Home Health & Hospice Week

Providers band together to protest Medicare payment board.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would repeal the controversial Independent Payment Advisory Board, but you still may see the board setting your Medicare payment rates some day.

On March 22, the Republican-controlled House voted 223-181 to repeal the Medicare cost-control board, which some have called "Super-MedPAC." The vote was mostly along party lines.

"I have serious concerns over the lack of accountability," Rep. Cathy McMorris (R-Wash.), told the USA TODAY newspaper about the 15-member board that would be appointed by the president.

Mitt Romney has called IPAB "an unaccountable board with rationing power."

In the long term, IPAB has the potential to be "incredibly powerful," the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's first chair, Gail Wilensky, told the newspaper.

Providers are cheering the House's move to eliminate IPAB. "The National Association for Home Care & Hospice ... has opposed the creation of the IPAB," the trade group says. NAHC "believes this commission is given too much power, effectively causing Congress to yield its authority regarding Medicare to the executive branch."

Some heavy hitting provider groups agree with NAHC's judgment. IPAB has "the power to make indiscriminate cuts that adversely affect access to health care for patients," the American Medical Association warns in a release. The AMA "applauds" the passage of the legislation.

Despite widespread support from provider groups, don't expect to see IPAB go away any time soon. Currently the U.S. Senate isn't expected to pass similar legislation. Even if it did, the White House has threatened a veto, according to news reports.