Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) voted in support of the bipartisan Protecting Access to Healthcare (PATH) Act (H.R. 5). The PATH Act addresses two of the most glaring deficiencies of the President’s overhaul of the health care system. It includes reforms to the broken medical liability system as well as repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a panel of 15 unelected bureaucrats tasked with finding Medicare savings through major decisions over medical treatments and services. The PATH Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives 223 to 181 and now awaits consideration in the Senate.
"The President’s healthcare law failed to provide any meaningful reform to the costly medical liability system, which is currently one of the largest cost drivers in our health care system,” stated Upton. “The current system is responsible for as much as $200 billion a year in unnecessary spending on defensive medicine, at a cost to Michigan doctors and their patients. Currently, it fails to compensate injured patients in a fair and timely manner, and it threatens access to quality health care by driving good doctors out of high-risk specialties.
“The Affordable Care Act established the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a powerful board of 15 unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats whose sole job will be to save money by restricting access to health care for Medicare beneficiaries. These decisions will then be fast-tracked, essentially bypassing the legislative process, with almost no opportunity for discussion or review. The PATH Act prevents this by repealing the IPAB. Health care decisions should be made between a doctor and patient. That relationship does not work when bureaucrats and trail lawyers come between them.”
“Protecting Access to Healthcare (PATH) Act is finally a step in the right direction of healthcare reform,” said Dr. Kenneth Edwards, MD, Medical Director of Surgical Services at Lakeland Health Systems in St. Joseph, Michigan. “No meaningful change in the cost of healthcare can be realized without addressing the influence of defensive medicine, which has become pervasive in US healthcare delivery. A reasonable approach to the issue of medical liability requires a national solution as put forth in this legislation.
“The Independent Payment Advisory Board threatens health care to all Americans by establishing a body that is free from any accountability. Neither physicians nor the patients we serve have any guarantee of access to this body and without oversight the policies of this group could be arbitrary and irreversible. Improving value in healthcare requires an inclusive, comprehensive, and deliberative approach that involves patients, physicians, and payors. Repeal of the IPAB is an essential first step in protecting patients and insuring the decisions regarding healthcare delivery are evidence based and not solely politically motivated.”
