Many Democrats have made misleading claims about ObamaCare’s impact on the fiscal state of Medicare. Most recently, they are using a report released today to claim that it extended by 12 years the solvency of one facet of Medicare (the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund). Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement to set the record straight.

“Democrats either flunked math or are purposefully misleading seniors and other Americans concerned about the precarious state of Medicare’s finances,” said Congressman Price. “Both the CBO and Medicare’s Chief Actuary say this supposed extension is nothing more than an accounting gimmick. The money is not in the Medicare bank account because Democrats have already spent it elsewhere. Even Washington cannot spend the same dollar twice.

“ObamaCare has also taken hundreds of billions out of Medicare Advantage, reducing benefits for the almost one in four Medicare enrollees who use the popular program. That is hardly a long-term solution for health care reform. If Democrats have their way, Medicare will go bankrupt because they have no plan to preserve it for future generations. This type of disregard just makes tackling an already daunting problem even more difficult. Conservatives have put forward realistic solutions to safeguard the fiscal health of America’s safety net programs. It is past time Democrats and Washington stopped sticking their heads in the sand.”