Manipulating Medicare

Gary Bauer

Gary Bauer, Contributing Author:  Barack Obama just got busted trying to manipulate Medicare for political purposes. Here is what's going on.

Beginning in 2013, ObamaCare eliminates Medicare Advantage -- a popular program that 12 million seniors rely on. But in order for Medicare Advantage to be eliminated next year, seniors would have to register for a new program this year -- about a month before the election.

Desperate to avoid having millions of seniors ticked off weeks before the election, the political hacks in the Obama Administration found a way to postpone the phase out of Medicare Advantage. Federal law allows the Department of Health and Human Services to spend money on "demonstration projects" without congressional approval so long as it is conducting a legitimate study intended to improve the effectiveness and quality of various health care programs.

It turns out that HHS has set aside $8 billion in "bonuses" for Medicare Advantage. Republicans have long complained that this spending has only one purpose -- to delay the demise of Medicare Advantage until 2014, but the media and the White House have ignored their complaints.

A report from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office strongly suggests the GOP complaints are valid. The Associated Press reports that government auditors say the bonus program should be cancelled. Consider this excerpt:

"GAO, the investigative agency of Congress, did not address GOP allegations that the bonuses are politically motivated. But, its report found the program highly unusual. It 'dwarfs' all other Medicare pilots undertaken in nearly 20 years, the GAO said. Most of the bonus money is going to plans that receive three to three-and-half stars on Medicare's five-star rating scale, the report said. …

"But GAO questioned whether the bonus program will achieve its goal of finding better incentives to promote quality. 'The design of the demonstration precludes a credible evaluation of its effectiveness in achieving (the administration's) stated research goal.'"

Of course it precludes a credible evaluation of effectiveness! HHS isn't studying anything. Remember -- the Medicare Advantage program is scheduled to be eliminated. So why are taxpayers providing billions of dollars in "bonuses" for average performance? As the AP notes: "Available through 2014, the bonuses will soften much of the initial impact of the Medicare Advantage cuts, acting like a temporary reprieve. This year, for example, the bonus program offset more than two-thirds of the cuts in the health care law."

Republicans should conduct a thorough investigation of this program and do everything they can -- even though the media will ignore much of it -- to expose this abuse of power. This is just one more example of the corruption of this administration. Obama's willingness to bend the rules and waste your hard-earned money for political purposes knows no limits. And it is another example of why conservatives are right to resist Obama's siren song of higher taxes, even on "millionaires and billionaires." The problem in Washington is not a lack of revenue. It is too much spending!

The Distractor-In-Chief - A number of conservative pundits have observed that the Obamas are everywhere lately. You can't even tune into a major sporting event without it being interrupted for a gratuitous interview with Barack or Michelle Obama. In fact, this First Lady is anything but camera shy. In George W. Bush's first term, Laura Bush appeared on 12 TV shows. Michelle Obama has already been on 44 shows! I have also noticed that Obama has a unique capacity to draw the media's attention away from the serious and significant and toward the trivial and tedious -- which is exactly what he will need to do to win a second term. You can read more in my weekly Human Events column.
-------------
Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families.

---

Tags: Manipulating Medicare, ObamaCare, eliminates, Medicare Advantage, Distractor-In-Chief, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working FamiliesTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!