Today the President danced a victory dance about enrollment. As you know, for many reasons this artificially concocted goal is essentially meaningless to consumers. Yet, that’s the talk. But there was a serious lie, that’s right, LIE. The President said, “Many of the tall tales that have been told about this law have been debunked. There are still no death panels.” Guffaw, guffaw but a LIE.
Let’s review as the President talk-show hosts his way through his final term. Way back during the debates, in October of 2012, I composed a post entitled: The Mean-ing of America Debate 2012: Insurance Doesn’t Advise on Treatment, It Just Decides on What it Pays for (http://conoutofconsumer.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-mean-ing-of-america-debate-2012.html).
But according to the justification for the President’s own victory dance of today, the purpose of Obamacare was to get people COVERED by insurance as the means of getting health care to more Americans (in my opinion FALSE but in his opinion TRUE).
I mean that was behind his push for getting people insured, right? I mean it wasn’t just to brag he could force Americans to enroll in health plans ranging from decent coverage to downright cruddy coverage in order to avoid the tax the law now imposes on people who don’t purchase health insurance, was it?
Considering it’s now a violation of law not to have health insurance, 7.1 million seems downright cruddy when you look at the numbers of uninsured, but OK, we’ll skip that little piece of obvious failure.
So, what about those death panels that like other serious threats to people’s health financial and physical he’s laughed off, joked about and sadly made about himself instead of the American people?
Unfortunately, there has been NO change to the parts of the law considered on 10/4/12 regarding the so-called death panels, technically known as the The Independent Medicare Advisory Board, which underwent a name change to the Independent Payment Advisory Board.
That Board is currently authorized (as of 1/2014) to start making recommendations but without real teeth to its power until 2020. No wonder the President could confidently snicker today…Again, the joke is on the American people, the panel with its full power has not yet kicked in, but it's coming.
When I discussed this I noted:
“The provisions of the Affordable Care Act that discuss the Independent Medicare Advisory Board (renamed the Independent Payment Advisory Board) WILL include limitations on coverage not prescriptions of treatment.
The sections of the Affordable Care Act are 3403 and 10320. Both of these sections modify the Social Security Act section 1899A. The Board is the Independent Medicare Advisory Board which had its name changed to the Independent Payment Advisory Board by section 10320 of the ACA.
Summary:
Who: The law applies to all Medicare recipients but will not affect those on Medicare drastically until the year 2020. That’s seven years away which means that for those 55 and older, the impact of the Board will be less than for those 54 and younger. The President was correct when he stated in the debate: “So, if you’re 54 or 55 you might want to listen because this will affect you.”
What: The creation of an Independent Payment Advisory Board that will have broad powers to bring Medicare costs under control. Kindly terming this Board’s decisions as “recommendations” in all but a few instances these “recommendations” are actually mandates, the Board gets to make the rules.
This means that the Board’s advice must be implemented by the Secretary of Health and Human Services absent specific exceptions including Congressional action (such as modifying or repealing the provisions or by a 3/5 override) and in the case of certain administrative concerns such as mandates that don’t reduce costs or where copies of the mandates issued are not delivered to the President and Congress.
When: There are a couple of When dates. First, the Board will not be in the full throes of its powers until January 2020. The Board can begin its recommendation process as soon as January 15, 2014.
The Board’s powers are triggered by an annual determination by the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid that costs will be too high (based on calculations included in the Act) for a specific year. The Board does not come into play until the Chief Actuary makes that determination.
Why: The purpose of the Board is to control Medicare costs and to come up with ways to do that.
How: The Board will create recommendations that function as rules regarding Medicare coverage that must be followed in the event triggering events occur and absent actions by Congress or their own mistakes that amount to exceptions. To refuse to implement the mandates of the Board will require a super-majority vote by Congress 3/5.”
