NPR Misses the Boat
What’s wrong with this video? Crossroads GPS, an organization affiliated with Republican strategist Karl Rove, recently began airing a political ad critical of California Senator Barbara Boxer with this message:
California seniors are worried. Barbara Boxer voted to cut Medicare by $500 billion dollars. Cuts so costly to hospitals and nursing homes that they could stop taking Medicare altogether. Boxer’s cuts would sharply reduce benefits for some and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others. And millions of Americans will not be able to keep the plan or doctor they already have. Check the facts and take action. Call Boxer. Stop the Medicare cuts.
National Public Radio reporter Peter Overby has teamed up with Bill Adair of PolitiFact.com to fact-check the accuracy of advertisements aired by interest groups. One of their criticisms: the music was scary! Their final conclusion: the ad was “barely true.”
Yet the ad is fair and it reflects precisely the point of view of the Office of the Medicare Actuary as well as independent, non-Republican, Harvard University health economist Joe Newhouse, who wrote in Health Affairs that we will have a two-tiered health system, with seniors being relegated to community health centers and safety-net hospitals. (See our summary of both judgments in “What Does Health Reform Mean for You? A Consumer’s Guide.”)
If it weren’t for taxpayer subsidies, NPR would “barely” exist.
Bill Adair judged the ads to be “barely true” because the PPACA mostly constrains the growth of Medicare over the next decade (and beyond) rather than outright cuts that take place today. From an economic perspective, there is little difference.
Even if the ads were only “barely true” they are still pretty scary!
According to the CMS Chief Actuary, Medicare Advantage Plan members will pay more for coverage
See politico
This is obviously very biased reporting.
I guess NPR is rooting for Boxer. But shouldn’t there be some disclaimer to that effect?
Tom, it’s biased reporting under the pretense of being unbiased reporting. It even had a (totally biased) fact check.
Explain to me again why we should want to pay more for Medicare Advantage plans than standard Medicare. How will we afford that if we extend it to all seniors?
Steve
Many of these issues are very complicated not well served by short, bottom line assessments of “true” or “not true.” Did the story note that the criticized facts came from the CBO and Chief Medicare Actuary? Seems like a solid source to me.
Lizabeth, the answer to your question is “no.” NPR completely ignored the fact that the basic conclusions all came from the CBO and the Medicare Chief Actuary. They mention the Actuary, but in a way that makes it appear that the assertions in the ad were made of whole cloth.
There they go again with this “Shared Sacrifice” idea. It is clear that all Representitive Larson understands is tax and spend on enlentemitt programs. Cost is a factor in the economic equation that he and his cronies including the president just don’t understand. The systematic dismantling of American capitalism is underway lead by Mr. Larson here in CT. Instead of political sharpe shooting, why doesn’t Representitive Larson talk about jobs, why is he doing nothing to support an energy policy that will relieve us of dependency on foreign oil, what measure has he proposed to reduce utility costs and to keep Connecticut attractive to do business in?No thank you John…shared sacrifice is a slippery new political catch-all that we here in YOUR state have all learned it’s true meaning from your new governor. It sounds nice but it really means raising taxes on everything.This is hardly the economic policy this country needs now to remain as free Americans. By the way, how was the bocci tournament? The $2500 team entry fee must have made it a grand event. Nice to see you are sharing in all the economic pain we here in the district feel, especially at the pumps.
[…] […] […] Florida has a large number of Medicare Advantage plans avaabille.a0 One reason could be the large population of seniors that retire to the state.a0 The first thing to consider if you are looking for a Medicare Advantage plan in Florida is that the plans are NOT state specific.a0 The are in fact county specific.a0 Check here to look up Medicare Advantage plans by state for 2012.a0 Chances are you will find a company in South Florida that is not at all avaabille in the Northern part of the state.a0 One exception to this is United Healthcare.a0 They offer a plan that is identical across the state.a0 This is probably because of the size of the company.a0 They also offer a large network across the state.Source: medicare-plans.net […]Source: medicare-plans.net […]Source: medicare-plans.net […]Source: medicare-plans.net