By Michael Short
Fact Checkers Call Her Medicare Scare Tactics False
Politifact: “On the May 29, 2011, edition of CBS’ Face the Nation, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. -- recently named chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee -- criticized the proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to make significant changes to how Medicare works …
“Wasserman Schultz is free to criticize the Ryan plan on any number of grounds, but in her comment, she went too far. Both the budget plan that passed the House and its predecessor, Ryan-Rivlin, specifically noted that coverage could not be prevented by a pre-existing condition. It may be easier to say you’ll bar ‘cherry picking’ patients than it is to put it into practice, but Ryan has made his intentions consistently clear. We rate her statement False.”
Click here to read the full fact check: http://bit.ly/lw23La
Washington Post: “Something about the debate over Medicare prompts eye-popping rhetoric. A few weeks ago, it was Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius saying the Republican plan for Medicare would let cancer patients ‘die sooner.’ This weekend, on CBS’s ‘Face The Nation,’ Wasserman Schultz said Republicans would ‘throw you to the wolves’ …
“Where does Wasserman Schultz come up with her claims? DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan provided a link to a study and quotes from various experts that mostly focused on whether the premium support envisioned under the plan would be adequate for most people …
“We checked with Michael Cannon, director of health policy at the libertarian Cato Institute, one of the experts cited by Sevugan as backing up Wasserman Schultz’s claim. Cannon described her comment as ‘high-octane idiocy’ …
“There are certainly details in the GOP plan, which has not been drafted as actual legislation, that need to be addressed. But Wasserman Schultz is jumping to conclusions — not to mention scaremongering metaphors — to describe provisions in the GOP Medicare plan that just do not exist.”
Click here to read the full fact check: http://wapo.st/mN8RPE
Factcheck.org: “Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz falsely claimed that seniors with preexisting medical conditions would be denied Medicare coverage under the GOP's plan. The House GOP plan specifically says insurance companies “must agree to offer insurance to all Medicare beneficiaries.”
“She also repeated a false Democratic talking point that future beneficiaries — those who are now younger than 55 — would be left on their own to buy insurance in the private market.
“She is simply wrong to say that the GOP plan would allow insurance companies to ‘throw you to the wolves and allow insurance companies to deny you coverage and drop you for preexisting conditions’ …
“[I]t's wrong to say that the GOP plan would ‘throw you to the wolves and allow insurance companies to deny you coverage.’”
Click here to read the full fact check: http://bit.ly/iCGJz7
Source: RNC press release
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