House of Representatives Repeals IPAB, Adopts Medical Liability Reform

On Thursday, March 22, 2012, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) and adopt meaningful medical liability reform. The Protecting Access to Healthcare Act (H.R. 5) passed by a vote of 223-181, with seven democrats joining their Republican colleagues in voting in favor of the bill. Ten Republicans joined the Democrats in voting against the measure, four members voted “present,” and 23 did not vote. Click here to see how your representative voted.

During the debate on the bill, several amendments were considered. Supported by the AANS and CNS, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) and Pete Sessions (R-TX) offered an amendment that would address the crisis in access to emergency care by extending liability coverage to on-call and emergency-room physicians under the Federal Tort Claims Act. This amendment passed by voice vote. In addition, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Jim Matheson (D-UT) offered an amendment to grant limited civil liability protections to health professionals that volunteer at federal declared disaster sites. The AANS and CNS also supported this amendment, which passed by a vote of 251-157. Twenty-seven Democrats joined the Republicans in voting in favor of the amendment. Four Republicans joined 153 democrats in opposing the amendment, one member voted “present,” and 22 did not vote. To see how your representative voted on this amendment, click here.

Repealing the IPAB and passing federal medical liability reform are two top priorities for organized neurosurgery. Special thanks to all the neurosurgeons who took time to contact their representative on this legislation — it was critical to getting this legislation passed. We now will focus our efforts on getting the U.S. Senate to act on this bill, although it is unlikely that the legislation will be considered in its present form.

If you have any questions, please contact Katie O. Orrico, director of the AANS/CNS Washington Office, at korrico@neurosurgery.org.

Don’t forget to follow the Washington Committee on Twitter @Neurosurgery!