(The Tennessean) Question: Did my congressman/congresswoman vote to slash Medicare funding by $716 billion?
Answer: This is an update of an attack ad that ran in many races during the 2010 congressional elections. It refers to changes that the Affordable Care Act makes to Medicare.
The law slows the growth of Medicare spending over a 10-year-period to extend the life of the program’s trust fund from 2016 to 2024. It doesn’t cut any current benefits.
So where will Medicare reduce its spending? It cuts payments to providers. Subsidies to private Medicare Advantage plans ($156 billion); hospital reimbursements ($260 billion); skilled nursing services ($39 billion); home health care ($66 billion) and hospice ($17 billion). (All of these are over 10 years.)
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