IPAB petition
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| In his State of the Union Address, President Obama said he has "heard rumors" that Americans "have some concerns about the new health care law."
I am one of those Americans, and though I can't speak for all the millions of seniors who depend on Medicare when they are sick, I can tell you that a vast majority of them are concerned as well. The recently passed Affordable Care Act slashed $500 billion from Medicare and created the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a 15-member panel of unelected bureaucrats who will be empowered to cut seniors’ access to care, in order to save money. Common sense tells us that Medicare will not be able to sustain such broadsides without suffering serious consequences affecting the quality and accessibility of care available to America’s senior citizens. It is also vital that Congress finally address the Sustainable Growth Rate Formula (SGR) which determines rates at which doctors are reimbursed for services provided to Medicare patients. The formula has become so outdated that it often doesn’t even cover the cost of providing care to patients. Inevitably, some doctors will have to make the tough choice to not treat seniors who rely on Medicare. President Obama has the power to urge the restoration of the right of patients and physicians to negotiate fees regardless of what Medicare pays akin to the liberty enjoyed by Australians with their Medicare. Such action can keep intact the patient-physician relationship that the price-fixing micromanagement of government is destroying. The best medical care in the world is at grave risk today because of government policies. If the President is truly interested in making important fixes to our country's health care system, he should work with Congress to make sure Medicare does not fall prey to a cash-starved health care bill, and that doctors across the country are able to continue providing Medicare patients with the quality medical care they need. For lawmakers to successfully work together to cure our nation’s health care ills—those created by the Affordable Care act and those that proceeded it—they will need to rise above the political fray and think more like doctors, concentrating on patients instead of elections and political rivalries. Health care needs to once again be viewed as a battle against illness instead of a battle between Democrats and Republicans. And yes, fix the broken medical liability system. It only benefits contingency-driven trial attorneys and drives up the cost of medical care. So as you said, President Obama: "Let's fix what needs fixing and move forward." For seniors’ sake, please start by saving Medicare.
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