Romney-Ryan would cut benefits and end Medicare as we know it

September 28, 2012

The Washington Post reports, "Voters in three critical swing states broadly oppose the far-reaching changes to Medicare ­associated with the Republican presidential ticket and, by big margins, prefer President Obama to handle the issue, according to new state polls by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation. For seniors in Florida, Ohio and Virginia, Medicare rivals the economy as a top voting issue. And by majorities topping 70 percent, seniors say they prefer to keep Medicare as a program with guaranteed benefits, rather than moving to a system in which the government gives recipients fixed payments to buy coverage from private insurers or traditional Medicare, as Romney advocates."

Progressive Point: Medicare guarantees health care coverage to our seniors who have worked hard all their lives. Let's be clear: Obamacare preserves every dime of Medicare benefits. Romney-Ryan would not. Whether they'll privatize it or bankrupt it, Romney-Ryan would end Medicare as we know it.

After attacking Obamacare for the same $700 billion savings in their own plan, Romney & Ryan are now claiming they'd put that $700 billion in waste and abuse back into Medicare--making Medicare go broke in just four years. That's on top of their plan to replace Medicare with a privatized voucher system that sticks seniors with just a coupon to hand over to the insurance companies. Obamacare reinvests savings back in Medicare to expand benefits and extend Medicare's finances by nearly a decade. Any way you look at it, Romney-Ryan would cut benefits and end Medicare as we know it.

Get the Facts:

• The Romney-Ryan agenda would end Medicare as we know it by replacing it with a privatized voucher system that sticks seniors with a coupon to hand over to the insurance companies. (Center for American Progress, Aug. 24, 2012)


• Romney-Ryan would massively raise Medicare costs for current and future seniors. (Center for American Progress, Aug. 24, 2012)


• In Virginia, seniors give President Obama a 13 percent lead over Mitt Romney on who they trust to deal with the Medicare. "The importance of Medicare as an issue also boosts Obama more directly: In the three Post-Kaiser state polls, voters who call Medicare an 'extremely important' voting issue side with him over his challenger, 59 percent to 36 percent." (Washington Post, Sept. 28, 2012)

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