Sununu's dishonest excuse for endangering Medicare

TO: Reporters; interested parties
FR: Alex Reese - press secretary, NHDP Coordinated Campaign
RE: Sununu's dishonest excuse for endangering Medicare
DA: July 7, 2008

Ten days ago, Sununu cast the deciding vote to block consideration of H.R. 6331, a proposal to prevent a 10.6% cut in the rate Medicare reimburses doctors for seeing Medicare patients. [Senate Vote #160, 6/26/08] Sununu had promised he would prevent the rate cut from taking effect, but he voted against the proposal because it would correct the rate that private insurance companies are paid through the Medicare Advantage program -- they currently receive as much as 119% of what doctors are paid under traditional Medicare. [The Hill, 7/1/08]

A growing coalition of seniors, doctors, veterans and other Medicare participants is urging Sununu to change his vote. But Sununu is still siding with insurance companies, protecting their extra profits because they have given him nearly $650,000 in campaign contributions.

Sununu Stands with Insurance Companies and George Bush

• Sununu cast the deciding vote against the Medicare fix proposal, voting in line with insurance companies and George W. Bush. [Senate Vote #160, 6/26/08]
• Sununu has accepted $646,874 in campaign contributions from insurance companies. [Center for Responsive Politics]
• Sununu has voted with George Bush 90% of the time.

Sununu Abandons Seniors, Disabled, Veterans

• Sununu's vote could lead to a "Medicare meltdown" according to the American Medical Association. [NY Times, 6/30/08]
• The vote endangers health care for 200,348 elderly and disabled Granite Staters who participate in Medicare. [Kaiser Family Foundation, State Facts 2007]
• The vote endangers health care for 29,684 relatives of active-duty soldiers and military retirees in New Hampshire who participate in Tricare, which bases its payments on Medicare reimbursement rates. [American Medical Association]

The Facts: Sununu Protects Overpayments to Insurance Companies, Financed with Tax Money
Sununu cast his vote because he wants to protect overpayments to insurance companies under the Medicare Advantage program. But the AARP calls this excuse for his vote nothing more than a "red herring":

• Medicare Advantage Overpays Insurance Companies: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates each Medicare Advantage patient costs between 113% and 119% more than each patient in traditional Medicare -- tax money that goes straight to insurance company profits. [CBO, Summary of Medicare Advantage, 6/28/07]
• Medicare Beneficiaries Pay the Price: "The additional cost to the government for Medicare Advantage plans ... raises costs for Medicare beneficiaries who do not participate in Medicare Advantage." [CBO Summary, 6/28/07]
• Red Herring: "The AARP’s Sloane said his organization sees that argument as a red herring and does not oppose the changes to Medicare Advantage." [Wall Street Journal, 7/7/08]

The Reaction: Doctors, Seniors, Veterans Urge Sununu to Stand Up for Them, Not Insurance Companies

• "On the other side of the issue, military families have joined doctors and AARP, the advocacy group for older Americans, in lobbying for the bill." [NY Times, 7/7/08]
• "Congress is 'playing chicken with your health care,' the Military Officers Association of America told its members in a bulletin last week." [NY Times, 7/7/08]
• "Sununu's vote left a few local doctors who serve Medicare patients disappointed — including one who said a Sununu staff member told him the senator would support the bill. 'It doesn't make sense. It's unfathomable,' said Dr. Mike Southworth, a vascular surgeon who lives in Madbury and has a practice in Somersworth...." [Portsmouth Herald, 7/3/08]

The same proposal is expected to come before the Senate against this week, and Sununu will again have a choice between standing with Bush and protecting extra profits for insurance companies or protecting health care for 200,000 of New Hampshire's most vulnerable citizens.