13 Apr 2015 Medicare Doc Fix Bill Is IPAB-Lite

The Daily Caller has run our David Hogberg’s new paper, “Medicare Doc Fix Bill Is IPAB-Lite“:

When the Senate returns from recess this week, it will consider the “Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act” (MACR). The bill has acquired many names such as “The Doc Fix Fix” and “Budget Buster,” but a more appropriate one is “IPAB-lite.”

IPAB — the Independent Payment Advisory Board — was created as part of Obamacare to cut Medicare expenditures whenever those expenditures grew too quickly. Thankfully, IPAB’s unpopularity has thus far prevented it from getting off the ground. Unfortunately, the changes MACR makes to Medicare’s payment system seem very much along the lines of what IPAB would do. After all, the new payment system within MACR is consistent with IPAB’s mission, incentive structure, and likely outcomes…

Read it all here.

If this bill is not changed before passage, Medicare literally will have incentives in it that cause doctors to get paid more if they avoid the sickest patients. This is morally wrong. The House has already passed this bill, so we have to look to the Senate for any improvements. Here’s hoping the Senate sees fit to make them.