Fact Check: Joe Biden Claims ‘We Will Not Cut Medicare’

CLAIM: “We will not cut Medicare,” President Joe Biden said at Tuesday’s State of the Union Address.

VERDICT: False. Biden’s administration is proposing to cut Medicare Advantage, an integral part of Medicare.

President Joe Biden has continued to claim that Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare as part of a potential compromise to raise the debt ceiling. However, this has been nixed by Republicans’ chief negotiator, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who said that cuts to entitlement programs are not on the table.

Biden said during the State of the Union Address:

Social Security and Medicare are a lifeline for millions of seniors.

Americans have been paying into them with every single paycheck since they started working.

So tonight, let’s all agree to stand up for seniors. Stand up and show them we will not cut Social Security. We will not cut Medicare.

However, Biden’s administration has moved to cut Medicare Advantage, or Medicare Part C, which is a public-private partnership in which Medicare pays private-sector health insurers a fixed payment. Breitbart News explained:

In the first plan, the Biden administration plans to claw back at least $4.7 billion from 2023 through 2032 by identifying and recovering alleged overpayments.

In the other, more drastic move, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said Medicare Advantage insurers could face an average 2.3 percent cut to baseline payments in 2024. This would be a cut of more than $3 billion to the Medicare Advantage industry.

Progressive Democrats have also moved to stifle Medicare Advantage. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) also claimed that Medicare Advantage undermines traditional Medicare.

Biden’s move to axe Medicare Advantage has met swift backlash from Republicans such as House Republican Study Committee (RSC) Kevin Hern (R-OK), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), and others.

Michael McAdams, a member of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s (R-MN) team, said on Tuesday, “What @JoeBiden⁩ & Dems don’t want to tell you tonight…they are pushing an $8 billion cut to Medicare Advantage that will hurt 48% of seniors who depend on those plans.”

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) wrote on Tuesday, “Biden is wildly misleading the American public – especially Montana seniors. It’s @JoeBiden, NOT Republicans, who is proposing Medicare Advantage cuts. Especially while #Bidenflation is eating Montanans’ retirement savings, this is especially cruel.”

Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) wrote, “Biden just gutted Medicare Advantage.”

Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.