Romney Takes the Offensive: Obamacare Cuts Medicare by $716 billion … Romney/Ryan Plan Protects Medicare for Today’s Seniors & Strengthens the Plan for the Next Generation

Don’t look now but the Romney-Ryan GOP Presidential ticket has a head of steam and is on the offensive. The latest Romney political ad takes dead aim at Barack Obama’s Obamacare, and charges that the Affordable Care Act “cuts $716 billion” from the entitlement program. What will seniors have to say about Obama taking $716 billion from Medicare to pay for the unaffordable entitlement known as Obamacare?  Mitt Romney has stated that he will put the $716 billion back into Medicare.

Romney/Ryan Plan Protects Medicare for Today’s Seniors and Strengthens the Plan for the Next Generation

Some have questioned that Obama really was not cutting $716 billion from Medicare; however, the Washington Post points out a much different story.

That $716 billion figure is one you’ll probably be hearing a lot about during this election cycle. It’s worth understanding where it comes from and what the spending reductions mean for the Medicare program.

First, where it comes from. On July 24, the Congressional Budget Office sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, detailing the budget impact of repealing the Affordable Care Act. If Congress overturned the law, “spending for Medicare would increase by an estimated $716 billion over that 2013–2022 period.” [...]

The Medicare Advantage cut gets the most attention, but it only accounts for about a third of the Affordable Care Act’s spending reduction. Another big chunk comes from the hospitals. The health law changed how Medicare calculates what they get reimbursed for various services, slightly lowering their rates over time. Hospitals agreed to these cuts because they knew, at the same time, they would likely see an influx of paying patients with the Affordable Care Act’s insurance expansion.

As reported at The Hill, in an interview with FOX News Britt Hume (VIDEO) … Paul Ryan stated, it was “irrefutable” that the president was “damaging Medicare for current seniors”.

“I joined the Romney ticket. And what Mitt Romney is proposing to do is repeal all of ObamaCare.
I have voted repeatedly in Congress to repeal all of ObamaCare, including this cut of $716 billion to pay for ObamaCare.

“The Obama campaign thinks it’s an achievement that they raided Medicare to pay for ObamaCare,” said the vice-presidential pick.

Paul Ryan doubled down on Romney campaign attacks on President Obama’s handling of Medicare, saying Tuesday it was “irrefutable” that the president was “damaging Medicare for current seniors” in his first solo interview since being named the GOP’s vice presidential nominee.

And for those who still think that Obama did not himself understand that he was making cuts to Medicare, watch the following video from 2009 where ABC’s Jake Tapper asks whether 1/3 of the cuts from Medicare and Obama agrees.