The Independent Payment Advisory Board: impact on neurointerventionalists

The Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) is a powerful component of the Affordable Care Act, with the authority to issue recommendations to reduce the growth in Medicare spending and to provide recommendations to Congress for fast-track implementation. The IPAB works by recommending policies to Congress to help Medicare provide better care at a lower cost, including ideas on coordinating care, getting rid of waste in the system, providing incentives for best practices and prioritizing primary care. Congress then has the power to accept or reject these recommendations. However, Congress faces extreme limitations either to enact policies that achieve equivalent savings or to let the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) follow the IPAB's recommendations. The IPAB statute sets target growth rates for Medicare spending. The applicable percentage for maximum savings appears to be 0.5% for 2015, 1% for 2016, 1.25% for 2017 and 1.5% for 2018 and later. The IPAB Medicare proposal process involves mandatory recommendations and advisory recommendations with multiple reporting requirements. We believe neurointerventionalists, as highly specialized physicians reliant on expensive technology, should be aware of the IPAB and its impact on the practice of medicine.