Created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the IPAB was intended to establish a board of 15 members appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate for six-year terms. The board is tasked with submitting proposals to Congress to reduce Medicare spending by specified amounts if the projected per beneficiary spending exceeds the target growth rate. If the board fails to submit a proposal, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is required to develop a detailed proposal to achieve the required level of Medicare savings. The secretary is required to implement the board’s (or his or her own) proposals, unless Congress adopts alternative proposals that result in the same amount of savings. The board is prohibited from submitting proposals that would ration care, increase taxes, change Medicare benefits or eligibility, increase beneficiary premiums and cost-sharing requirements, or reduce low-income subsidies under Part D. Due to relatively low growth in Medicare spending, the IPAB has not yet been triggered, and thus far, no one has been appointed to the board.