Vulnerable Dems Turn on Obamacare 'Death Panels'

Opposition is growing from the Democrat’s side of the aisle about the Obamacare death panels, also known as the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Howard Dean, former DNC Chair wrote an op-ed last month calling for a repeal of the board, claiming it would harm people on Medicare.

But he isn’t the only democrat criticizing  the board.  

A wave of vulnerable Democrats over the past three months has signed on to bills repealing the board’s powers, including Sen. Mark Pryor (Ark.) and Reps. Ron Barber (Ariz.), Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Elizabeth Esty (Conn.).

All five are vulnerable in the 2014 elections. “The four House Democrats faced criticism from their party in July after voting with Republicans to delay ObamaCare’s individual and employer mandates — moves widely interpreted as political positioning ahead of 2014.” Senator Pyror is facing a serious challenge for his senate seat from Rep. Tom Cotton.

Dean wrote in his op-ed:

“The IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them,” Dean wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

Getting rid of the IPAB is something Democrats and Republicans ought to agree on.”

The DCCC is trying to turn the tables on the GOP’s criticism of Obamacare by releasing a poll paid for by the SEIU. The poll showed that undecided voters prefer a democrat in favor of the IPAB than a republican opposed to it. 

“Instead of fighting old political battles on healthcare, polling shows that Americans want Republicans to work with Democrats to implement Obamacare and move on to focus on creating good jobs,” said Emily Bittner, a spokeswoman with the DCCC.

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