Dem Plan to Bankrupt Medicare Moving Along Just Fine

New Report From Medicare’s Trustees Predicts Medicare Bankruptcy By 2024, Dem Plan Means 26% Benefit Cuts, 47% Tax Hikes or Having ObamaCare Bureaucrats Gut Medicare

• Today’s newly released report from the trustees of Medicare confirms that the Democrats’ plan for Medicare would bankrupt the program by 2024 and could lead to automatic benefit cuts of 26% or tax increases of 47%.
• The Democrats have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to gutting Medicare—first when they cut Medicare by $500 billion to pay for ObamaCare, then when they used ObamaCare to empower a board of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats to gut Medicare.
• Doctors and patient groups continue to plead with Democrats to abandon their commitment to gutting Medicare, but Democrats have shown they will stop at nothing to defend ObamaCare, even if that means putting Medicare on the chopping block.

Today’s newly released report from the trustees of Medicare confirms that the Democrats’ plan for Medicare would bankrupt the program by 2024 and could lead to automatic benefit cuts of 26% or tax increases of 47%:

WHEN MEDICARE’S TRUSTEES PREDICTED MEDICARE’S BANKRUPTCY LAST YEAR, NANCY PELOSI CLAIMED THAT MEDICARE’S FINANCES WERE “STRONG”: (“Pelosi Statement on Report of the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees,” Office of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 5/13/2011) 

MEDICARE TRUSTEES SAY MEDICARE WILL GO BANKRUPT IN 2024, SAME AS LAST YEAR’S ESTIMATES: “The Medicare Trustees Report released today shows that the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund is expected to remain solvent until 2024, the same as last year’s estimate, but action is needed to secure its long-term future.  In 2011, the HI Trust Fund expenditures were lower than expected.” (Press Release, “Medicare Stable, But Requires Strengthening,”Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 4/23/2012)

SENIORS COULD SUFFER 26% BENEFIT CUTS OR 47% TAX INCREASES UNDER DEMS’ MEDICARE PLAN: “Lawmakers could address the long-range financial imbalance in several different ways. In theory, they could immediately increase the standard 2.90-percent payroll tax by the amount of the actuarialdeficit to 4.25 percent, or they could reduce expenditures by a corresponding amount. Note, however, that these changes would require an immediate 47-percent increase in the standard tax rate or an immediate 26-percent reduction in expenditures.” (p. 32-33, “2012 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds,” The Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds, 4/23/2012)

The Democrats have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to gutting Medicare—first when they cut Medicare by $500 billion to pay for ObamaCare, then when they used ObamaCare to empower a board of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats to gut Medicare:

NANCY PELOSI HAS REPEATEDLY BRAGGED ABOUT DEMOCRATS’ $500 BILLION IN CUTS TO MEDICARE TO PAY FOR OBAMACARE:

PELOSI ADMITS “WE TOOK HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS OUT OF MEDICARE” WITH GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER: “You don’t have to have cuts in those initiatives in order to reduce cost there, and we have proven that we’re willing to make cuts in the cost to initiatives. We took half a trillion dollars out of Medicare in the Affordable Care Act, the health care bill, already, and there’s certainly more opportunities for savings in that respect.“(Remarks from Nancy Pelosi, CNBC’s “Closing Bell”, 10/29/2011)

PELOSI TO CBS: GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER IS THE MODEL FOR MEDICARE CUTS: “SCHIEFFER: ‘Let me just interrupt you. Don’t you have to though give some plan or idea of how you’re going to reform Medicare because we all know it can’t sustain as it is.’

“PELOSI: ‘Well, we in our health care bill as you probably know saved half a trillion dollars in Medicare. … That’s one of the fights that we are having, because we want to have those savings to keep Medicare solvent.'” (Remarks from Rep. Nancy Pelosi, CBS’ Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, 6/5/2011)

TO ABC NEWS: “We took $500 billion dollars, half a trillion dollars, in the health care bill, to put [Medicare] on a path of stability for a decade going into the future.” (Jonathan Karl and John Parkinson, “Exclusive: Pelosi Says Democrats Have a ‘Very Good Chance’ to Win Back the House in 2012,” ABC News, 6/2/2011)

DEMOCRATS ARE DOUBLING DOWN ON THEIR MEDICARE-GUTTING BOARD CREATED UNDER OBAMACARE:

90% OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS VOTE AGAINST REPEALING MEDICARE-GUTTING BOARD: (H.R. 5, Roll Call #126, 3/22/2012)

WHITE HOUSE WAS WHIPPING AGAINST IPAB REPEAL: “Democratic sources said Tuesday that White House aides were reaching out to Members to keep them from peeling off when the measure comes to a vote on the floor. Democratic House leaders rigorously whipped colleagues against voting for the GOP’s full health care repeal last year, but they have not done the same for the more targeted repeal measures that have come forward.” (Jessica Brady, “Democrats Willing to Tinker with Health Care Law,” Roll Call, 3/7/2012)

“OBAMA BUDGET WANTS MORE TEETH” FOR MEDICARE-GUTTING BOARD:(Phillip Klein, “Obama Budget Wants More Teeth for Medicare Board,” The Washington Examiner, 2/13/2012)

