NEWS FROM THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY

For Immediate Release: May 24th, 2011
Contact: Eric Jotkoff, (850) 222-3411

Adam Hasner, Mike Haridopolos and George LeMieux’s Plan To Kill Medicare Would Hurt Floridians Most

New Report Shows Health Care Costs Would Skyrocket By $7,358 For Floridians Under Extreme Republican Plan To End Medicare

Florida Democrats: “Adam Hasner, Mike Haridopolos and George LeMieux must think Florida seniors have an extra $7,358 laying around, because that’s how much their plan to end Medicare would cost the average Florida senior”

Thought ending Medicare was bad? Turns out the extreme Republican budget that Adam Hasner, Mike Haridopolos and George LeMieux praised would hurt Florida seniors more than seniors in any other state.  Just a few weeks after the Florida Republicans praised the extreme Republican plan to end Medicare, a new congressional report now shows that Floridians would see the highest rise in out-of-pocket medical costs under the Hasner, Haridopolos and LeMieux endorsed plan.

“Adam Hasner, Mike Haridopolos and George LeMieux must think Florida seniors have an extra $7,358 laying around, because that’s how much their plan to end Medicare would cost the average Florida senior,” said Eric Jotkoff, spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party. “Not only would the Hasner/Haridopolos/LeMieux plan end Medicare, Floridians would be hit the hardest by increased health care costs. Millions of Florida seniors depend on Medicare to help defray the cost of health care and simply won’t forgive Adam Hasner, Mike Haridopolos and George LeMieux for supporting the plan to end it.”

A new report from the Joint Economic Committee showed that the extreme Republican plan to end Medicare would not only cause seniors across the country to pay thousands more in out-of-pocket health care costs but that Floridians would see the largest cost increase under the plan.

The Miami Herald reports:

The analysis says while the increase varies by state, residents in all states would see their out-of-pocket expenses more than double when they turn 65 in 2022. Residents in Florida face the largest increase –$7,383.

Adam Hasner, Mike Haridopolos and George LeMieux have each praised the extreme Republican plan to end Medicare and raise health care costs by over $7,383 for Florida seniors.

Background:

Wall Street Journal: GOP Plan Would “End Medicare.”According to the Wall Street Journal, “The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/04/11]

Average Florida Senior Would Pay $7,358 More Than Under Traditional Medicare.According to a report from the Joint Economic Committee, which measures the Republican proposal’s impact on the health care costs of the typical 65-year-old in 2022, the Republican plan will double the out-of-pocket health care expenses of the elderly in every state, with the average Floridian senior paying $7,358   more than what they would have paid under traditional Medicare. [JEC, 5/20/11]

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