During an interview with Fox News’s Brit Hume, Rep. Paul Ryan went on offense against Democrats’ attempts to distort his proposal to reform Medicare. Ryan explained that Medicare is already in trouble, and pointed out which side has really passed laws that will hurt current seniors.
"President Obama is actually damaging Medicare for current seniors; it's irrefutable." @PaulRyanVP
— David M. Drucker (@DavidMDrucker) August 14, 2012
"A lot of seniors don't know this: They turned Medicare into a piggy bank" for Obamacare. @PaulRyanVP
— David M. Drucker (@DavidMDrucker) August 14, 2012
Ryan and the Romney for President team have clearly decided they aren’t just going to let the Obama Campaign lie about their plans and try to scare senior voters. Instead, they are going on offense and exposing the facts. Earlier in the day the Romney Campaign released a devastating ad hitting Obama on the very same issue.
Liberals are defending these cuts by pointing to two things: First, they are emphasizing the cuts are technically taken from payments to hospitals and insurers, not beneficiaries.
Clarifying misinformation: The ACA cuts $700B from Medicare payments to hospitals and insurers, not patient benefits http://t.co/T7gHPRFq
— Julie Barnes (@JBarnesHealth) August 14, 2012
However, as Twitchy has previously noted, the result of such cuts is that less and less doctors are willing to accept Medicare patients. That means that even if many seniors still have coverage, they might find it increasingly difficult to find a doctor to treat them.
Second, the Obama Campaign and others are seizing on an ABC News Fact Check to say that Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney also support these cuts.
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ABC fact checks @MittRomney’s Medicare attacks. Findsboth Ryan & Romney backed the Medicare savings the ad attacks: http://t.co/Dzx9ZaJX
— Danny Kanner (@DannyKanner) August 14, 2012
Once again, there are some facts being ignored here. The same Fact Check points out that Romney has promised to eliminate those cuts. Furthermore, even if one accepts the cuts as part of the Ryan budget, Ryan explains the distinction in that he does not support raiding Medicare to pay for Obamacare. Rather Ryan wants to use the cuts to improve the long-term fiscal health of Medicare itself.
The truth is that the Obamacare cuts are real and are going to negatively impact many seniors. Indeed, Medicare recipients are already feeling the effects.
https://twitter.com/JamesRWolfeMD/status/235503542708887552
Related:
Source? Shameless Harry Reid rips Paul Ryan using ‘end Medicare’ line
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