National Seniors Council

National Seniors Council Executive Director Leslie O. Anderson today condemned members of the United States Senate for “Betraying America’s senior citizens and voting to keep over $400 million of cuts in the Senate’s version of health care reform.”

The Senate voted  down and amendment by Senator John McCain which would have sent the health care bill back to the Finance Committee to restore the massive cuts to Medicare.  Earlier, Senate

Democrats attempted to provide political cover to its members by passing a near-meaningless amendment “guaranteeing” that Medicare benefits will not be cut.  Anderson was not impressed, however.  “This so-called guarantee is utter nonsense and a fraud,” he says.  “It is impossible to slash Medicare funding without cutting back on payments to doctors and thus reducing care for senior citizens.  No doctor will be able to afford to care for Medicare patients because of these cuts.  Seniors citizens will suffer.  Every senator who voted to keep these massive cuts in this bill will have to answer to millions of frightened and enraged senior citizens.  We will not be fooled by parliamentary tricks and bald-faced lies from desperate politicians.  Today’s vote was a betrayal of senior citizens.”