GOP leaders refuse to name candidates for Medicare cost control board

May 13 2013

House Speaker John Boehner tells reporters that he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will not nominate anyone to serve on the Independent Payment Advisory Board.

The Associated Press/Washington Post: GOP Leaders Say They Won't Name Candidates to Health Care Advisory Board
House and Senate Republican leaders told President Barack Obama Thursday that they will refuse to nominate candidates to serve on an advisory board that is to play a role in holding down Medicare costs under the new health care act (5/9).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Boehner Says GOP Will Not Make Nominations For Medicare Cost Control Panel
Note to the Obama administration: Don't wait by the phone for those GOP nominations to the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a panel created in the health law to make recommendations to Congress on how to control Medicare costs. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, made it clear Thursday that neither he nor Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would be sending in any names for consideration (Carey, 5/9).

In that same press conference, Boehner talked about the upcoming vote on repealing the health law -

Politico: John Boehner: Health Care Law Repeal Vote Is For New Lawmakers
House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that next week's vote to repeal the health reform law is being held to provide new lawmakers a chance to vote on it. "We've got 70 new members who have not had an opportunity to vote on the president's health care law," Boehner said. "Frankly they've been asking for an opportunity to vote on it" (Haberkorn, 5/9).

And health insurance was a flashpoint at a Capitol Hill hearing -

CQ HealthBeat: Health Insurance Tax's Effect On Farms, Small Businesses Criticized
Even the farmers are getting riled up about the new health insurance tax. At a hearing Thursday before a House small business subcommittee, the president of the New York Farm Bureau was among the witnesses who blasted the tax, which will be levied on insurers beginning in 2014. The tax is intended to generate billions in revenue for implementation of the health care law from insurers, who will benefit from more people enrolling in their plans for coverage (Norman, 5/10).