Just as they did in their article on Social Security, when they made the startling claim that Social Security adds to the deficit, the most recent article gets it wrong again regarding the GOP's plan to end Medicare, instead describing it as 'altering Medicare profoundly.'
This is Factcheck's critique of the robocalls that the DCCC is running in a number of states hitting on GOP members voting for the Ryan budget:
We have written about this claim before, when Democrats and Republicans were both distorting the Medicare issue in a hotly contested special election in New York.
Briefly, here's what the GOP plan would do: For those 55 and older, the plan would have no effect on Medicare. For those younger than 55, the proposal would create an exchange where seniors would choose from a variety of government-approved health plans. According to CBO, the proposal “includes rules that would govern the Medicare exchange — including requiring insurers to issue insurance to all people eligible for Medicare who apply.” The CBO also says "a typical beneficiary would spend more for health care under the proposal."
Bottom line: Medicare would remain an entitlement program, but it would also be more costly to future beneficiaries. It would not end.
In fairness, I understand why Factcheck would say this...obviously the plan is still called Medicare, and it would not be changed for those over 55. However those over 55 will eventually all die, ending Medicare as we know it when that happens. I find it incredible that Factcheck would believe the political spin on the issue without questioning it.
The real bottom line is that changing a single-payer health insurance plan like Medicare and privatizing it where the government is no longer paying directly to health care providers is ending Medicare. Just because it is still a government entitlement program named Medicare doesn't mean it is the same thing, just as taking away someone's Mercedes AMG and giving them a bicycle called a Mercedes AMG isn't the same thing. They will both get you where you need to go, but they aren't the same.