Medicare Advantage has emerged as a hot topic of the election, putting President Biden in a difficult position with senior voters after he cut the benefits of the popular Medicare Advantage program before the election.
“I will not cut one cent from Social Security or Medicare, which Joe Biden destroyed by allowing millions of people to come into our country. He destroyed Medicare and Social Security,” Trump said during a rally on the campus of Temple University in Philadelphia over the weekend. the past setting the stage for a sustained assault on the 2024 contenders.
“Joe Biden has cut Medicare Advantage for the last two years. Did you know? He’s cut your Medicare Advantage, which is a total betrayal of parents. And just check, you’ll see. straight.”
Medicare was cited again during the first presidential debate of the election cycle on Thursday, where Biden’s poor performance included him saying, “We finally beat Medicare” as he stumbled over his words.
“They’re right, they beat Medicare, beat it to death,” Trump said. “And they’re destroying Medicare because all these people are coming in, they’re putting them on Medicare, they’re putting them on Social Security.”
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Former President Trump called out President Biden for claiming he was at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. Trump visited the site in New York City days after the Twin Towers were attacked. (Getty Images)
Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, specifically, are private health insurance plans that contract with Medicare, and are used by more than 33 million Americans. The program usually enrolls adults over the age of 65, but it also offers benefits to people with disabilities of all ages. Traditional Medicare, in contrast, is a federal health insurance program for adults over the age of 65, as well as younger people with disabilities.
BIDEN hopes that seniors will not notice this cut in their benefits before the election.
The Biden administration in April finalized plans to cut MA benefits, which experts say could add $33 a month to out-of-pocket costs, or $396 a year, for enrollees. Critics of the cuts say it will hurt older people on fixed incomes who are already dealing with persistent inflation.
Fox News Digital spoke with former nurse, New York Republican congresswoman, and Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairwoman Ann Marie Buerkle, who said the cuts could prove damaging to the Biden administration, as the 46th president is experiencing fever this election cycle.
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“By allowing left-wing socialists to control the policy agenda, Biden is making a huge mistake that will jeopardize the support of the 33 million Americans enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans who will see premiums rise, co-pays rise, and benefits drop before November,” Buerkle said. .
President Biden speaks about his administration’s plan to protect Social Security and Medicare and reduce health care costs, February 9, 2023, at the University of Tampa in Florida. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The cuts come as the left-wing faction of Congress continues to promote “Medicare-for-all” legislation, which would create a universal single-payer national health insurance system. Buerkle said Biden’s government cuts this year are “actively sabotaging MA,” possibly a backdoor effort to promote a government-focused system, such as “Medicare-for-all.”
“Far-left ideologues like Elizabeth Warren hate the success of Medicare Advantage as a public-private partnership because it undermines the argument for government-run health care, aka ‘Medicare-for-all.’ Biden allowed these left-wing ideologues to be active in his administration MA sabotage to support the government-run model and achieve a socialist agenda,” he said.
Those sentiments were echoed in an op-ed published by Fox News Digital in May, by Heritage Action executive vice president Ryan Walker.
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“Biden and his allies want to cut MA for more government-run, fee-for-service ‘Medicare-for-all’ — which means fewer choices for doctors and coverage, like vision and hearing. That’s why Jayapal, D -Wash., and a coalition of 59 left-leaning House Democrats sent a letter to Biden arguing for ‘strengthening Traditional Medicare’ and directing funds ‘wrongly to MA,'” Walker wrote.
The Biden administration denied that “any claim that this Administration is cutting Medicare is false” and “disinformation,” adding that “protecting Medicare is a top priority for President Biden and one of the highest priorities at HHS.”
“This is a cherry picking number. In the announcement of rates, payments for Medicare Advantage plans are expected to increase by 3.7% next year, equal to over $16 billion. An increase of $16 billion is not cut,” the White House told Fox News Digital.
“Leave it to insurance companies and deep-pocketed industry front groups to characterize this year’s Medicare Advantage payment increases as cuts. Disinformation pushed by highly paid industry hacks and their allies is hurting Medicare beneficiaries and the Medicare Trust Fund .”
The administration added that it is proposing a 1% increase in payments to insurance companies that provide Medicare Advantage orders to “ensure that they are paid appropriately and appropriately to cover services received by enrollees.”
“Like the 1% percent increase in payments proposed for 2024, recovering overpayments from insurance companies is not a cut in payments – that claim is completely false.”
President Biden during the first presidential debate in the 2024 election between him and former President Trump in Atlanta, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Buerkle previously wrote in an op-ed this year that Medicare benefits could be “a winning issue for Republicans,” noting that states that voted for Trump in 2016, but went to Biden in 2020 – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – is home to the majority of elderly people who receive health care through MA.
“51% of Americans who are eligible for Medicare choose MA, and that number is increasing every year. Nearly all of them report satisfaction with the program. So, for 51% of the elderly, Medicare Advantage is Medicare, so the program cut is the same as Trump knows that it increases health care costs for the most vulnerable populations before the election is a ridiculous idea,” Buerkle told Fox News Digital.
The MA plan was overwhelmingly supported by enrollees, with a 2021 analysis finding 90% of enrollees reported that they were satisfied with the plan. Biden also vowed during his State of the Union address in March that he would protect Social Security and Medicare from any cuts.
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“Tonight, let’s agree again to stand up for the elderly. Many of my colleagues on the other side want to put Social Security on the chopping block. If anyone here tries to cut Social Security or Medicare or raise the retirement age. , I will stop you,” Biden said during the State of the Union.
“I will not cut one cent from Social Security or Medicare,” former President Trump said. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“Not only will these cuts increase out-of-pocket costs for seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans by an average of $396 next year, cutting Medicare Advantage will also disrupt Medicare’s solvency, because less expensive for the federal government compared to original Medicare and studies have shown that Medicare Advantage can help extend Medicare solvency by 17 years old. MA provides the same benefits as original Medicare for only 83 cents on the dollar,” added Buerkle.
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The cuts have come with no shortage of condemnation from Republicans and conservatives, who voiced in April that seniors on fixed incomes would suffer financial strain.
President Biden speaks during a campaign event in Philadelphia on April 18, 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“American seniors are one of the most vulnerable people in our society. Most of them live on fixed incomes – Biden’s inflation has been a tax on everything they buy. Now, he is raising the price of benefit plans – plans that millions of seniors depend on,” Ted Cruz Sen Texas sent in X. “This is unacceptable.”
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“President Trump made a record of his promise to protect Social Security and Medicare in his first term, and President Trump will continue to protect Social Security and Medicare in his second term,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital.
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“The only candidate who threatens Social Security and Medicare is Joe Biden – whose mass invasion of millions of illegal aliens will, if allowed to stay, cause Social Security and Medicare to buckle and collapse. killing jobs, and implementing pro-growth American tax and trade policies, President Trump will quickly build the largest economy in history and make Social Security and Medicare stronger for generations to come.
Axios reported earlier this year that Biden administration officials believed benefits for enrollees would remain stable through next year. Researchers, however, said the Biden campaign took a gamble with cuts before the election.
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“President Biden’s team is gambling that MA beneficiaries won’t find out before the Biden team’s election benefits cause them to lose in January 2025,” Raymond James analyst Chris Meekins told the outlet.
