Hope and Fail

Lying in Portsmouth: AARP supports health care bill … oh, and it won’t cut Medicare benefits

While attempting to debunk the “myth” that his health care reform package won’t result in cuts to Medicare benefits (just the amount paid to doctors and hospitals, which won’t affect benefits at all), President Obama let it slip that the AARP wouldn’t support a bill that did just that — implying that the senior organization had endorsed his plan.

The AARP has not.

According to ABC News:

President Obama today suggested that the health care reform legislation for which he’s pushing has been endorsed by the American Association of Retired Person (sic).

“We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors,” the president said.

At another point he said: “Well, first of all, another myth that we’ve been hearing about is this notion that somehow we’re going to be cutting your Medicare benefits. We are not. AARP would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining Medicare, okay?”

The problem?

The AARP hasn’t endorsed any plan yet.

The country’s largest advocacy group for Americans over 50 issued a statement after the event saying, “While the President was correct that AARP will not endorse a health care reform bill that would reduce Medicare benefits, indications that we have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills currently under consideration in Congress are inaccurate.”

In fact, the AARP’s legislative policy director, David Certner, spent his Monday evening on “The O’Reilly Factor” denying that the organization had taken a position on any of the bills now in Congress.

From FOX News:

The AARP hosted a discussion with Obama last month on health care. But officials say the group is nonpartisan and has not endorsed any specific legislative measure.

But hey, if the bill won’t result in a cut in Medicare benefits, the president can certainly make up support from the AARP.

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