August 20, 2012 12:26PM 

# IPAB: Yes, It Can 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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In today’s *Washington Post*, columnist Bob Samuelson [writes](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/robert-samuelson-why-ryan-might-be-right-about-medicare/2012/08/19/3e6005c0-e88e-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html):

> Then there’s the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a body of 15 experts charged with limiting Medicare spending if it passes certain targets. But the law handcuffs IPAB. It can’t increase patient cost-sharing, restrict benefits, modify eligibility requirements or — in any one year — cut spending by [more than 1.5 percent](http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/8150.pdf), reports the Kaiser Family Foundation.

All four of those assertions about supposed limitations on IPAB’s powers are false, as Diane Cohen and I explain [here](https://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/PA700.pdf).

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) 

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