They’re here: Ads hitting Democrats for cutting Medicare.
Ouch: “Tell President Obama to stop hurting seniors and women. Reverse these devastating Medicare cuts.”
The ad is from the Coalition for Jobs, Growth and Prosperity, a Chicago-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit issue-advocacy organization. The group said the ad is first airing in Iowa; the CCGP focuses mostly on Midwestern races. According to the Des Moines Register, “The commercial was produced by admakers Larry McCarthy and Dave Whalen, who did ads in 2012 for the pro-Romney super PAC Restore our Future and Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Latham’s congressional race, among others.”
What’s worth noting about this ad is that it is not spotlighting future cuts or potential cuts; it’s hitting the administration on actual, enacted cuts. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cut the maximum amount she could from Medicare’s payments for home-health-care services — when a professional from a Medicare-certified home health agency comes to an elderly person’s house and provides nursing care, physical therapy, or speech-language pathology services. Sebelius cut the maximum permitted by law, 3.5 percent, and declared that HHS would do the same for the next three years.