Romney Campaign Press Release - One Year Later, Medicare Is Still Going Broke

"President Obama has talked about fixing Medicare for years. But when he's had the chance to act, the President ducked the hard decisions and cut $716 billion to pay for Obamacare. As president, Mitt Romney will put seniors first by strengthening Medicare and restoring President Obama's cuts that are driving up costs and jeopardizing benefits." — Andrea Saul, Romney Campaign Spokesperson

One Year Ago Today, President Obama Warned That Failing To Fix Medicare Would "Gobble Up Basically The Entire Federal Budget":

President Obama, One Year Ago Today: "The Bigger Problem Is Medicare And Medicaid. ... Medicare And Medicaid Would Gobble Up Basically The Entire Federal Budget." OBAMA: "The bigger problem is Medicare and Medicaid. And the reason that's a problem is because health care costs keep on going up faster than inflation, people's wages, people's incomes at the same time as folks are getting older, so we've got more people into the system. And if we didn't do anything, then Medicare and Medicaid would gobble up basically the entire federal budget." (President Barack Obama, Remarks, Alpha, IL, 8/17/11)

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Last Year Was Not The First Time President Obama Warned About Failing To Fix Medicare:

Senator Obama, In The Audacity Of Hope: "The Two Main Government-Funded Health-Care Programs — Medicare And Medicaid — Really Are Broken..." "As vital as it may be to raise the wages of American workers and improve their retirement security, perhaps our most pressing task is to fix our broken health-care system. Unlike Social Security, the two main government-funded health-care programs — Medicare and Medicaid — really are broken; without any changes, by 2050 these two entitlements, along with Social Security, could grow to consume as large a share of our national economy as the entire federal budget does today. The addition of a hugely expensive prescription drug benefit that provides limited coverage and does nothing to control the cost of drugs has only made the problem worse. And the private system has evolved into a patchwork of inefficient bureaucracies, endless paperwork, overburdened providers, and dissatisfied patients." (Barack Obama, The Audacity Of Hope, 2006, p.183)

Candidate Obama, On Reforming Medicare: "I'd Like To Do It In My First Term As President." BROKAW: "Would you give Congress a date certain to reform Social Security and Medicare within two years after you take office? Because in a bipartisan way, everyone agrees, that's a big ticking time bomb that will eat us up maybe even more than the mortgage crisis." OBAMA: "Well, Tom, we're going to have to take on entitlements and I think we've got to do it quickly. We're going to have a lot of work to do, so I can't guarantee that we're going to do it in the next two years, but I'd like to do in the my first term as president." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Presidential Debate, Nashville, TN, 10/7/08)

What Has President Obama "Achieved" During His Four Years In Office? He's Failed To Lead On Fixing Medicare And Slashed $716 Billion To Pay For Obamacare:

According To The Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Obamacare Cuts $716 Billion From Medicare. (Congressional Budget Office, Letter To Speaker John Boehner, 7/24/12)

• The Miami Herald: "Obama's $700 Billion Medicare-Cut Problem" (Marc Caputo, "Obama's $700 Billion Medicare-Cut Problem," The Miami Herald, 8/12/12)

President Obama's Senior Campaign Aide Bragged That President Obama "Achieved" $700 Billion In "Cuts In Medicare." CUTTER: "Well, you know ask the wealthy to pay a little bit more. Cut waste from the government. Reform Medicare. More than $300 billion in savings from Medicare. On top of the savings we've already achieved. You know I heard Mitt Romney deride the $700 billion cuts in Medicare that the president achieved through health care reform." (CBS's "Face The Nation," 8/12/12)

"Medicare Actuaries And Trustees Say Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund Will Be Exhausted In 2024 Under Current Law." (Robert Pear, "Romney Medicare Plan Draws A Stark Contrast," The New York Times, 5/15/12)

The Washington Post: "The President Has Yet To Propose Meaningful Trims In The Exploding Costs Of Entitlements Such As Medicare..." "Meanwhile, other than cuts to finance the new entitlements in his health care bill, the president has yet to propose meaningful trims in the exploding costs of entitlements such as Medicare, which did not exist during Mr. Eisenhower's presidency." (Editorial, "President Obama's Defense Strategy Rests On Shaky Assumptions," The Washington Post, 1/6/12)

The Columbus Dispatch: "Barack Obama Spoke Of The Need For Entitlement Reform ...  But As President, Has Failed To Lead His Party Or Democratic Voters In That Inevitable Direction." "For his part, President Barack Obama spoke of the need for entitlement reform as a candidate in 2008, but as president, has failed to lead his party or Democratic voters in that inevitable direction." (Editorial, "Fix The Problem, The Columbus Dispatch, 5/29/12)

And Millions Of Seniors Are The Ones Who Will Pay The Price For President Obama's Medicare Cuts:

Obamacare's Cuts Will Cause Enrollment In Medicare Advantage To "Plummet By About 50 Percent" And Leave Seniors With "Higher Out-Of-Pocket Costs." "In addition to flagging provider cuts as potentially unsustainable, the report [HHS] projected that reductions in payments to private Medicare Advantage plans would trigger an exodus from the popular alternative. Enrollment would plummet by about 50 percent. Seniors leaving the private plans would still have health insurance under traditional Medicare, but many might face higher out-of-pocket costs." (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, "Report Says Health Care Will Cover More, Cost More," The Associated Press, 4/23/10)

President Obama's Medicare Cuts Will Mean Hospitals And Other Care Facilities "Might Drop Medicare Patients."  "15 percent of hospitals and other care facilities that rely on Medicare reimbursements would become unprofitable, meaning that they might drop Medicare patients." (Editorial, "Malpractice," Columbus Dispatch, 4/28/12)

52 Percent Of Doctors Say Obamacare Will Compel Them To Close Or Significantly Restrict Their Practices To Medicare Patients. (Merritt Hawkins, "Health Reform and the Decline of Physician Private Practice," The Physicians Foundation, October 2010)

FactCheck.org: "The Promise That 'Benefits Will Remain The Same' Is Just As Fictional As The Town Of Mayberry..." "Currently, about 1 in every 4 Medicare beneficiary is enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. For many of them, the words in this ad ring hollow, and the promise that 'benefits will remain the same' is just as fictional as the town of Mayberry was when Griffith played the local sheriff." (Brooks Jackson, "Mayberry Misleads On Medicare," FactCheck.org, 7/31/10)