To the Editor:

FactCheck.org (a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at U Penn that is not aligned with any political party) is a useful place to go to clarify the recent spate of misinformation addressed “ to the Editor.”

When two separate writers claim that Medicare has been slashed by $716 billion to fund Obamacare, FC simply says this is not true.

The Independent Payment Advisory Board — a 15-member Senate-elected board — “by law, cannot propose anything that would ration health care,” as one writer suggests, or “raise taxes, raise premiums or cost-sharing, or otherwise restrict benefits or eligibility.”

Indeed, these writers who purport truth by offering distortion, seem to want to appeal to people’s fears, prejudice and ignorance, and not to their minds. It might help to outline what Obamacare does do: currently keeps 3.1 million young adults on their parents’ insurance (per DHHS); increases access to prevention services; per the Congressional Budget Office (not Obama), it will reduce the deficit by $210 billion from 2012-21; insurance companies are banned from denying coverage to applicants with pre-existing health conditions; and these companies are banned from setting limits on payouts for coverage.

It also fines or “taxes” (per the Supreme Court) those who refuse health insurance (who may have been “taxing” us all along with receipt of uninsured care). Interestingly, FC lays out the details, along with Ryan’s latest plan, and finds merit in both, concluding “Actually, neither campaign’s plan changes Medicare for current beneficiaries much at all.”

Peter Wilkinson, MD

S. Rosinski Rd, Cedar