FACT CHECK: The Romney-Ryan Plan Would Turn Medicare Into Vouchers And Raise Costs For Seniors

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–August 29, 2012.  

FACT CHECK: The Romney-Ryan Plan Would Turn Medicare Into Vouchers And Raise Costs For Seniors

Congressman Ryan is not telling the truth about Medicare. He and Mitt Romney would turn Medicare into a voucher system and could raise out of pocket costs for retirees by as much as $6,400. The President has extended the solvency of the program by nearly a decade, and the Romney-Ryan plan would cause its bankruptcy by 2016.

ROMNEY-RYAN WOULD RAISE TAXES ON THE MIDDLE CLASS TO PAY FOR $5 TRILLION IN NEW TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY ON TOP OF THE BUSH TAX CUTS

Reuters Headline: “Romney Tax Plan Helps Rich, Hurts Middle Class-Study.” [Reuters, 8/1/12]

Boston Globe Headline: “Mitt Romney’s Tax Plan Would Offer Big Cuts To Millionaires, Raise Taxes On Middle Class, Brookings Analysts Say.” [Boston Globe, 8/1/12]

Washington Post Editorial: The Tax Policy Center Found That Under The Romney Plan “Even If Every Loophole For The Top Brackets Were Closed, There Wouldn’t Be Enough Revenue. The Middle Class Would Have To Pay More.” “The Tax Policy Center (TPC), a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, examined Mr. Romney’s claim and found that, even if every loophole for the top brackets were closed, there wouldn’t be enough revenue. The middle class would have to pay more.” [Editorial, Washington Post, 8/21/12]

Center On Budget And Policy Priorities: Romney’s New Tax Cuts Would Cost $4.9 Trillion Over A Decade, On Top Of The Cost Of Extending The Bush Tax Cuts. “The Tax Policy Center estimates that the Romney tax plan would lose about $480 billion in tax revenue in calendar year 2015, beyond the revenues losses inherent in maintaining current policy (such as continuing all of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts).  Over the 2014-2022 period, that implies a total reduction in revenues of about $4.9 trillion, relative to current tax policy.” [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/21/12]

THE ROMNEY-RYAN PLAN WOULD END MEDICARE AS WE KNOW IT – TURNING IT INTO A VOUCHER SYSTEM…

Romney: “Paul Ryan And My Plan For Medicare I Think Is The Same, If Not Identical It’s Probably Close To Identical.” [WBAY (Green Bay, WI), 8/15/12]

New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait: President Obama’s Argument That Romney Would “End Medicare As We Know It” Is “Undeniably True.” “Today President Obama talks Medicare in Florida and argues that Mitt Romney will ‘end Medicare as we know it.’ The claim is undeniably true, though keep in mind that ‘as we know it’ is a fairly elastic term.” [Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine, 7/19/12]

Romney Adviser Tara Wall Said Romney And Ryan “Are Certainly 100% On The Same Page And On The Same Path Relative To Saying That We Have To Reform Medicare, Offering Options Like Vouchers.” [CNN Newsroom, CNN, 8/14/12]

Bloomberg: “Ryan’s Budget Bill Also Would End Traditional Medicare By Capping Spending And Offer Vouchers To Buy Private Insurance.” [Bloomberg, 8/13/12]

Romney’s Medicare Plan: “Medicare Is Reformed As A Premium Support System, Meaning That Existing Spending Is Repackaged As A Fixed-Amount Benefit To Each Senior That He Or She Can Use To Purchase An Insurance Plan.” [Romney Press Release, Spending Plan – “Cut The Spending,” 11/4/11]

Reuters: “Ryan’s Plan Calls For An End To The Guaranteed Benefit In Medicare And Replaces It With A System That Would Give Vouchers To Recipients To Pay For Health Insurance.” [Reuters, 8/12/12]

…WHICH WOULD SHIFT MORE COSTS ON TO SENIORS AND RAISE THE COST OF TRADITIONAL MEDICARE

Los Angeles Times Headline: “Seniors Would Pay The Price Of Ryan’s Plan To Overhaul Medicare.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/13/12]

Los Angeles Times: Under The Ryan Budget “Seniors Would End Up Paying Almost Twice As Much Out Of Their Own Pockets.” [Los Angeles Times, 4/7/11]

New York Times Editorial: Ryan’s Plan Would Turn Medicare Into A Voucher System And “Would Leave Older Americans On Average With $6,400 In Extra Costs By 2022, According To The Congressional Budget Office.” “Most voters know little about Mr. Ryan. Those who have heard of him are probably most familiar with his Medicare plan, which would turn the program into a voucher system that would pay beneficiaries a fixed amount for their medical care, leaving them on their own if the voucher did not cover their costs. This notion so alarmed the public last year that Mr. Ryan was forced to backtrack and leave the existing Medicare system as an option. Even so, the plan would leave older Americans on average with $6,400 in extra costs by 2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office.” [Editorial, New York Times, 8/13/12]

New York Times Editorial: Ryan’s Plan “Could Lead To Higher Costs And Premiums In Traditional Medicare.” “Unfortunately, that could lead to higher costs and premiums in traditional Medicare because it would attract older and sicker patients who would be expensive to cover, while healthier, cheaper patients flocked to private plans. In the long run, the premium support plan could shift costs to beneficiaries because it would limit annual per capita spending growth to well below the level required by the health care reform act.” [Editorial, New York Times, 3/20/12]

THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT DOES NOT REDUCE MEDICARE BENEFITS TO MEDICARE BENEFICIARES—IT STRENGTHENS THEM

AARP:  The Affordable Care Act “Protects And Strengthens Guaranteed Benefits In Medicare.”  “The legislative package [the Affordable Care Act] cracks down on insurance company abuses and protects and strengthens guaranteed benefits in Medicare, the program millions of our members depend on and in which millions more will soon enroll. It closes the dreaded Medicare Part D ‘doughnut hole,’ a gap in prescription drug coverage that is life-threatening for many. … And it improves efforts to crack down on fraud and waste in Medicare, strengthening the program for today’s seniors and future generations.” [AARP Press Release, 3/10/12]

Bloomberg: The Affordable Care Act Medicare Reductions Do Not Touch Guaranteed Medicare Benefits. “Romney is castigating Obama for $700 billion in Medicare cuts that were used to finance the health-care law enacted in 2010, which included reduced reimbursement rates to hospitals, drug companies and insurers. Yet those reductions don’t affect the benefits that seniors are guaranteed under the program.” [Bloomberg, 8/15/12]

Associated Press: Obamacare “Strengthens Traditional Medicare.” “The law signed by Obama strengthens traditional Medicare by improving preventive care and increasing payments to primary care doctors and nurses serving as medical coordinators…” [Associated Press, 12/12/11]