In an interview with Capital Tonight’s Liz Benjamin, Representative Chris Gibson (NY-20) continued to mislead voters about his vote to end Medicare and force seniors to pay more for their health care. Despite repeatedly claiming to oppose using vouchers for Medicare, Representative Gibson voted to do just that when he helped pass the Republican budget. Now, caught breaking a campaign pledge, Representative Gibson is resorting to lies and distortions in an attempt to trick his constituents.

FALSE Gibson Claim: “Listen, I’m opposed to vouchers, and I remain opposed to vouchers because we don’t want to privatize this program. We don’t want a situation where our government just sends checks to senior citizens and says ‘you’re on your own, from there’ that’s what a voucher program would do and that’s unacceptable.”

FACT: Ryan Plan Will End Medicare And Turn It Into A Voucher Program. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americas, as a program that directly pays those bills.” The New York Times reported that, “The plan would turn Medicare into a voucher program for future generation[.]”[Wall Street Journal, 4/04/11; The New York Times, 4/11/11]

( Maury Thompson of the Post Star specifically asked Gibson about this last September, and Gibson promised to oppose vouchers: http://209.98.77.34/albanyproject/diary/9359/ny20-gibson-lies-about-medicare-vouchers )

FALSE Gibson Claim: “If you’re a current senior, no change. If you’re 55 years and older, no change.”

FACT: The Republican-passed budget will force nearly four million seniors to pay an additional $2.2 BILLION for prescription drugs next year alone. Under the Republican budget, 273,223 New York seniors will pay $153 million more for prescription drugs next year alone. [DPCC, 4/21/11]

FALSE Gibson Claim: “If you’re 54 years and younger, what we’re talking about doing is giving future seniors the same options that members of Congress have.”

FACT: Under The Republican Plan Seniors Will Pay 68% Of Their Health Care Costs While Members Of Congress Only Pay 28%. In an April 2011 open letter to the House, Congressman Paul Tonko wrote, “If this plan extended the same kind of health care options that Members of Congress have access to, seniors would be responsible for only 28 percent of their health care premiums. Yet, CBO projects that seniors will have to pay for 68 percent of their premiums within ten years of enactment of the Ryan Voucher Plan. Today, by comparison, the average senior on Medicare pays about 25 percent of their total health care costs. The Republican budget plan’s burden of 68 percent of health care costs on seniors is a far cry from the 28 percent of costs that Members of Congress pay.” [Office of Congressman Paul Tonko, 4/7/11]

FACT: Seniors Will Pay More Under Ryan Plan, Or Face Limits To Coverage

· Wall Street Journal: “The House Republican plan for overhauling Medicare would fundamentally change how the federal government pays for health care, starting a decade from now, likely resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs and greater limits to coverage for many Americans.” [WSJ, 4/6/11]

There was more today from the New York TImes: http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/272-39/5728-a-real-choice-on-medicare