Fact #35: "Board" to Death

Fact #35: "Board" to Death

With the potential of the Massachusetts Senate race ending the super-monopoly that President Obama has enjoyed in the U.S. Senate, the implications are huge for the chamber's health care bill. One of the lesser-mentioned provisions of that bill (H.R. 3590) is the creation of a new bureaucracy designed to micromanage the health care system. Under Sen. Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) legislation, the Independent Medicare Advisory Board would be required to make binding recommendations for cost savings within the Medicare program. It would authorize this new Board to do anything necessary to stop the growth of Medicare spending (translation: health care rationing). The Board would also be empowered to redefine "qualified health plans" and allow the HHS Secretary to force private health plans to adopt these measures as well.