OBAMA BUDGET CLAIMS IT “STRENGTHENS THE INDEPENDENT PAYMENT ADVISORY BOARD”: “In addition, it strengthens the Independent Payment Advisory Board to reduce long-term drivers of Medicare cost growth.” (p. 112, “The Budget for Fiscal Year 2013: Department of Health and Human Services,” The White House, 2/13/2012) 

OBAMA’S HHS SECRETARY KATHLEEN SEBELIUS REFERRED TO IPAB AS “A KEY PART OF THE PRESIDENT’S PLAN”: (Kathleen Sebelius, “IPAB Will Protect Medicare,” Politico, 6/23/2011)

Doctors and patient groups continue to plead with Democrats to abandon their commitment to gutting Medicare, but Democrats have shown they will stop at nothing to defend ObamaCare, even if that means putting Medicare on the chopping block:

DOCTORS PLEAD FOR DEMOCRATS TO REPEAL MEDICARE-GUTTING BOARD CREATED UNDER OBAMACARE:

AMERICAN OSTEOPATHIC ASSOCIATION: CONCERNS THAT “QUALITY CARE FOR OUR PATIENTS WILL BE JEOPARDIZED”: “We are concerned that, by removing Congressional authority over the Medicare payment system and placing such unprecedented authority in an unelected body, quality care for our patients will be jeopardized.  We are equally concerned with the potential that physicians may be subjected to a double jeopardy in  Medicare payments if IPAB cuts  are  coupled with those projected under the current sustainable growth rate (SGR). The current instability and inequities in Medicare physician payments is hindering access to care for millions of Medicare beneficiaries.  IPAB would only exacerbate this problem.” (Martin S. Levine, American Osteopathic Association, Letter to House Energy & Commerce Committee, 2/28/2012)

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, WITH 75,000 MEMBERS, CALLS FOR IPAB REPEAL: (David B. Hoyt, Letter to Joe Pitts, House Energy and Committee, 2/28/2012)

IPAB WILL “NEGATIVELY IMPACT THE AVAILABILITY OF QUALITY, EFFICIENT HEALTH CARE”: “The Committee’s consideration of H.R. 452 is an important step in preserving Congress’ role in Medicare payment policy. Leaving payment policy decisions in the hands of an unelected, unaccountable governmental body with minimal congressional oversight will negatively impact the availability of quality, efficient health care to Medicare beneficiaries and all Americans.” (David B. Hoyt, Letter to Joe Pitts, House Energy and Committee, 2/28/2012)

AMERICAN UROLOGICAL ASSOCIATION: DOCTORS WILL “OPT OUT OF THE MEDICARE PROGRAM OR BE DRIVEN OUT OF PRACTICE ALTOGETHER”: “He warned, ‘These cuts could be driven so low that physicians will be forced to limit the number of Medicare beneficiaries they see, opt out of the Medicare program, or be driven out of practice altogether.'” (Ralph Lindeman, “IPAB Would Reduce Access to Care, Witnesses Tell Ways and Means Panel,” Bloomberg, 3/7/2012) 

12,000 DOCTORS OF AMERICAN PODIATRIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: IPAB WILL “SEVERELY LIMIT MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES’ ACCESS TO CARE” AND “INCREASE HEALTH-CARE COSTS”: “[Our] members believe that the ill-conceived Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) contained in the Affordable Care Act will not only severely limit Medicare beneficiaries’ access to care but also increase health-care costs that are shifted onto the private sector.” (Michael J. King, American Podiatric Medical Association,” Letter to House Energy & Commerce Committee, 2/28/2012) 

IPAB’S CUTS “WOULD LEAD TO A REDUCTION IN ACCESS TO CARE”: “The Independent Payment Advisory Board, created under the health care law to help control Medicare costs, lacks flexibility to do much more than cut provider payments that would lead to a reduction in access to care, witnesses told a House Ways and Means panel March 6.” (Ralph Lindeman, “IPAB Would Reduce Access to Care, Witnesses Tell Ways and Means Panel,” Bloomberg, 3/7/2012) 

41 DOCTORS’ GROUPS REPRESENTING 400,000 DOCTORS FEAR THAT “15 UNELECTED AND LARGELY UNACCOUNTABLE” BUREAUCRATS WILL MAKE MEDICARE DECISIONS, AND NONE ARE ALLOWED TO BE “PRACTICING PHYSICIANS”: (Letter from Healthcare Stakeholders, House Energy and Commerce Committee, 3/5/2012)

HOUSE DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO ABANDON OBAMACARE, NO MATTER THE COST:

ONLY THREE DEMOCRATS JOINED EFFORT TO REPEAL OBAMACARE: Final Vote: 245-189. (Roll Call 14, Clerk of the U.S. House, 1/19/2011)

“THE OBAMA VACUUM: HOUSE DEMS DEFEND” OBAMACARE: (Jonathan Allen and Kate Nocera, “The Obama Vacuum: House Dems Defend Health-Care Reform,”Politico, 3/21/2012)

HOUSE DEMS “GOING ALL OUT TO DEFEND THEIR HEALTH CARE” DISASTER:“House Democrats are going all out to defend their health care reform law as the Supreme Court takes the case next week.” (Jonathan Allen and Kate Nocera, “The Obama Vacuum: House Dems Defend Health-Care Reform,” Politico, 3/21/2012)