Democrats’ Medicare Claims Named 2011 ‘Lie of the Year’
The fact-checking website PolitiFact has conferred its annual "Lie of the Year" for 2011 to Democrats for suggesting that a House GOP Medicare reform proposal would "end" the program. The proposal -- which House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) unveiled in April and the House approved as part of the GOP fiscal year 2012 budget resolution (H Con Res 34) -- would have altered Medicare from a fee-for-service program to one that would have beneficiaries purchase coverage on the private market. According to PolitiFact, Democrats' claim that the Ryan plan would "end Medicare" overlooks the fact that the proposed changes would not affect current beneficiaries or seniors ages 55 and older who would enter the program in the next decade.
- "Attacks on Paul Ryan's Medicare Reform Proposal Named 'Lie of the Year'" (Baker, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 12/20).
- "Dems' 'Mediscare' a Dubious Winner" (Drobnic Holan/Adair, PolitiFact/Politico, 12/20).
- "Is the 'Lie of the Year' About Ending Medicare Actually True?" (Kaplan, "Booster Shots," Los Angeles Times, 12/20).