additionally, many Senate Democrats are expected to oppose any effort to repeal IPAB. 

The principal IPAB repeal legislation in the Senate is S. 2118, the “Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act,” sponsored by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). 

View the bill. 
Find out how your member of Congress voted.
Read Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) release regarding IPAB and PPACA. 
Read Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) floor statement.
Read Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp’s (R-MI) floor statement.
View Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Majority Speak.
View the ASA’s Statement for the Record on IPAB Repeal to the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health.