Republicans warn seniors about Obama plans

In their latest assault on President Obama's health care plans, Republicans are aiming for a vulnerable spot -- the fears of seniors that their care will get worse or more costly.

"Republicans want reform that should, first, do no harm, especially to our seniors," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele writes in an opinion piece in today's Washington Post. "That is why Republicans support a Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights, which we are introducing today, to ensure that our greatest generation will receive access to quality health care. We also believe that any health-care reform should be fully paid for, but not funded on the backs of our nation's senior citizens."

The bill of rights for seniors includes protecting Medicare from major cuts, preserving the doctor-patient relationship, banning any rationing of care or interference in end-of-life decisions, guaranteeing that seniors can keep their current coverage, and protecting current veterans' health care programs.

Obama and Democrats plan on substantial savings in Medicare, but insist that those changes would not mean less care. They also support more research to determine the most cost-effective treatments, but adamantly deny that would lead to rationing of care -- which they argue is being done by private insurers already.

"Barack Obama campaigned on 'post-partisanship,' " Steele concludes. "As president, however, Obama has shown that he is beholden to his party's left-wing ideologues. It's not too late for him to honor his pledges for bipartisan health-care reform. Reversing course and joining Republicans in support of health care for our nation's senior citizens is a good place to start. Doing so will help him restart the reform process to give Americans access to low-cost, high-quality health care." (Read his full op-ed here.)

The Democratic National Committee responded by saying that the health overhaul would help seniors by holding down costs and closing the so-called donut hole in prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D. It also said that Republicans are continuing to mislead the public in their attempt to kill the overhaul.

“It should be no surprise that the Republican Party - which whipped many Americans into a frenzy at town hall meetings on health care this month by spreading one lie about reform after another - has now taken to scaring seniors who have nothing to fear and much to gain from reform," DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said in a statement. "But what's really incredible is that this feigned interest in Medicare and the plight of seniors is coming from the Republican Party -- the very party which opposed Social Security and only four years ago tried to dismantle it -- and the very Republican Party which opposed the creation of Medicare to begin with. Republicans are fighting against reform for one reason - to 'break' President Obama and gain political advantage. As a result, when it comes to their arguments against reform -- for Republicans it's any port in a storm.”