Fix Health Care Policy

Vice Presidential Debate: True/False Quiz on Medicare

During the debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Representative Paul Ryan, several claims were made about Medicare. Some of these were true, others false. See which ones you can guess right:

Biden: “We saved $716 billion and put it back, applied it to Medicare.”

False. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Obamacare cuts Medicare by $716 billion and uses that money to fund new spending under Obamacare. It does not strengthen Medicare at all. (For all of the “fact checkers” out there, these are across-the-board administrative cuts based on a specific formula. They do not target waste, fraud, or abuse. They come from Medicare Advantage (MA), hospital services, nursing homes, and more. For a full list, click here.)

Ryan: “They got caught with their hands in the cookie jar, turning Medicare into a piggybank for Obamacare. Their own actuary from the Administration came to Congress and said one out of six hospitals and nursing homes are going to go out of business as a result of this.”

True. According to the Medicare Actuary, “providers for whom Medicare constitutes a substantive portion of their business could find it difficult to remain profitable and, absent legislative intervention, might end their participation in the program (possibly jeopardizing access to care for beneficiaries). Simulations by the Office of the Actuary suggest that roughly 15 percent of Part A providers [hospitals and nursing homes] would become unprofitable within the 10-year projection period as a result of the productivity adjustments.”

Read the rest on The Foundry…

Tags: cookie jar, Joe Biden, Medicare, nursing homes, Paul Ryan, vice presidential debate, voucher

LIVE BLOG: Biden, Ryan Square Off in Vice Presidential Debate

Tonight at Centre College in Danville, KY, Vice President Joe Biden squares off against Representative Paul Ryan in their one and only encounter on the national stage. Both domestic and foreign policy topics are on the agenda for the vice presidential debate. Heritage is streaming it live and has a team of experts reacting on our Debate 2012 page.

Heritage’s policy experts are closely following every word of the vice presidential debate between Vice President Biden and Representative Paul Ryan. They are reacting instantly to the wide range of policy issues being discussed. The following is a compilation of their analysis.

Read the full reaction on The Foundry…

Tags: health care, Joe Biden, Medicare, ObamaCare, Paul Ryan, vice presidential debate

The False Choice Between Existing Medicare and Ryan’s Proposal

Yesterday, Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein used a recent poll to argue that Americans oppose House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R–WI) proposal to transform Medicare into a defined-contribution system, where seniors choose the health plan that best suits their needs. But, as always, the devil is in the details.

The Washington Post–ABC News poll gave respondents the following options: “Medicare should remain as it is today, with a defined set of benefits for people over 65, OR Medicare should be changed so that people over 65 would receive a check or voucher from the government each year for a fixed amount they can use to shop for their own private health insurance policy.”

In response, 65 percent said Medicare should be left untouched, with 34 percent preferring a defined-contribution approach. When asked generally if they would support cutting spending on the Medicare program in order to reduce the national debt, 78 percent said they opposed it.

The problem is, this represents a false choice between a feasible scenario and an impossible one. Experts on both sides of the aisle acknowledge that it is not possible to sustain Medicare in its current form. (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: defined-contribution system, House GOP 2012 budget, Medicare, Paul Ryan

Video: Rep. Ryan Educates MSNBC on Obamacare

Tags: government-run health care, MSNBC, Paul Ryan, public plan

Audio from Rep. Paul Ryan’s Teleconference

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Bob Moffit, director of Heritage’s Center for Health Policy Studies, spoke to more than 1,300 concerned citizens about the future of health care in America. Listen to a recording of the June 9 teleconference below.

Tags: Paul Ryan