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Jay Rockefeller Pushes Dictatorial MedPAC

June 19, 2009 (LPAC)—The major piece of legislation already pushing turning the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission into a Fed-style body with dictatorial control over medical treatment, is Senator Jay Rockefeller's S1110, which is now before the Senate Committee on Finance. Rockefeller introduced S1110 on May 20, under the title "A bill to amend Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to create a sensible infrastructure for delivery system reform by renaming the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, making the Commission an executive branch agency, and providing the Commission new resources and authority to implement Medicare payment policy."

Rockefeller's statements about this bill and its purpose, while following the normal doubletalk, do show its intent.

"If we want serious improvement in our health care delivery system, then we need to reform MedPAC's current authority to include fully establishing and implementing Medicare reimbursement rules. Congress should leave the reimbursement rules to the independent health care experts." (5/27)

"To truly achieve transformative health-care reform, we need to separate the special interests from the decision makers." "We must take Congress out of its current role..."

The Rockefeller press release on the bill, included the following description of what the bill would do:

"Reform MedPAC as an Executive Agency Modeled After the Federal Reserve Board."

"Elevate MedPAC to be an independent, executive branch entity, like the Federal Reserve, with the power to implement recommendations that are more insulated from special interests, and more accountable to the American people."

Of course, "accountable to the American people" in this jargon, means cutting their medical care. In his speech to the AMA, President Obama specifically complained that MedPAC had proposed at least $200 billion in cuts which had not been implemented, because the Congress objected. Recall the fight last summer, when Congress turned down the demand to reduce doctors' pay by 10%. Under Rockefeller's bill, that couldn't happen.


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