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McConnell’s Misleading Claim

The McConnell campaign launched a response ad that makes its own misleading claim about Medicare. It says that Obamacare “cuts $700 billion from seniors’ Medicare,” a tired line that we deemed a whopper in 2012, and before.

The GOP talking point is misleading for several reasons: The Affordable Care Act doesn’t slash $700 billion from the current Medicare budget; instead, this is a cut in the future growth of spending over a decade.

Furthermore, the reductions apply to payments made to hospitals and other non-physician providers, and it remains to be seen whether those would translate into reduced services. (It hasn't.)

Finally — and most ironic — that same $700 billion in “cuts” is part of the Ryan budget plan that McConnell voted to consider.

The more glaring problem with McConnell’s claim about Medicare “cuts” is that the money isn’t being taken away from seniors.

By reducing the future growth of a decade of Medicare spending by $700 billion, the ACA — and, also, Ryan’s GOP budget — stretches out Medicare financing so it lasts longer than was previously expected.

Most of the savings come from reducing the growth of payments to hospitals, which are paid by Medicare Part A, funded by payroll taxes.

Ryan’s budget keeps the ACA’s cuts, because — confusing campaign rhetoric to the contrary — both parties want to slow the growth of Medicare spending, as we’ve explained in detail before.

We called the 2012 presidential election “a campaign full of Mediscare.” The 2014 midterms are no different.

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