On news reports that the latest congressional budget deal could repeal Obamacare's Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Robert Moffit offered the following statement:

“Repealing IPAB is one of the rare bipartisan agreements in health policy. Many Democrats as well as Republicans have long understood that this body could do serious harm to seniors. While IPAB never got off the ground, this panel was designed to be a powerful, bureaucratic body of 15 unelected officials. They would have the power to make arbitrary decisions about Medicare payments, including cuts to different medical treatments and procedures. That much concentrated power is incompatible with the government of a free society. Lawmakers should get rid of IPAB, and then turn to enacting structural reforms in Medicare that would intensify competition among plans and providers, control costs, and offer more choice for our nation’s seniors.”