Romney Campaign Press Release - Unlike President Obama, Mitt Romney Will Preserve And Strengthen Medicare

Even President Obama's Own Advisers Are "Open To A Future For Medicare That Includes Competition Among Private Insurance Plans":

"Influential Experts Who Have Advised Obama On Health Care Are Open To A Future For Medicare That Includes Competition Among Private Insurance Plans." "President Obama has seized on Republican proposals to overhaul Medicare as a top campaign issue, saying that the GOP plan to add a private insurance option would end seniors' guarantee of government health care. But behind the election-season politics, influential experts who have advised Obama on health care are open to a future for Medicare that includes competition among private insurance plans." (National Journal, 9/10/12)

President Obama's Destructive Record On Medicare:

Only One Candidate Has Taken Over $700 Billion From Today's Medicare To Fund Obamacare. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Obamacare cuts $716 billion from Medicare. (Congressional Budget Office, 7/24/12)

Only One Candidate Put A Board Of Fifteen Unelected Bureaucrats In A Position To Make Further Medicare Cuts Without Congressional Approval. "The Independent Payment Advisory Board, created under the health care law to help control Medicare costs, lacks flexibility to do much more than cut provider payments that would lead to a reduction in access to care, witnesses told a House Ways and Means panel March 6." (Bloomberg, 3/7/12)

Only One Candidate Has Failed To Reform Medicare Long-Term, Leaving It On The Edge Of Bankruptcy In Twelve Years. "Medicare's main trust fund will be depleted by 2024, five years earlier than projected last year, according to the report by the trustees overseeing the program — largely because they have downgraded their expectations of economic growth." (The Washington Post, 5/13/11)

The Romney Plan — Save And Strengthen Medicare:

Mitt Romney Plan Will Save And Strengthen Medicare — Without Making Any Changes For Those That Are 55 Years Of Age And Older. Governor Romney's plan:

•         Makes no changes to Medicare for those over 55

•         Starting in 2022, transitions Medicare to a premium support model with competitive bidding to determine support levels — preserving traditional Medicare as an option

•         Means-tests the premium support so that lower-income seniors receive the most generous assistance.

•         Ensures seniors always have access to affordable, quality coverage and that no senior could ever be denied coverage for any reason.

Governor Romney Supports A "Competitive Bidding" Model That Ensures Every Senior Can Afford Coverage At Least As Good As Today's Medicare. Under the Romney plan, any private insurer wishing to offer Medicare coverage would offer a bid for the year specifying the premium it would charge. Every insurer has an incentive to offer the lowest possible bid so as to make its plan attractive to seniors. Once the bids have been submitted, the premium support provided by the government is set relative to those bids and means-tested to ensure that every senior can afford to choose a plan offering coverage at least as good as today's Medicare.