In 2009, Nelson Said The Cuts Were “UNCONSIONABLE” And A “NON-STARTER”, Yet Now He Praises These Cuts That Will Reduce Benefits And Hurt Seniors
As he continues his 15th campaign for elected office – which includes running with Jimmy Carter and President Barack Obama – yesterday liberal Democrat Bill Nelson changed his tune from harshly criticizing ObamaCare’s $700 billion in cuts to Medicare to praising these cuts that will reduce benefits and hurt seniors in the Sunshine State.
It was just three years ago Nelson was sounding the alarm bells in Washington warning his colleagues that ObamaCare’s $700 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicare Advantage were “unconscionable” and a “non-starter.”
Yet now, Nelson inaccurately claims that these cuts will keep Medicare alive. Floridians deserve to know how Mr. Nelson squares his statements during the healthcare debate with his rhetoric on the campaign trail.
As the Tampa Bay Times reports:
Campaigning in Pinellas County on Monday, Nelson made no apologies for that vote while acknowledging he has taken plenty of criticism for it. … Nelson noted that $700 billion did not come from beneficiaries but from reductions in how much Medicare reimburses hospitals and from private Medicare Advantage plans that threatened to “bankrupt Medicare.” (Adam Smith, In Pinellas, Bill Nelson doesn’t shy away from health care vote, Tampa Bay Times, 8/21/12)
“Only a career politician like Bill Nelson would call ObamaCare’s $700 billion in cuts to Medicare ‘unconscionable’ and then praise the cuts on the campaign trail,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Spokesman Jahan Wilcox. “It’s just another example of how Bill Nelson will do anything – including deceiving seniors about his vote to cut billions of dollars from Medicare – to save his political skin.”
BACKGROUND …
BILL NELSON WARNED HIS COLLEAGUES AGAINST THE CUTS TO MEDICARE
During A Finance Committee Markup, Nelson Called It “Unconscionable” To Ask Seniors To Give Up Their Existing Medicare Advantage Benefits. BILL NELSON: “But I don’t think that it’s the right thing to ask senior citizens to give up their existing Medicare Advantage benefits because there are hundreds of thousands of senior citizens who didn’t conceive of Medicare Advantage but who have come to rely on it. And I intend to offer an amendment that will shield them from benefit cuts. It’ll be called a grandfather, to grandfather them in. … And to suddenly whack it away from the, I think, is unconscionable. You can’t punish the seniors who signed up. And if changes must be made for the future solvency of Medicare, then I think those seniors ought to be grandfathered in.” (Senator Bill Nelson, Remarks At Senate Finance Committee Health Care Hearing, 9/22/09)
Nelson Said It Was “A Non-Starter” To Tell Senior Citizens They Have To Give Up Their Medicare Advantage. NELSON: “But I don’t think it’s a good thing to go in and to tell these senior citizens what you have now, you’ve got to give up. That is a non-starter. And it is particularly a non- starter to any senior citizen that is having difficulty meeting — making financial ends meet. So what I want to do is to say those senior citizens that have it, you’re not going to lose it.” (Senator Bill Nelson, Remarks At Senate Finance Committee Health Care Hearing, 9/24/09)
Yet Nelson Still Voted For ObamaCare
Nelson Voted To Pass The Health Care Reconciliation Bill. (H.R. 4872, CQ Vote #105: Passed 56-43: R 0-40; D 54-3; I 2-0, 3/25/10, Nelson Voted Yea)
Nelson Also Voted To Kill An Amendment That Would Have Prevented Cuts To Medicare Advantage. (H.R. 4872, CQ Vote #72: Motion agreed to 56-42: R 0-40; D 54-2; I 2-0, 3/24/10, Nelson Voted Yea)
- “House And Senate Leaders On Thursday Said A Provision Sparing About 800,000 Floridians From Cuts In Medicare Advantage Will Not Be A Part Of The Final Health Care Bill, A Blow To Sen. Bill Nelson.” (Alex Leary, “Nelson’s ‘Gator-Aid’ Going Bye-Bye,” St. Petersburg Times’ Buzz Blog, 3/18/10)
