Congressman Ryan just claimed the Romney-Ryan Medicare voucher plan is bipartisan and is rooted in the recommendations of a 1990s Clinton commission. But that’s just not true – Senator Ron Wyden voted against the Ryan budget and has condemned their Medicare plan. Romney and Ryan are just trying to hide that their plan for Medicare is to turn it into a voucher program, increasing costs for seniors by more than $6,000 a year.
SEN. WYDEN: ROMNEY IS “TALKING NONSENSE” - “I SPOKE AND VOTED AGAINST THE MEDICARE PROVISION IN THE RYAN BUDGET”
Oregonian Headline: “Sen. Wyden Says Romney Is 'Talking Nonsense' About Wyden's Medicare Work With Paul Ryan” [Oregonian, 8/11/12]
Roll Call Headline: “Ron Wyden Takes Issue With Mitt Romney Linking Him To Paul Ryan.” [Roll Call, 8/12/12]
Senator Wyden Said Romney Was “Talking Nonsense” When Touting Ryan As A Bipartisan In Reference To Ryan’s Work On Medicare. “Romney, in his second appearance with Ryan Saturday after naming him to the GOP presidential ticket, praised Ryan's willingness to reach across party lines. ‘This man said I'm going to find Democrats to work with,’ Romney said. Then, refering to Wyden and Ryan's work on Medicare, Romney added, ‘He found a Democrat to co-lead a piece of legislation.’ Wyden fired back Saturday evening that Romney is ‘talking nonsense.’” [Oregonian, 8/11/12]
- Sen. Ron Wyden: “Gov. Romney Needs To Learn You Don’t Protect Seniors By Makings Things Up, And His Comments Today Sure Won’t Help Promote Real Bipartisanship.” [Roll Call, 8/12/12]
- Sen. Ron Wyden: “Bipartisanship Requires That You Not Make Up The Facts.” [Roll Call, 8/12/12]
Senator Wyden: “I Did Not ‘Co-Lead A Piece Of Legislation’” With Ryan And “I Spoke And Voted Against The Medicare Provisions In The Ryan Budget.” Senator Wyden: “Bipartisanship requires that you not make up the facts. I did not ‘co-lead a piece of legislation.’ I wrote a policy paper on options for Medicare. Several months after the paper came out I spoke and voted against the Medicare provisions in the Ryan budget. Governor Romney needs to learn you don't protect seniors by makings things up, and his comments today sure won't help promote real bipartisanship.” [Oregonian, 8/11/12]
Oregonian: “Wyden Has Repeatedly Said That The Medicare Plan That Ryan Pushed Through The Republican-Led House Is Different From The ‘Policy Paper’ That He Produced With Ryan.” [Oregonian, 8/11/12]
2012: SENATOR WYDEN VOTED AGAINST THE RYAN BUDGET
Sen. Wyden Voted Against Ryan Budget. In 2012, Wyden voted against the motion to proceed to Rep. Ryan’s budget proposal. [Senate Vote #98, 5/16/12]
THE ROMNEY-RYAN PLAN WOULD END MEDICARE AS WE KNOW IT – TURNING IT INTO A VOUCHER SYSTEM…
New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait: President Obama’s Argument That Romney Would “End Medicare As We Know It” Is “Undeniably True.” “Today President Obama talks Medicare in Florida and argues that Mitt Romney will ‘end Medicare as we know it.’ The claim is undeniably true, though keep in mind that ‘as we know it’ is a fairly elastic term.” [Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine, 7/19/12]
Romney Adviser Tara Wall Said Romney And Ryan “Are Certainly 100% On The Same Page And On The Same Path Relative To Saying That We Have To Reform Medicare, Offering Options Like Vouchers.” [CNN Newsroom, CNN, 8/14/12]
Romney: “Paul Ryan And My Plan For Medicare I Think Is The Same, If Not Identical It's Probably Close To Identical.” [WBAY (Green Bay, WI), 8/15/12]
- Bloomberg: “Ryan’s Budget Bill Also Would End Traditional Medicare By Capping Spending And Offer Vouchers To Buy Private Insurance.” [Bloomberg, 8/13/12]
- Romney’s Medicare Plan: “Medicare Is Reformed As A Premium Support System, Meaning That Existing Spending Is Repackaged As A Fixed-Amount Benefit To Each Senior That He Or She Can Use To Purchase An Insurance Plan.” [Romney Press Release, Spending Plan – “Cut The Spending,” 11/4/11]
