On The Day He Qualifies For Medicare, Romney Touts Mistruths About The Program

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/12/442564/on-the-day-he-qualifies-for-medicare-romney-touts-mistruths-about-the-program/?mobile=nc



By Amanda Peterson Beadle on Mar 12, 2012 at 12:41 pm

On the day of Mitt Romney’s 65th birthday — officially making him eligible for Medicare — his campaign has released five questions about Medicare for President Obama, ranging from why the president is “ending medicare as we know it” to why he’s “creating an unaccountable board to ration care.”

The only problem? None of the issues Romney’s questions point out are true. Here’s why:

QUESTION: Why Is President Obama Ending Medicare As We Know It By Allowing It To Go Bankrupt In Less Than 15 Years?

FACT: Medicare is not going bankrupt. The Congressional Budget Office reports that one portion — Medicare Part A or hospital insurance — will become “insolvent.” As Igor Volsky has reported, “Dedicated revenues will not be sufficient to pay all of its bills and the hospital fund will meet about 90 percent of its commitments, rather than the full 100 percent. In the succeeding years that shortfall will slowly widen and then contract, so that in 2085, Medicare could pay out 88 percent of its obligations.” By lowering annual payment updates to providers, savings from the Affordable Care Act will extend the life of the trust fund by nine years.


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