Jun 03, 2011
Andy Harris Falsely Claims Ryan Plan Would Close Medicare Doughnut Hole
At a town hall meeting in May 2011, Representative Andy Harris (MD-01) told constituents “Washington hasn’t been telling the truth to you” about Medicare. Then, true to his words, Harris went on to lie about Medicare, claiming that the Republican budget plan he supported would close the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole.
“What we’re proposing, what the Ryan plan proposes is […] without the doughnut hole. No doughnut hole either,” said Harris.
FactCheck.org rightly points out that the Republican budget would reopen the prescription drug doughnut hole. This would cost the 59,000 Maryland seniors who fall into the coverage gap $33 million in the next year alone.
FACT CHECK:
FactCheck.Org: Ryan Plan Would Reinstate “Doughnut Hole.” According to FactCheck.org, in May 2011, “Ryan’s budget plan does indeed reinstate the so-called ‘doughnut hole,’ a gap in Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage. As the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said: ‘The proposal would repeal the provisions that created the Independent Payment Advisory Board and that expanded subsidies for the “coverage gap” in Part D (a range of spending in which many enrollees have to pay all of their drug costs, sometimes called the doughnut hole).’” [Factcheck.org, 5/06/11]
The Republican Budget Will Force 59,000 Maryland Seniors To Pay An Additional $33 Million For Prescription Drugs Next Year Alone. The Republican-passed budget will force an estimated 59,258 Maryland seniors to pay an additional $33 million for prescription drugs next year alone, and an additional $663 million through 2020. According to the Associated Press, “The coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit would be brought back.” [DPCC, 4/21/11; Associated Press, 4/6/11]
Harris Said “Washington Hasn’t Been Telling the Truth to You,” Before Lying to Maryland Seniors About Prescription Drug Coverage. At a town hall meeting in May 2011, Representative Andy Harris said: “Washington hasn’t been telling you the truth about this, but you’ve been planning your lives on that. You know if your 64 and you’re going to retire at 65, you’ve planned your health care retirement life around the fact that you’ve expected to get Medicare. So it would unfair for us to say: ‘You know what? Sorry about that, next year we’re actually cutting your benefits’ […] What we’re proposing, what the Ryan plan proposes is just take what part D does, and just run part A and part B with it, except without the doughnut hole. No doughnut hole either.” [Andy Harris Town Hall (10:20-11:40), 5/17/11]
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