10 Ways Martha McSally Would Attack the Middle Class: DAY FIVE: McSally Would Turn Medicare Into a Private Voucher Program

TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 13 -- The campaign of U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, a Democrat running for re-election in Arizona's2nd Congressional District, issued the following campaign news:

Martha McSally's strategy of not answering questions isn't fooling anyone because she already laid out her anti-middle class agenda the first time she ran for Congress. Here's one more way she'd attack the middle class: She would turn Medicare into a private voucher program.

That's right-- Martha McSally would say sayonara to Medicare if she had the chance.

"Martha McSally said that she would vote for Paul Ryan's plan to turn Medicare into a private voucher program," said Ashley Nash-Hahn, spokeswoman for Ron Barber for Congress. "Instead of fighting for the 135,000 Southern Arizona retirees who depend on Medicare for their health care, McSally wants to end Medicare as we know it--all in order to give millionaires a tax break."

In case you missed it, here is number one, number two, number three and number four on McSally's anti-middle class agenda.

Background

Martha McSally said she would have voted for a budget that would turn Medicare into a private voucher program.

In April 2012, McSally said that she would have voted for the FY 2013 Paul Ryan Budget:

"There were several budgets actually that were tied up last week to the House and the one that did pass is the one that Paul Ryan had created and I would have voted for that budget," she said. [KGUN 9 News, 4/09/12]

NCPSSM: Ryan Budget Would Make It Harder for Seniors to Choose Their Own Doctor.The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare called Rep. Paul Ryan's plan for Medicare a "dangerous proposal to privatize the program which would benefit insurance companies, at your expense, and make it harder for seniors to choose their own doctor and cut prescription drug, preventive care and nursing home benefits." [NCPSSM website, accessed 9/12/12]

CBPP: Ryan Budget could limit Seniors ability to choose their own doctor. Under Ryan's Plan, "people now age 55 and older might well face higher premiums and cost sharing for traditional Medicare, a more limited choice of providers, or both." [CBPP, 3/28/12]

<p>Forces 45 Million Seniors To Negotiate With Private Insurers. "Mr. Ryan still wants to effectively privatize it. He proposes to cut some $205 billion and make the coverage Medicare provides to more than 45 million older Americans the responsibility of private-sector insurance companies." [Times-Union, Editorial, 3/22/12]

Under the Ryan Budget seniors would be forced to buy health coverage through private insurance rather than Medicare. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation policy brief, beginning in 2022, "all newly-eligible Medicare beneficiaries (i.e., individuals turning 65 as well as younger, disabled individuals becoming eligible for Medicare) would only have access to health coverage through private insurance plans, rather than through the current government-run Medicare program (i.e., traditional Medicare), or under a Medicare Advantage plan." [Kaiser Family Foundation Policy Brief, Proposed Changes to Medicare in "Path to Prosperity," 4/08/11]

NYT: 2011 and 2012 Ryan Budgets Only "Slightly Different." An analysis of the Ryan Budget proposed in early 2012 found that it was only "a slightly different version of Mr. Ryan's proposal last year." [New York Times, 8/11/12]

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