Biden’s cuts to Medicare Advantage could boost the GOP in November

During his State of the Union Address in March, Joe Biden pledged never to cut a single Medicare benefit and, if anyone tried to do so, he vowed, “I will stop them.” That didn’t last long. Biden’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cut Medicare for 33 million seniors on April 1.

It wasn’t an April Fool’s joke, and it is definitely not funny for a majority of American seniors since they access their medical benefits through the Medicare Advantage program, the public-private partnership that gives seniors more choices. The cuts to this vital program are tragic for both American seniors and taxpayers.

This Medicare cut is rank hypocrisy on Biden’s part — especially since he will undoubtedly, and erroneously, claim Republicans want to cut entitlements.

But it could be a winning issue for Republicans. In the swing states that voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but switched to Biden in 2020 — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — a majority of seniors get their Medicare benefits through Medicare Advantage. In Michigan, the state Biden is tying himself in knots to secure, it’s nearly 60%

More and more, seniors are choosing MA. Every year enrollment increases. This year 33 million Americans have enrolled. That is nearly 10% of the population — an enormous pool of voters. The Congressional Budget Office predicts 62% of eligible Americans will enroll in MA in the next 10 years.

And close to 90% of enrollees are satisfied with their coverage and would recommend MA to friends and family. Why? Because, as research shows, MA plans achieve better health outcomes for their beneficiaries than traditional Medicare, including “fewer hospital readmissions, fewer preventable hospitalizations, and lower rates of high-risk medication use.”

Medicare Parts A and B cover hospital stays and doctors but, lacking catastrophic coverage, seniors need to buy Medigap in case of an emergency. There is no out-of-pocket cap for beneficiaries in traditional Medicare Fee for Service and it includes no prescription drug plan and no hearing, vision, or dental coverage. To get those benefits, most eligible seniors choose Medicare Advantage plans that may even include gym memberships, groceries, transportation to medical appointments, and other perks.

All these benefits come at a lower or even zero out-of-pocket cost. Now, Biden’s cuts to this important program will drive up costs to enrollees by nearly $400 a year. For seniors on a fixed income, that’s catastrophic.

This Medicare cut is rank hypocrisy on the Biden’s part — especially since he will undoubtedly, and erroneously, claim it is in fact Republicans who want to cut entitlements.

Reversing Biden’s cuts to Medicare Advantage would be good policy. And making those cuts a campaign issue is good politics. Thirty-three million seniors who vote with a 72% turnout rate — the highest of any age category — is a voting bloc that can easily make the difference in hotly contested races in an essentially 50-50 America.

Biden is doing better with senior voters than with younger voters, and that may be because of his long-standing positioning as a centrist Democrat and his Scranton Joe persona. But these cuts are radical. In attacking MA, Biden is aligning himself with Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)

This presents Republicans with an opportunity to peel off voters who will certainly not be happy to hear that Biden is breaking his promise and cutting Medicare. And we must make sure they do hear about it.

According to Pew Research, 37% of Republican voters are seniors. That’s our biggest age cohort. And given that most eligible seniors choose Medicare Advantage and about 90% of them are happy with it, we should ring the bell on this issue from now to November.

Democrats constantly accuse Republicans of “pouncing” on this or that. Expect Republicans to, in fact, pounce on this issue. If I were advising my former congressional colleagues, I’d tell them that preserving Medicare Advantage is an issue that can make the difference in keeping the House come November.