The Lie Behind Obama's Medicare Theft
I cannot sit idly by and let a blatant lie be told over and over again by Romney, Ryan, Priebus, etc. and allowed to be spread by the mainstream media.
The lie being: President Obama has "stolen" $716 billion from Medicare in order to pay for "Obamacare". Or, put another way, Obama has "cut Medicare" by $716 billion, the implication being that Medicare benefits have been cut. They have not.
(quick point: Obama is not a dictator and could not do anything to Medicare without it being passed by Congress, but that being said...)
The $716 billion number to which Romney & Co. refer is the amount the CBO has determined the elimination of the Affordable Care Act would add to Medicare costs between 2013 and 2022. So, if the ACA were to be repealed, Medicare costs would go up by $716 billion.
But, the "cut to Medicare" isn't a cut to Medicare benefits. One more time: The cut to Medicare is not a cut to Medicare BENEFITS. The "cut" is a spending cut and is accomplished by reducing over-payments to hospitals, from discounts on Medicaid prescription drugs, and by cutting spending to private insurers associated with Medicare Advantage (where it has been found that private insurers with Medicare Advantage overcharge the government from 11% to 14% for the same procedure than is charged thru Medicare...that will now stop).
The "cut to Medicare" that is being demonized by the Right is actually due to cost reduction efforts, not cuts to benefits (and Romney, et al. is fully aware of that). Listen closely when someone on the Right talks about Medicare being cut. They never mention specifically how or what exactly is being cut, just that it's being cut. It works to their advantage to let those who depend on Medicare to believe their benefits are being cut, but it's not true.
I thought spending reduction and the elimination of waste was a good, conservative notion. I guess not, when put forward by a Democrat.
Three more recent blatant lies...
1. Obama is removing the welfare work requirement.
2. Obama wants to take away the military's early voting rights in Ohio.
3. Obama said "You didn't build that" to business owners. Sounds great in an out-of-context snippet, but obviously not what Obama was saying. Romney is basing a huge part of his campaign on an obvious lie (good luck with that). What Obama was saying echoed what Romney told the athletes at the SLC Olympics, which isn't anything out of the ordinary.
The lie being: President Obama has "stolen" $716 billion from Medicare in order to pay for "Obamacare". Or, put another way, Obama has "cut Medicare" by $716 billion, the implication being that Medicare benefits have been cut. They have not.
(quick point: Obama is not a dictator and could not do anything to Medicare without it being passed by Congress, but that being said...)
The $716 billion number to which Romney & Co. refer is the amount the CBO has determined the elimination of the Affordable Care Act would add to Medicare costs between 2013 and 2022. So, if the ACA were to be repealed, Medicare costs would go up by $716 billion.
But, the "cut to Medicare" isn't a cut to Medicare benefits. One more time: The cut to Medicare is not a cut to Medicare BENEFITS. The "cut" is a spending cut and is accomplished by reducing over-payments to hospitals, from discounts on Medicaid prescription drugs, and by cutting spending to private insurers associated with Medicare Advantage (where it has been found that private insurers with Medicare Advantage overcharge the government from 11% to 14% for the same procedure than is charged thru Medicare...that will now stop).
The "cut to Medicare" that is being demonized by the Right is actually due to cost reduction efforts, not cuts to benefits (and Romney, et al. is fully aware of that). Listen closely when someone on the Right talks about Medicare being cut. They never mention specifically how or what exactly is being cut, just that it's being cut. It works to their advantage to let those who depend on Medicare to believe their benefits are being cut, but it's not true.
I thought spending reduction and the elimination of waste was a good, conservative notion. I guess not, when put forward by a Democrat.
Three more recent blatant lies...
1. Obama is removing the welfare work requirement.
2. Obama wants to take away the military's early voting rights in Ohio.
3. Obama said "You didn't build that" to business owners. Sounds great in an out-of-context snippet, but obviously not what Obama was saying. Romney is basing a huge part of his campaign on an obvious lie (good luck with that). What Obama was saying echoed what Romney told the athletes at the SLC Olympics, which isn't anything out of the ordinary.
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