$700 Billion Medicare Claim Fact Check

Really? Congressional Democrats and President Obama are gutting Medicare by $700 billion?

As a matter of fact, according to PolitiFact – a non-partisan Pulitzer Prize-winning fact checker – this is simply a lie.

To distract from the their plan to end traditional Medicare, Republicans are trying to claim that President Obama and House Democrats cut Medicare benefits in the Affordable Care Act.

The truth is that there are no cuts to Medicare benefits in the Affordable Care Act. In fact, ObamaCare actually cuts costs and increases benefits for those on Medicare – including closing the Medicare Part D donut hole.

So, where do the savings come from?

To extend the life of Medicare by 8 years, the Affordable Care Act cuts waste, fraud and abuse, as well as, eliminates wasteful overpayments to private insurance companies. These savings reduce the cost of Medicare by $716 billion over 10 years – while improving care for those in Medicare.

Those savings made so much sense, that Paul Ryan and the Republican leaders in Congress included them in their proposed Republican budget.