“We now know that those who promised us that `if you like your plan, you can keep your plan' were dead wrong. The Obama administration has already admitted that at least 7 million seniors will now lose their Medicare Advantage plans. And one of the administration's own top health care analysts recently admitted that this oft-repeated pledge was `not true in all cases.' ”
Both of these statements — the 7 million number and the pledge being “not true in all cases” — comes from testimony by Richard Foster, the chief actuary for Medicare and Medicaid, before the House Budget Committee. But to suggest that this is an Obama administration estimate or even that Foster is an administration analyst is a stretch worthy of perhaps a Pinocchio. (About our rating scale)
Here’s how Foster introduced himself at the start of the hearing:
“The Office of the Actuary at CMS
provides actuarial economic and other technical assistance to policy makers, both in the administration and in Congress. We do this on an independent basis, objectively and also on a nonpartisan basis. The Office of the Actuary has performed this role for more than the last 45 years, since even before the enactment of the Medicare program. I'm appearing today in my role as an independent adviser to Congress. My statements are my own and do not necessarily represent an official position of the Department of Health and Human Services.”
Foster is a fairly independent person — the Wall Street Journal once called him a “health-care party pooper” — who also caused headaches for Republicans during the debate over the Bush administration’s effort to add a prescription drug plan to Medicare.
Full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/mitch_mcconnells_not_so_happy_birthday_greetings_for_the_health_care_law/2011/03/17/ABlIqrn_blog.html
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