Barack Obama's campaign is making a national push to cast a budget proposal by Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney's promise to repeal Obamacare as bad news for seniors.
North Carolinians got a localized version of the message during a conference call to reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., and Jonathan Oberlander, a health policy professor University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, touted effects of the Affordable Care Act and said the Ryan plan would slash benefits for Medicare and Medicaid and up the amount seniors are expected to contribute.
Etheridge said the plan was "sort of off in the distance when it was in the Congress" and that North Carolina seniors "are just frustrated and outright angry once they start to understand" the Ryan Medicare plan. Etheridge mentioned the oft-repeated claim that Ryan's Medicare plan would increase costs by as much as $6,000 per senior and a shift to a voucher system as the main reasons for seniors' disdain.
Oberlander said Ryan's plan would "erode Medicare financing" and that a complete repeal of Obamacare would leave 800,000 North Carolinians uninsured.
Ryan has accused Obama of "raiding" Medicare, and he and Romney insist the Medicare plan will save money, provide better options for seniors and ensure the program is sustainable over time.
Comments
Run this by an editor next time.
August 21, 2012 - 3:41pm — kgbunc"Former" should be before "Re. Bob Etheridge.." and the whole 4th paragraph needs to be reworked for grammatical errors