Democrats Double Down: Dems’ Plan Will Cut and Ration Medicare
June 6, 2011
FYI, a similar version of this release below went out to the following districts: Jason Altmire (PA-04), John Barrow (GA-12), Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Tim Bishop (NY-01), Dan Boren (OK-02), Leonard Boswell (IA-03), Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), Russ Carnahan (MO-03), Ben Chandler (KY-06), David Cicilline (RI-01), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Jim Cooper (TN-05), Jim Costa (CA-20), Jerry Costello (IL-12), Mark Critz (PA-12), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Joe Donnelly (IN-02), Raul Grijalva (AZ-07), Martin Heinrich (NM-01), Brian Higgins (NY-27), Jim Himes (CT-04), Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15), Kathy Hochul (NY-26), Tim Holden (PA-17), Rush Holt (NJ-12), Jay Inslee (WA-01), Steve Israel (NY-02), Bill Keating (MA-10), Dale Kildee (MI-05), Ron Kind (WI-03), Larry Kissell (NC-08), Rick Larsen (WA-02), David Loebsack (IA-02), Jim Matheson (UT-02), Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04), Mike McIntyre (NC-07), Jerry McNerney (CA-11), Michael Michaud (ME-02), Brad Miller (NC-13), Bill Owens (NY-23), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), Gary Peters (MI-09), Collin Peterson (MN-07), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), David Price (NC-04), Nick Rahall (WV-03), Mike Ross (AR-04), Loretta Sanchez (CA-47), Heath Shuler (NC-11), Adam Smith (WA-09), Betty Sutton (OH-13), John Tierney (MA-06), Niki Tsongas (MA-05), Pete Visclosky (IN-01), Tim Walz (MN-01), Anthony Weiner (NY-09), John Yarmuth (KY-03)
Democrats Double Down: Costello’s Plan Will Cut and Ration Medicare
Illinois Democrat’s Party Leaders Continue to Hide Their Own Plan to Bankrupt Medicare
Washington — This weekend, House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi again reiterated Jerry Costello’s Medicare plan, which would use an unelected board of bureaucrats to ration care and eventually slash benefits once the program runs out of money in 13 years. Unlike the Republican plan to save and protect Medicare for future generations, Costello’s Democrat plan would drastically cut and ration benefits for seniors enrolled in the plan.
“Jerry Costello’s disastrous Democrat plan for Medicare would ration care and slash benefits for seniors who depend on the program,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “What Costello doesn’t want you to know is that his plan would let 15 unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats ration care for Illinois seniors on Medicare. Costello’s Democrat plan would force Medicare into bankruptcy, requiring immediate slashes to benefits or massive payroll tax increases on every working American.”
On Sunday, House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi reiterated the Democrats’ commitment to their current plan which rations care and lets Medicare run out of money:
BOB SCHIEFFER: Don’t you have to though give some plan or some idea of how you’re going to reform Medicare because we all know it can’t sustain as it is.
REPRESENTATIVE NANCY PELOSI: Well, we in our health care bill as you probably know saved half a trillion dollars in Medicare. We had a half a trillion dollars in savings there which we plowed back into improved benefits for seniors in terms of prescription drugs but even more important than that, we made it stable for about ten years into the– added ten years of solvency into the future.
(CBS News’ “
Face the Nation,” 6/5/11)
Under the Democrats’ plan, slashes to benefits or payroll tax increases on every working American would be required once the program runs out of money:
“The long-range financial imbalance could be addressed in several different ways. In theory, the standard 2.90-percent payroll tax and the additional tax 0.9-percent tax on high-income earners could be immediately increased by the amount of the actuarial deficit to 3.69 percent, or expenditures could be reduced by a corresponding amount. Note, however, that these changes would require an immediate 24-percent increase in the tax rate or an immediate 17-percent reduction in expenditures.” (“2011 Annual Report,”
The Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds, 5/13/11)
The Democrats will use an unaccountable board of unelected bureaucrats to ration Medicare benefits:
“One place to start is by attacking the Democratic plan to cut Medicare via political rationing. Mr. Ryan’s budget had the virtue of embarrassing President Obama’s spend-more initial budget, and the White House responded by proposing to increase the power of the new Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) to decide what, and how much, Medicare will pay for. The ObamaCare bill goes to great lengths to shelter this 15-member, unelected board from Congressional review, with the goal of letting these bureaucrats throw granny over the cliff if Medicare isn’t reformed. Yet few Americans know anything about IPAB or its rationing intentions.” (Editorial, “The GOP’s New York Spanking,”
The Wall Street Journal, 5/26/11)
Jerry Costello cannot indefinitely hide his own Medicare plan which would ration care and slash benefits for Illinois seniors depending on the program. Sooner or later, Costello will have to answer for the fact that his Democrat plan is the only one that would drastically reduce the healthcare options for seniors enrolled in Medicare once it runs out of money.
Democrats Double Down on Their Plan That Cuts and Rations Medicare http://ow.ly/5b3XC #madeinwdc
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