House Republicans signaled Thursday they will not follow rules in President Obama's healthcare law that were designed to speed Medicare cuts through Congress…. The rules package says the House won't comply with fast-track procedures for the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB)…. House Republicans have tried unsuccessfully to repeal the IPAB, the central cost-cutting feature in the Affordable Care Act. The IPAB was designed to take Medicare payments largely out of Congress's hands, similar to the independent panel that recommends closing military bases, because lawmakers would rarely sign off on such politically risky moves….
The healthcare law says the House must begin taking up the IPAB's recommendations as soon as they're made… requires House committees to pass them quickly… can only change the IPAB's recommendations if it comes up with the same level of savings elsewhere in the budget.
But the 113th Congress won't abide by those procedures…
