It was last summer when Sen. Rick Scott first started telling Americans that rascally Democrats had cut Medicare by $280 billion. By any sensible measure, the Florida Republican was brazenly lying: As regular readers know, the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act empowered Medicare to negotiate lower prices for consumers on prescription medications, generating dramatic savings.
In the English language, there is no credible definition of “cut” under which this falls.
And yet, the GOP senator kept repeating the line, even as journalists kept reminding him of reality. More recently, as the Floridian found himself on the defensive over social insurance programs, Scott once again embraced the same lie, telling the public anew that Democrats cut Medicare, sparking a new round of fact-checking.
That was before the 2022 midterm elections. Now, the public is hearing yet another round of claims about Medicare “cuts” that aren’t actually cuts.
In fact, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which Scott no longer runs, issued a statement just last week insisting that the White House “is trying to gut Medicare benefits,” which was a line the NRSC echoed in a new attack ad. A group representing insurance companies recently began airing related commercials, warning of Medicare “cuts.”
And why, pray tell, is this happening right now, more than 20 months before the next Election Day? As Roll Call reported, the insurance industry and Republicans are trying to “fend off changes to private Medicare Advantage plans:
So far this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released two rules aimed at reducing overpayments to Advantage plans while increasing oversight — moves long recommended by nonpartisan government watchdogs and economists. But those rules are being framed by Republicans as cuts to Medicare amid a debate over the solvency of the program, the 2024 elections and the national debt.
As readers might assume, the granular details get…
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