Bobbing and weaving in the veep debate
Bipartisan Spin on Medicare Plan
By MICHAEL COOPER, JONATHAN WEISMAN and ERIC SCHMITT, NYT
As Representative Paul D. Ryan debated Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Thursday night, he sometimes seemed to be defending his own past budget and Medicare proposals as much as his running mate’s plans — sometimes in misleading ways.
When Mr. Ryan was defending his plan to reshape Medicare so future beneficiaries would receive fixed amounts of money to purchase private insurance or buy into the existing government program — a model for Mitt Romney’s proposal — he described his plan as “bipartisan,” and called it “a plan I put together with a prominent Democrat senator from Oregon.” But he failed to note that he later lost that Democrat’s support.
Mr. Ryan was referring to a paper outlining a Medicare plan that he drafted in December with Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat of Oregon. But Mr. Wyden withdrew his support of the plan after Mr. Ryan reduced the rate at which the federal subsidies would grow — a key point that could decide whether future beneficiaries would face higher out-of-pocket costs as a result of the new program.
Mr. Ryan also said that the Romney-Ryan plan would not affect people “in or near retirement.” While their plan to reshape Medicare would not, their proposal to repeal President Obama’s health care law would, because the law has a provision that helps Medicare recipients pay for prescription drugs, to help cover the gap known as the “doughnut hole.” So far this year, the Department of Health and Human Services said last month, the law saved the average recipient $641 on drug coverage.
(More here.)
As Representative Paul D. Ryan debated Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Thursday night, he sometimes seemed to be defending his own past budget and Medicare proposals as much as his running mate’s plans — sometimes in misleading ways.
When Mr. Ryan was defending his plan to reshape Medicare so future beneficiaries would receive fixed amounts of money to purchase private insurance or buy into the existing government program — a model for Mitt Romney’s proposal — he described his plan as “bipartisan,” and called it “a plan I put together with a prominent Democrat senator from Oregon.” But he failed to note that he later lost that Democrat’s support.
Mr. Ryan was referring to a paper outlining a Medicare plan that he drafted in December with Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat of Oregon. But Mr. Wyden withdrew his support of the plan after Mr. Ryan reduced the rate at which the federal subsidies would grow — a key point that could decide whether future beneficiaries would face higher out-of-pocket costs as a result of the new program.
Mr. Ryan also said that the Romney-Ryan plan would not affect people “in or near retirement.” While their plan to reshape Medicare would not, their proposal to repeal President Obama’s health care law would, because the law has a provision that helps Medicare recipients pay for prescription drugs, to help cover the gap known as the “doughnut hole.” So far this year, the Department of Health and Human Services said last month, the law saved the average recipient $641 on drug coverage.
(More here.)
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