Earlier this week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) dispatched a four-page brochure to 40 million senior citizens that explains how the new health care law will affect the Medicare program. The content of the tax payer funded Medicare brochure has Republican politicians incensed and calling for an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Several Republican senators describe the Medicare brochure as misleading and a form of government propaganda constituting an illegal use of tax-payer funds. At the heart of the controversy are statements in the brochure that allegedly promise savings and increased quality health care. The brochure uses the words “improves” and “improvements” eight times, which imply the superiority of the reforms over the old system.
Republican politicians are still very skeptical about the impact of the health reform law, and view the claims made in the brochure as unsubstantiated, as no one can say for sure that the provisions of the reform law will result in an improvement. Republicans are saying the mailing was sent out as a tool ahead of mid-term elections to garner crucial votes from seniors. In addition to the GAO investigation, Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee are asking HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to halt distribution of the brochure until the investigation is complete.
Ironically, this situation was reversed six years ago. According to NPR, during that time George W. Bush’s administration sent out correspondence with the aim of educating seniors about a new Medicare prescription drug law passed at the time with mostly Republican votes. Democrats were outraged and called for investigations by the GAO. The investigations led to findings that the mailings were “misleading” and that public money was essentially used to make fake news. Then and now, both administrations claim the need to inform seniors about crucial changes to the Medicare program as justification for the mailings.
View the Medicare brochure
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Sources: NPR, Politico, The Hill
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