Here's Palin fanboy Rich Lowry fighting Rachel Maddow on Meet the Press yesterday about an often repeated Republican lie regarding Medicare:
Okay, so Rachel wasn't quite ready for this nonsense and I don't blame her. The Republicans -- who would love to utterly dismantle Medicare -- like to say that the ACA cut Medicare by $700 billion. The implication is that the ACA cut $700 billion in benefits, which is simply a lie. The ACA cut waste, fraud and abuse from Medicare. The law eliminates back-door deals to defraud Medicare and bilk the system. I wonder why is Rich Lowry against such a thing? In addition, the law trims back on Medicare Advantage.
The Center for Medicare Advocacy:
Health care reform does not cut Medicare benefits. In fact, health care reform expands Medicare coverage, by eliminating cost-sharing for preventive services, adding a yearly wellness visit, limiting some cost-sharing in private Medicare plans, and closing the Part D "Donut Hole." It also improves the solvency of the Medicare program itself. Reform does, however, change some Medicare payment policies. Some misstated reports of these changes have resulted in exaggerating public fear of cuts to Medicare benefits. This Alert summarizes the changes in certain Medicare payments in order to clarify that the Medicare reforms do not reduce Medicare’s guaranteed benefits.
The Affordable Care Act achieves savings in the Medicare program through a series of payment reforms, service delivery innovations, and increased efforts to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse. The actual projected reduction in Medicare spending is $428 billion over 10 years, after $105 billion in new Medicare spending is taken into consideration. These projections actually extend the life of the Medicare trust fund by about a decade. It is important to stress that none of the payment reforms affect Medicare's guaranteed benefit packages. The law specifically states that the guaranteed benefits in Medicare Part A and Part B will not be reduced or eliminated as a result of changes to the Medicare program.
Too many Democrats are being caught off guard about this.
If that was too liberal for you, here's Fox News Channel with similar information.