Sebelius Faces Congressional Hot Seat Over Obamacare Rationing

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius faced the hot seat this week in two different Congressional hearings about the future of American health care and rationing under Obamacare.
Rep. Paul Ryan, a pro-life Wisconsin Republican, used the occasion to question the abortion advocate about one of the most lethal aspects of the President’s plan: Medicare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB. Ryan chipped away at the claim that IPAB would “protect Medicare” and he said there is a better way to solve Medicare’s financial crisis without rationing care.
Two pro-life advocates — Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Burke Balch of National Right to Life — both agree.
Perkins said the IPAB “could lead–not only to the death of patients, but also to the death of innovation.”
“This Board, made up of 15 unelected members of the President’s choosing, will be the sole authority over what kind of care–if any–we receive,” he explained. “Starting in 2015, IPAB will be tasked with bringing down medical costs–and unless Congress can find a super-majority to oppose them, IPAB’s recommendations will carry the force of law.”
“The Board could deny payment for certain care or medications, change the service options doctors have, and drive expensive, life-saving treatments out. Instead of discussing the options with your doctor, IPAB will be sitting at the controls in Washington making health decisions for you,” Perkins explained.
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