DEMS TO SENIORS: BID FAREWELL TO YOUR DOCTORS, BENEFITS

Senate Dems Vote To Cut Hundreds Of Billions From Medicare To Fund Their Health Care Experiment

View This Research Briefing At GOP.com

SENATE DEMS VOTE TO KEEP NEARLY $500 BILLION IN MEDICARE CUTS TO FUND TWO NEW ENTITLEMENTS IN THEIR HEALTH CARE EXPERIMENT

CBO Says Sen. Harry Reid's (D-NV) Health Care Experiment "Cuts Medicare Spending By $491 Billion Over 10 Years." (Chris Frates, "CBO Score," Politico's "Live Pulse" Blog, 11/18/09)

• Cuts That CBO Says Could "Reduce Access To Care Or Diminish The Quality Of Care." (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Harry Reid, 11/18/09, P. 1, 17)

• To Help Pay For New Subsidies In Government-Run Health Insurance Scheme. "The bill is ... intended to make the middle class more dependent on government ... It creates a vast new entitlement, financed by European levels of taxation on business and individuals." (Editorial, "The Lords Of Entitlement," The Wall Street Journal, 11/9/09)

• And Fund A Long-Term Care Entitlement Program That Many Senate Dems Say Will "Increase Deficits." "Senators Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) wrote in the letter that they are concerned the CLASS Act would increase deficits. ... 'We have grave concerns that the real effect of the provisions would be to create a new federal entitlement program with large, long term spending increases that far exceed revenues,' they wrote." (Stephanie Condon, "Moderate Senators Oppose Long Term Health Care Proposal," CBS News's "Political Hot Sheet" Blog, 10/28/09)

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) Proposed An Amendment To Restore Funding To Medicare. "Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, has offered his party's first amendment - an attempt to remove all of the Democrats' proposals to slow the growth in Medicare spending." (David M. Herszenhorn, "Senators Begin Offering Amendments," The New York Times' "Prescriptions" Blog, 11/30/09)

• But Democrat Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN), Mark Begich (D-AK), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tom Carper (D-DE), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Jon Tester (D-MT), And Mark Warner (D-VA) Vote Against Protecting Seniors And Their Medicare Benefits. (H.R. 3590, Vote On The Motion To Recommit, Roll Call Vote Failed 42-58; R: 40-0; D: 2-56; I: 0-2, 12/3/09)

BUT SENATORS NELSON (D-NE), WEBB (D-VA) ACKNOWLEDGE CUTS TO MEDICARE BY VOTING FOR MCCAIN'S AMENDMENT

Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE) And Jim Webb (D-VA) Vote For McCain's Amendment. (H.R. 3590, Vote On The Motion To Recommit, Roll Call Vote Failed 42-58; R: 40-0; D: 2-56; I: 0-2, 12/3/09)

WILL NELSON AND WEBB VOTE AGAINST FINAL BILL WITH MEDICARE CUTS

THAT WILL CAUSE SENIORS TO LOSE THEIR DOCTORS AND BENEFITS?

Dems Admit Cuts "Will Force Doctors To Decline Medicare Patients." "Rep. Eric Massa said tightening provider payments could lead to access problems for patients. 'We will force doctors to decline Medicare patients ...'" (Ceci Connolly, "Seniors Remain Wary of Health-Care Reform," The Washington Post, 8/9/09)

• And Payment Cuts To Cardiologists Could "Threaten Access" To Needed Heart Treatments. "Medicare officials recently proposed changes that could increase payments for some primary care services but reduce payments to many specialists. Cardiologists would be especially hard hit ... 'Cuts of this magnitude could cripple cardiology practices and threaten access to services for millions of patients,' said Dr. John C. Lewin, chief executive of the American College of Cardiology." (Robert Pear, "A Basis Is Seen For Some Health Plan Fears Among The Elderly," The New York Times, 8/20/09)

Senate Dems' Bill Will Slash Medicare Advantage. "Setting payment rates in the Medicare Advantage program on the basis of the average of the bids submitted by Medicare Advantage plans in each market, yielding savings of an estimated $118 billion (before interactions) over the 2010-2019 period." (Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Senator Harry Reid, 11/18/09)

• CBO Director Says Cuts To Medicare Advantage Means Many Seniors Seeing Benefits Cut In Half. SEN. MIKE CRAPO (R-ID): "So approximately half of the additional benefit would be lost to those current Medicare Advantage policy holders." ELMENDORF: "Those who would be enrolled otherwise under current law, yes..." (Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) And CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf, Senate Finance Committee Markup Hearing, 9/22/09)

• 20 States Would See More Than 50,000 Seniors Being Dropped From Medicare Advantage. "If Congress sets MA rates at the level of county FFS spending, 11 states are predicted to lose more than 100,000 MA enrollees each, including: California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Illinois. An additional 13 states would lose between 50,000 and 100,000 MA enrollees, including: Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Florida, New York, Louisiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana and Tennessee." (Adam Atherly, Ph.D. and Kenneth E. Thorpe, Ph.D., Emory School Of Public Health, "The Impact Of Reductions In Medicare Advantage Funding On Beneficiaries," 4/07)