Posted on 08/16/2012 7:01:45 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Mitt Romney is hammering President Obama with the allegation that he's robbed Medicare to pay for Obamacare. But analysts suggest that's not an accurate appraisal of Obama's plan.
The Mitt Romney campaign has a new talking point that its hitting hard: President Obama robbed Medicare of $716 billion to help pay for his health-care reform legislation. Is this assertion accurate?
Well, it is true that the Affordable Care Act known to some as Obamacare would reduce spending on Medicare by $716 billion from 2013 to 2022, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis. It is also true that this reduction is used to offset spending on other ACA provisions.
However, the ACA does not literally lop this figure off Medicares bottom line. Most of these reductions would occur due to the fact that the law makes changes meant to lower future costs for the big health-care program for seniors.
For instance, the ACA cuts many of the payments Medicare makes in its fee-for-service system to hospitals, nurses, and other health-care providers. (Doctors would not be affected by this payment squeeze.) According to CBO, over the 10-year period it measured, Medicare payments for hospital services would go down by $260 billion, for instance. Payments for skilled nursing services would go down by $39 billion and for home health services by $33 billion.
The other big category of ACA Medicare reductions is aimed at Medicare Advantage, a sub-section of Medicare plans run by private insurers. Medicare Advantage began as a pilot program under President George W. Bush, who pushed it as a means to save money by pitting private insurers against each other in a competition to cover Medicare beneficiaries.
This approach has not worked out as intended. Currently Medicare Advantage plans cost the government more on a per-person basis
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
“A lot of Obamas claims about future savings to medicare will undoubtedly fail to materialize.”
Yep. Kenyancare is a defined benefit program. We know how well that is working these days.
The whole obamacare program is flim flam designed to get the socialized medicine camel nose into the tent. Hopefully these medicare cuts make that obvious.
I would rather see Romney/Ryan turn the 2009 Obama/Tapper interview into a campaign ad. Use his own words against him. And play it over and over again until the election. ;-)
Yes. That would be the second ad to run.
RUN it OVER AND OVER.
Of course, this is the same John F’n Kerry who married to gain his Wealth, estimated to be three times as large as Romney's. Anyone here recall Kerry releasing 12 years of Tax Returns or being attacked for not doing so?
My point is more along the lines of:
It’s immoral to worry yourself/ourselves about details and nuances and even if we’re accurate, because if we do not force the Dems onto some kind of defensive stance, the freedom to examine and ponder nuance will cease to exist.
Yell at them, and make them feel weird. That’s what I’m sayin’.
Nobody can predict the future. The Ryan plan, the this plan, the that plan, are artifices that maybe will and maybe will not get through Congressional approval in a recognizable format. There is no way to predict what may have to be given away alongside the Ryan plan in order to get it approved. Hell, it may even be found Unconstitutional. Then what?
So to become attached to it as if it is written in stone is deluded, IMO. What’s useful is to browbeat the opposition. Outsloganize them. “You didn’t build that. You stole that.” That works for me.
Then it's single payer. Victory for o.
Ya think?
http://politifactbias.blogspot.com/
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Because Medicare is now largely paid for by trading in the Medicare IOUs for money borrowed by the Treasury that future taxpayers and retireee’s will pay for, Obama can spend the $700B on other stuff while cutting Medicare by the $700B (not even sure he did this because he added other spending to medicare too at least short term) and claim it extends Medicare because those IOUs are redeemed slower.
So if Obama adds $7T to the national debt (with the help of congress) but redeems those Medicare IOUs more slowly does that extend the life of Medicare??? In the imaginary ‘trust fund’ world of both parties (DC) he is telling the truth. In the REAL world which I try to live in they are screwing us leaving us NOTHING.
How can they cut the payments and not squeeze the doctors?
Reminder of their mantra: "It's not the nature of the evidence, but the seriousness of the charge." ...
All Mitt/Ryan need to do is keep hammering this over and over and over, especially to states with lots of Seniors like Florida.
About time the Pubes start using a little scare tactics of their own.
lol..does that mean funds must come from tax? I do remember when they passed the bill to fund O care with the 700 billion from medicare. Of course none of the money is there to fund anything. DC has spent everything and we dont know where the money went. It was part of Obama’s promise not to tax for Ocare. Lies of course. The healthcare issue is just a way to get more cash to DC.
Yes, you are correct. Thanks.
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