Will Target Dems Slash Medicare Benefits for Seniors?

FYI, a version of the release below went out to the following districts: Marion Berry (AR-01); Tim Bishop (NY-01); John Boccieri  (OH-16); Leonard Boswell (IA-03); Alan Boyd (FL-02); Dennis Cardoza (CA-18); Chris Carney (PA-10); Gerry Connolly (VA-11); Jim Costa (CA-20); Joe Courtney (CT-02); Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-03); Lincoln Davis (TN-04); Brad Ellsworth (IN-08); Gabby Giffords (AZ-08); Martin Heinrich (NM-01); Baron Hill (IN-09); Steve Kagen (WI-08); Paul Kanjorski (PA-11); Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01); Dan Maffei (N.Y-25); Betsy Markey (CO-04); Jim Matheson (UT-02); Michael McMahon (NY-13); Jerry McNerney (CA-11); Harry Mitchell (AZ-05); Alan Mollohan (WV-01); Chris Murphy (CT-05) Scott Murphy (NY-20); Glenn Nye (VA-02); David Obey (WI-07); Bill Owens (NY-23); Tom Perriello (VA-05); Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL); Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23); John Salazar (CO-03); Loretta Sanchez (CA-47); Mark Schauer (MI-07); Kurt Schrader (OR-05); Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01); Zack Space (OH-18); John Spratt (SC-05); Betty Sutton (OH-13); Dina Titus (NV-03); Tim Walz (MN-01); Charlie Wilson (OH-06); David Wu (OR-01); and John Yarmuth KY-03).  

Will Pomeroy Slash Medicare Benefits for North Dakota Seniors?

Fellow Democrat Speaks Out Against Medicare Cuts in Healthcare Takeover

Washington – As North Dakota Democrat Earl Pomeroy prepares to take a potential career-ending vote on his party’s healthcare takeover, will he stop to consider the thousands of Medicare beneficiaries in his district?  Under the Democrats’ healthcare plan, millions of seniors who rely on Medicare will be affected by hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the program. With his Democrat colleague Jason Altmire refusing to vote for a healthcare bill that will slash billions in seniors’ much-needed Medicare, will Pomeroy follow suit or will he turn his back on the Medicare-dependent seniors in his district?

Click to watch: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNRCC#p/a/u/0/TYv_S_W3rAE

JASON ALTMIRE: In the end, I had to vote for my district, and I have serious policy concerns about the bill. There is 135,000 Medicare beneficiaries in my district and I don’t think this bill would have been fair to them. A lot of them are on Medicare advantage. In the end, cost has to be an issue. We talked many times, I was waiting to see a way this brought down the cost of healthcare. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. It just moves money around and changes who is paying the bill. It shifts the burden from one group of people to another, but it doesn’t change the healthcare delivery system in a way to bring down the cost of healthcare.

Seniors will be hit hard by the Democrats’ healthcare takeover:

“Seniors have been understandably worried about the health care plan, since much of it is financed with Medicare cuts the government’s own experts say could be unsustainable. On the block are subsidies to private Medicare Advantage insurance plans, which now enroll about one-quarter of seniors….[The] bill could trigger an exodus from Medicare Advantage as insurers are forced to raise their rates to stay in business.” (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “Health Care 101: A Consumer Primer on Obama’s Bill,” Associated Press, 3/15/10)

“Unflinching on a critical first test, Senate Democrats closed ranks Thursday behind $460 billion in politically risky Medicare cuts at the heart of health care legislation…” (“Medicare Cuts Stay in Senate’s Health Bill,” Associated Press, 12/3/09)

“Earl Pomeroy is feeling the pressure as his party leaders attempt to ram their trillion dollar healthcare takeover down the throats of the American people,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “With hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicare on the line, North Dakota seniors are hoping Pomeroy will vote ‘No.’ As he prepares to take a potential career-ending vote tomorrow, will he side with Nancy Pelosi or stand up for the thousands of seniors who are on the verge of having their Medicare benefits slashed?”

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the results of these cuts could be devastating:

“CBO estimates that enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans in 2019 would be 2.6 million lower than under current law, with most of those reductions (2.0 million) occurring in areas where bids currently are below FFS costs.” (CBO Analysis, 11/21/09)

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