re: #18 Hal_10000

I find Cutter’s response underwhelming. The fact is that Obamacare does cut Medicare by $716 billion through cuts in fee-for-service and the review board. You can call these “savings” if you want. If someone else proposed it, they would be called cuts. It’s aggravating that our two parties keep trying to distance themselves from the central reality of the budget: that Medicare, unchecked, has tens of trillions in unfunded liabilities that have to be addressed somehow. We’re not debating that anymore; we’re debating how to make those cuts. The President’s plan is more direct than Ryan’s and doesn’t come with unsustainable tax cuts.

A big portion of the “cuts” is from overpayment to private insurance for Medicare Advantage. There are no cuts to basic medicare benefits. And, as you know, it plugs the prescription drug donut hole.