Letter to the Editor:

Both political parties use fear of the opponent to garner votes. A recent example is one that could be very distressing to people relying on Medicare. Mrs. Ernst has said that Representative Braley took more than 700 billion dollars out of Medicare. She cites a report by the Congressional Budget Office, the entity used to deal with monetary matters like the national debt and deficit spending. That report was requested by Representative Bohner, who wanted information on the impact of Obama Care.

The report does give the $711 billion figure. However, seniors need to know that those “cuts” were not funds that were going to be used for seniors’ medical care. For example, such things as Medicare fraud and money given to private insurance agencies out of Medicare funds were the type of things being “cut.” There will be no effect at all on the money designated for senior health care.

Mrs. Ernst chose to present only one page out of a 22 page report. She did not include the report’s information that found if her wish was realized and The Affordable Care Act was repealed, the national debt would actually rise over the next ten years, and that, due to these changes, Medicare has become more solvent and its solvency life has been extended.

Many issues are of concern, but cuts in Medicare should be a concern that is put to rest.

Anne Michael

Tama