Howard Dean: Sarah Palin was right about death panels!

◼ In 2009, Sarah Palin coined the term “death panels” as a more accurate name for Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB. Palin was widely ridiculed for her claim, but today, Howard Dean, of all people, is suggesting that she was on to something. After initially dismissing Palin’s credibility and assailing her for her remarks, the fist-pumping firebrand is coming out forcefully today against the IPAB: - Twitchy

Shorter Howard Dean: "So... yeah, Republicans were right about death panels."

— RB (@RBPundit) July 29, 2013

◼ The Affordable Care Act's Rate-Setting Won't Work - Howard Dean/Wall St. Journal

◼ Was Sarah Palin right about death panels, Howard Dean? - Jim Treacher/Daily Caller

To sum up the first few paragraphs: Blah blah blah, Republicans are evil, Obamacare is awesome because Obama is awesome, you teabaggers need to get over it, etc.

But then:

That said, the law still has its flaws, and American lawmakers and citizens have both an opportunity and responsibility to fix them.
One major problem is the so-called Independent Payment Advisory Board. The IPAB is essentially a health-care rationing body. By setting doctor reimbursement rates for Medicare and determining which procedures and drugs will be covered and at what price, 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.
There does have to be control of costs in our health-care system. However, rate setting—the essential mechanism of the IPAB—has a 40-year track record of failure.