Ryan Signals Plans To Alter Medicare As Part Of Efforts To Overhaul Health Law
The Republican speaker of the House, who has advocated for an overhaul of Medicare in the past, says health insurance program for the nation's elderly has "serious problems" that are related to the Affordable Care Act, and he thinks they must be addressed during the GOP's efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. But his comments earn four Pinocchios from The Washington Post fact checker.
The Wall Street Journal:
Paul Ryan’s Comments Appear To Put Medicare In Play For 2017
Are Republicans, now in full control of the government, gearing up for a fight over Medicare as well [as] the Affordable Care Act? Remarks by Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan that the two are entwined raised the prospect that the popular seniors’ health program may be on the table. “Obamacare rewrote Medicare, rewrote Medicaid, so if you’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare, you have to address those issues as well,” Mr. Ryan said in a Fox News Channel interview Thursday night. (Radnofsky, 11/11)
The Washington Post:
Is Paul Ryan Already Eyeing Medicare Cuts?
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Thursday that Medicare has “serious problems” that would need to be addressed when Congress moves to repeal and replace President Obama’s health-care reform law — a signal that he is willing to immediately enter the treacherous politics of entitlement reform and perhaps break with President-elect Donald Trump. (DeBonis, 11/11)
The Washington Post Fact Checker:
Paul Ryan’s False Claim That ‘Because Of Obamacare, Medicare Is Going Broke’
It has been a bipartisan fallacy to claim that the old-age health program Medicare is going “broke,” which is incorrect for the reasons outlined below. But what was notable was [Paul Ryan] specifically blamed the Affordable Care Act for making Medicare go broke. That’s doubly wrong. Let’s explain. (Kessler, 11/14)
The Fiscal Times:
The Huge Medicare Hike That Was Scaring Seniors Will Be Cut In Half
About a third of Medicare’s 56 million beneficiaries who were staring down the barrel of a sharp increase in their premiums next year just got a reprieve from federal officials. Those beneficiaries, mostly higher-income earners or people new to the system, were informed last month that their health care premiums would rise by as much as 22 percent next year – elevating the cost to an estimated $149 per month. Now it appears they will have to pay less than half that increase. (Pianin, 11/11)
