Obama pushes back on Romney-Ryan Medicare attacks

President Obama, accused by the Republican Romney-Ryan ticket of cutting Medicare to fund his health care reforms, used his weekly Saturday radio address to defend the Affordable Care Act.

“As part of the Affordable Care Act … we’ve extended the life of Medicare by almost a decade,” the president said. “And I’ve proposed reforms that will save Medicare money by getting rid of wasteful spending in the health care system and reining in insurance companies – reforms that won’t touch your guaranteed Medicare benefits. Not by a single dime.”

Without mentioning Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan by name, the president criticized Republican plans for Medicare reform.

“They want to turn Medicare into a voucher program,” he said. “And it would effectively end Medicare as we know it.”

The president’s remarks came after two weeks of Mr. Romney, Mr. Ryan and other Republicans hammering the president on the Affordable Care Act’s reduction of $716 billion in Medicare spending over the next decade.

The president dismissed the attacks on his signature legislative accomplishment as “misinformation” and “overheated rhetoric.”

The president’s campaign also released a new ad comparing his Medicare proposal to the Republican alternative, accusing Mr. Romney of wanting to “break that promise.”

Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan were campaigning Saturday in Ohio.

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