WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday regarding the President’s town hall with unions and seniors and cuts to Medicare:

Amid all the various crises Americans face at the moment, one of the most exasperating has to be the increasingly high cost of health care. The American people don’t understand how an administration that devoted more than a year to talking about health care could end up with a bill that actually raises the cost of care, instead of lowering it.

Seniors are particularly upset about this legislation, and that’s why the White House is staging an event today aimed at convincing them that they’re actually getting a good deal. But seniors are right to be skeptical. They were told this law would strengthen Medicare, when in fact it takes a half trillion dollars out of Medicare to fund a new government program.  They were also told that if they liked their plan they could keep it. Yet now we hear that millions of seniors will lose the Medicare Advantage benefits they have and like as a result of the Democrat health care bill. 

The centerpiece of today’s event is a $250 dollar rebate check that the administration will pass out to the fraction of seniors on Medicare who qualifies for it. And I’m sure anyone who gets these checks is happy to take the extra cash, especially in the current economy.

What the administration won’t mention at today’s event, however, is that for every senior who gets a check, more than three other seniors will see an increase in their prescription drug insurance premiums.

In other words, behind every $250 dollar check are more than three seniors who will be paying more as a result of this bill. The reason for this is that the health care bill Democrats forced on Americans earlier this year requires higher government mandated minimum standards for everyone, so those who opted for anything below that minimum will now see their premiums go up. And the number of seniors in this category far outnumbers those getting a check.

So the administration can tout the check it’s giving out to some seniors, but by failing to mention those seniors for whom it’s causing rates to go up it’s hiding the whole truth.

That’s been the story all along about this bill — a lot of promises that couldn’t be kept.

And that’s why the story now isn’t the bill itself, but the administration’s broken promises.

Americans never wanted this bill, and they’re reminded every day why they opposed it in the first place.

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