- Reuters: “Ryan's Plan Calls For An End To The Guaranteed Benefit In Medicare And Replaces It With A System That Would Give Vouchers To Recipients To Pay For Health Insurance.” [Reuters, 8/12/12]
…WHICH WOULD SHIFT MORE COSTS ON TO SENIORS AND INCREASES COSTS BY MORE THAN $6,000 EACH YEAR
Los Angeles Times Headline: “Seniors Would Pay The Price Of Ryan’s Plan To Overhaul Medicare.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/13/12]
Los Angeles Times: Under The Ryan Budget “Seniors Would End Up Paying Almost Twice As Much Out Of Their Own Pockets.” [Los Angeles Times, 4/7/11]
New York Times Editorial: Ryan’s Plan Would Turn Medicare Into A Voucher System And “Would Leave Older Americans On Average With $6,400 In Extra Costs By 2022, According To The Congressional Budget Office.” “Most voters know little about Mr. Ryan. Those who have heard of him are probably most familiar with his Medicare plan, which would turn the program into a voucher system that would pay beneficiaries a fixed amount for their medical care, leaving them on their own if the voucher did not cover their costs. This notion so alarmed the public last year that Mr. Ryan was forced to backtrack and leave the existing Medicare system as an option. Even so, the plan would leave older Americans on average with $6,400 in extra costs by 2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office.” [Editorial, New York Times, 8/13/12]
- Center On Budget And Policy Priorities: Under Ryan’s Plan, Seniors On Medicare Would Pay $6,350 More In Out-Of-Pocket Costs By 2022. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Off the Charts blog, 4/8/11]
Harvard’s David Cutler: Even Analyzed, “Conservatively,” A Voucher Plan Like Romney’s Could Increases Costs By $6,800 A Year “For A Person Reaching Eligibility Age In 2030.” “In 2011, CBO released an analysis of Ryan’s first premium support plan, which replaced traditional Medicare with vouchers that seniors would use to help pay for private insurance. The CBO found that it would cost private plans 39% more than traditional Medicare to deliver the same services. There were two reasons for this: first, private plans have higher administrative costs (including profits), and second they have less bargaining power and therefore would need to pay higher rates to providers. That 39% works out to an extra $6,400 a year for a typical 65 year old in 2030. Under the new premium support plan, which our paper analyzed, all new retirees receive a voucher that they can use to buy coverage from a private plan or from traditional Medicare. Because traditional Medicare is still an option, the erosion of bargaining power under the new Romney-Ryan plan is less immediate. Still, it is there. Anything that moves a significant share of people out of traditional Medicare will mean that Medicare has to pay more to ensure access. Conservatively, we estimated that the total extra costs to care for seniors in the future would be half what CBO estimated – 19.5% rather than 39% – and that effect would take 10 years to phase in. Adding these amounts over expected lifetimes yields the numbers we reported in our previous analysis. To show what this implies on an annual basis, we divide the increase in real costs by years of life remaining as of the age of Medicare eligibility. Figure 3 shows the results. The additional costs are $3,200 annually for a person reaching eligibility age in 2023, $6,800 annually for a person reaching eligibility age in 2030, $12,000 annually for a person reaching eligibility age in 2040, and $17,800 annually for a person reaching eligibility age in 2050.” [David Cutler, A Follow-Up on the Analysis of the Romney-Ryan Medicare Plan, 10/2/12]
- Harvard’s David Cutler: “Even Under The Revised Voucher Proposal, The Additional Cost To Enroll In Medicare For The Vast Bulk Of People Will Be $6,000 Annually Or More.” [David Cutler, A Follow-Up on the Analysis of the Romney-Ryan Medicare Plan, 10/2/12]