Update from ACS Washington Office

ACS Leaders,

I want to give you an update on a couple of important issues for Fellows of the American College of Surgeons.

Next week, the House of Representatives will consider legislation that repeals the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) that was included in the Affordable Care Act (the health care reform law).  The legislation, which is supported by the American College of Surgeons, was originally introduced as the “Medicare Decisions Accountability Act” (HR 452).   Repealing the IPAB would cost the Federal Government $3.1 billion.  This legislation is supported by almost all Republicans and a significant number of Democrats in the House of Representatives.  Many experts believed that the legislation could get a strong bipartisan vote when brought to the House floor. 

Last week, the decision was made by the House Republican leadership to combine this legislation with the “Help, Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act” (HR 5).  HR 5 – which is also supported by the ACS -  is a federal medical liability reform bill (based on California’s MICRA law -- $250,000 cap on non-economic damages, etc…..) that Congress has considered multiple times during the past 10 years.  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has advised Congress that passing HR 5 into law would save the Federal Government $57 billion.

So, the vote next week will be on a revised HR 5 (incorporating both bills) and will be called the “Protecting Access to Healthcare Act.”   

The good news…. Combining the two bills would save the Federal Government approximately $54 billion.

The bad news ….. Rather than getting a strong bipartisan vote with a significant number of House Democrats voting yes, House Democrats (with maybe a few exceptions) will likely vote no (because of the medical liability reform bill) as they have for the past 8-10 years and this will be seen as a partisan vote.  A strong bipartisan vote may have put pressure on the Senate Democrats and the White House to support repealing the IPAB.  Side note, we may see some Republicans voting against the bill.   There is a growing number of House Republicans (particularly some of the newer Representatives) who believe that medical liability reform should be under the jurisdiction of the states rather than the Federal Government. 

We will keep you updated……

Christian Shalgian

Director

Division of Advocacy and Health Policy

American College of Surgeons

20 F St, NW Suite 1000

Washington, DC 20001

Email:  cshalgian@facs.org