Rove: The electoral consequences of killing Medicare Advantage

HotAir.com ^ | August 27, 2009 | Ed Morrissey

[CedarDave]

Over the past few weeks, I’ve written about Barack Obama’s plan to kill Medicare Advantage, a successful public-private partnership that extends benefits and access for Medicare patients, in order to pay for the overhaul of the American health-care system. We have personal experience with Medicare before and after buying into the Advantage program (which requires monthly premiums above those of Medicare Part B and D) and understand its value. Karl Rove looks at the electoral consequences of killing the program, to which 20% of all Medicare recipients belong, and warns that it could cost as many as 23,000 votes per Congressional district:

Medicare Advantage was enacted in 2003 to allow seniors to use Medicare funds to buy private insurance plans that fit their needs and their budgets. They get better care and better value for their money.

Medicare Advantage also has built-in incentives to encourage insurers to offer lower costs and better benefits. It’s a program that puts patients in charge, not the government, which is why seniors like it and probably why the administration hates it.

Already, an estimated 10.2 million seniors—one out of five in America—have enrolled in Medicare Advantage. Mr. Obama is proposing to cut the program by nearly 20% and thus reduce the amount of money each will have to buy insurance. This will likely force most of them to lose the insurance they have now. Yet Mr. Obama promised in late July in New Hampshire that, “if you like your health-care plan, you can keep your health-care plan.”

There are roughly 23,400 seniors on average in a congressional district who have Medicare Advantage, but who face losing it if Mr. Obama has his way. That’s enough votes to tip most competitive House and Senate races.

[CedarDave]

The article goes on to say the average difference between Democrats and Republicans in House races in 2008 was 22,979. If this comes to pass, we will be very glad to have those on our side in 2010.

[BunnySlippers]

Bump

[applpie]

all the experimenting about the health care system is happening to Medicare. Before any law gets passed.

[Shermy]

Karl Rove has a big new client/s.

Too bad. I’ll have to tune him out on anything about health.

[wny]

the demholes are crashing and burning on this one.........but a buch of idiot wusspublicanRINOs in the senate will pull their chestnuts out of the fire

[MamaDearest]

Yet Mr. Obama promised in late July in New Hampshire that, “if you like your health-care plan, you can keep your health-care plan.”

My dad would have called him a "lying sack of excrement*...." I've said this before and will repeat it here - every single day more and more omminous plans by this administration are provoking, insulting, concerning and affecting citizens. It's like a horror movie where we fear what is ahead and await what we know will happen anyway. The results of Obama's political selections, issues and financial ramifications are real and designed to control every aspect of our lives.

Liberals who railed against Bush and The Patriot Act are AWOL on Obama. If they don't come out of their drugged stupor soon, they're going to be fast-tracked to what loss of individual freedom is all about. Their candidate has used them and will continue to do so as long as they are compliant communist wannabes.

*substituting excrement for the word he REALLY would have used.

[CedarDave]

Been listening to Mark Levin this evening. The last 15 minutes of the second hour was all about finances and the national debt and how REALLY, REALLY bad Obama has made the nations finances in just the past seven months. In a couple of years it will soon overtake the entire national wealth and this is NOT even including the new health care package!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

The source is a little confusing in describing the Medicare Advantage programs as requiring subscriber premiums. I am in such a program and the only premium I pay is the Medicare Part B premium. Meantime all of my 12 or so medications are free, visits to my internist are free, visits to other doctors are $10, I am getting three weeks of visiting nurse service for free at the moment. If this program is taken away, I will not be a happy camper!