As early as August 2009, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin unleashed a firestorm when she called attention to ObamaCare's "death panels" on her Facebook page. A full-blown controversy immediately broke out over whether the end-of-life counseling sessions in President Obama's health care bill constituted "death panels." Palin was pilloried; the idea of death panels was dismissed as ridiculous. Now, many people believe the reality of death panels exists, thanks to the creation of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). IPAB is causing widespread outcry over "unelected bureaucrats making life or death decisions."

"The scariest part of ObamaCare" or "the royal road to health-care socialism," IPAB gives a "powerful, unelected, 15-member Medicare payment board" the power to take decision-making "away from doctors and patients and [put] it the hands of elite experts who have virtually no accountability to voters." The constitutionality of such a board is under question, because there is no way to challenge IPAB's unilateral decisions, and Congress is required to have a super-majority (three-fifths) vote to override its rulings — "a very high legislative hurdle."

Clearly, IPAB will have unprecedented power and control over a huge entitlement, which will give that small body of political appointees absolute say over the fate and future of literally millions of Americans. [more ...]

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The August 2011 Family Voice Insight, "IPAB: The Independent Payment Advisory Board — Rationing the Life Out of You," is published for the Web via Adobe Acrobat. The Acrobat Reader is available for free by visiting Get.Adobe.com/Reader/

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