Press "Enter" to skip to content

New mailer attacks Koster on Medicare cuts

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Republican Party is taking aim at Democratic candidate Chris Koster’s record on Medicare, this time via mail.

The pamphlet claims Koster’s plan is to cut Medicare, saying the Democratic candidate is a “disaster for Missouri seniors”.

The ad says Koster supports Obamacare, even though it cuts Medicare by $716 billion, citing an article by The Washington Post.

That number of $716 billion has since been debunked by politifact.com, who says:

“Obamacare does not literally cut funding from the Medicare budget, but tries to bring down future health care costs in the program. Much of this is accomplished by reducing Medicare Advantage, a small subset of Medicare plans that are run by private insurers.”

The article goes on to say that there is a reduction in spending to Medicare outlays, but “it’s fueled by finding savings in the program, a move that Republicans actually supported in the Ryan budget. Medicare spending still increases in the coming years.”

Obamacarefacts.com says the cuts didn’t actually hurt Medicare, but helped it.

“The Medicare cuts contained in the law were aimed at improving care by limiting fraud, waste, and abuse. The money saved from those cuts has been being reinvested back into Medicare and ObamaCare to improve care for seniors. Improvements include closing the Medicare Part D “donut hole”, reducing overpayments to hospitals, and more.”

In 2005, Koster did vote against a Medicaid expansion proposal. Now, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate has changed his stance on the issue, saying that expanding the Medicaid in Missouri is a top priority. Koster says expanding Medicaid would provide health care coverage to 300,000 Missourians, create thousands of jobs and invest billions into the state economy.

Missouri is one of 19 states not participating in the voluntary expansion of Medicaid provided by the Affordable Care Act. Under that act, the federal government offers to fully cover the costs of making Medicaid available to more people for three years, dropping that coverage to 95 percent in 2017 and 90 percent in 2020.

The Democratic candidate recently visited Springfield, where he took part in a roundtable discussion on healthcare, explaining his support for Medicaid expansion. He said that while it still needs fixing, he thinks Missouri needs to consider the opportunity.

Greitens, on the other hand, says “As Governor, I won’t expand Obamacare in Missouri. My priority is protecting Medicare and the jobs of our families.”

“Obamacare has been a disaster, but Chris Koster wants to expand it in Missouri,” Austin Chambers, Greitens’ campaign manager, said in a statement. “Koster’s embrace of Obamacare shows that he’s out of touch with Missouri and will just implement Hillary Clinton’s liberal agenda in the state.”

“Eric Greitens either doesn’t know enough about government to tell the difference between Medicaid expansion and Medicare, or is purposefully misleading voters. Either way, his lack of substance throughout this campaign has been shocking,” Koster spokesman David Turner said. “He lacks the fortitude to present a clear vision for health care in Missouri and rejects important investments despite a rural hospital closing nearly every 8 months. With little time before the election, hopefully he will decide to present some semblance of vision to the state of Missouri.”