Obamacare helps Medicare

I received a fancy color flier in the mail today filled with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ lies. It attacks purported Medicare cuts that seniors face because of the “evil” Obamacare. The fact is that the only cuts to Medicare were to Medicare Advantage, the Bush administration’s attempt to privatize Medicare by turning it over to the medical insurance billionaires. Advantage has been draining the Medicare trust and offering little added value.

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) actually improved Medicare by adding diagnostic services that have no co-pay, by adding free annual wellness visits, by dramatically reducing the Part D donut hole, and making it disappear entirely by 2020. Additionally, it has slowed and/or stopped the growth in Plan B rates and recent reports show that the solvency of Medicare has dramatically improved thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

McMorris Rodgers, on the other hand, has been party to over 50 wasted votes to eliminate the ACA. Those votes have cost American taxpayers over $70 million and, had they been successful, seniors’ Medicare coverage would have continued to cost more and go downhill.

Can we afford two more years of Cathy’s lies? I don’t think so.

Dave Koch

Valleyford