USA Today Abets Obamacare Supporters’ Misinformation Campaign

NRO ^ | 8/13/10 | Michael F. Cannon

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An article in this morning’s USA Today titled, “With Many Still in Dark, Groups Shed Light on Health Care Law,” aims to correct misinformation about Obamacare. Ironically, the article is itself a monument to misinformation.

It begins:

True or false: The new health care law will cut Medicare benefits for seniors. It will slash Medicare payments to doctors. It will ration health care.

In three polls conducted last month, large percentages of Americans answered “true” to each statement. All three are false.

In fact, two of the three statements are 100 percent true.

First, Obamacare will cut payments to the private health-insurance companies that provide coverage to the 20 percent of Medicare enrollees who participate in the Medicare Advantage program. That will eliminate many types of coverage for seniors in Medicare Advantage — which should be painfully obvious, but if you require confirmation, visit FactCheck.org. Obamacare will also ratchet down the price controls that Medicare uses to pay hospitals and many other health care providers. It should likewise be obvious that that will reduce access to services that are ostensibly “guaranteed” to all enrollees. But again, if you need confirmation, check in with Medicare’s chief actuary, who works for President Obama. We can debate whether that’s good or bad. What’s not up for debate: Obamacare in fact “will cut Medicare benefits for seniors.”

[Nachum]

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