Home Health & Hospice Week

The tide of provider sentiment may be against the new "Super-MedPAC," but the Obama administration continues to support the Medicare rate-setting board created in the Affordable Care Act. In an op-ed for Politico, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius comes to the defense of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which is scheduled to take effect in 2014. "Critics say it will ration care and put bureaucrats in charge of the health care system," Sebelius said. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

"There are restrictions on what the board can recommend," Sebelius notes in the editorial. "It  is expressly prohibited from making recommendations that ration care, raise premiums, reduce benefits or change eligibility for Medicare." And Congress has the final say on any recommendations.

But hundreds of health care groups, including the American Medical Association, have come out against IPAB. The board will have rate-setting authority if Medicare spending exceeds certain levels and Congress fails to act, they point out.