FreedomWorks Releases Testimonial Ad to Expose ObamaCare’s Broken Medicare Promises

Washington, DC- FreedomWorks has released an online ad testimonial featuring two senior citizens who will suffer higher costs and lose existing benefits in their Medicare coverage as a result of the President’s health care law. The ad features Texas resident Ray Battaglia and his wife Rosemarie, who has postponed her retirement indefinitely to pay for increased Medicare costs following the ObamaCare-mandated program changes.

“We have paid for this in advance, for this day when it might come,” explained Rosemarie Battaglia. “I don’t know how we could plan ahead for something we couldn’t foresee, that the government’s intervened and changed. It’s like making you a promise and then going back on it.”

Medicare Advantage is an option within Medicare that allows patients to opt into more efficient private insurance coverage, resulting in lower copay costs and more benefits. Currently, about 1 in 4 senior citizens receiving Medicare opt into Medicare Advantage. The President’s health care law will cut $300 billion out of Medicare Advantage over ten years, a combined 8% in program cuts when added on top of the additional Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) cuts set to take effect on April 1st.

These additional CMS cuts force an estimated 2-5 million senior citizens back into traditional Medicare coverage, where they will face increased health care costs averaging $2,235 a year, and less program services. The additional CMS cuts threaten services even further by penalizing plans and providers that are screening for early kidney disease and nerve disease particularly in Diabetics, ultimately reducing the likelihood that patients will get appropriate screenings for early treatment or intervention.

FreedomWorks VP of Public Policy, Dean Clancy, commented, “President Obama promised Americans that if we like our doctors and health care plans, we can keep them. Sadly, that’s promise is being broken, and an estimated 2-5 million senior citizens will lose their preferred Medicare coverage as a result. We debate the economic pitfalls of ObamaCare in the abstract, but there are real human costs to this government takeover. The unfortunate reality is, the Battaglia family’s story is one of millions, and we encourage other Americans with similar stories to speak out and put a face to this tragedy.”

FreedomWorks is encouraging viewers with similar stories about their own ObamaCare “Broken Promises” to submit their video stories to BrokenPromises@FreedomWorks.org.

FreedomWorks is a grassroots service center to a community of over 4 million activists dedicated to advancing the ideas of individual liberty and constitutionally-limited government. For more information on FreedomWorks, visit www.FreedomWorks.org or contact Jackie Bodnar at Jbodnar@FreedomWorks.org.