Sen. Tester is a champion for Social Security and Medicare
Republican Senate nominee Tim Sheehy has repeated the lie that Sen. Jon Tester backed cuts to Medicare funding.
Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester has been called “one of our greatest Social Security champions” “and “a leader on seniors’ issues” by advocates for the Medicare and Social Security programs.
Tester’s Republican challenger, wealthy former corporate executive Tim Sheehy, has repeatedly falsely claimed that Tester backed cuts in funding to Medicare and Social Security.
In a Sept. 10 Bozeman Daily Chronicle op-ed outlining his opposition to the Affordable Care Act,commonly known as Obamacare, and other views about the health system, Sheehy said, “Our nation made a promise to our seniors to protect their Medicare and Social Security benefits, and I will honor that promise and preserve the benefits they’ve earned.” He accused Tester of being the only candidate in this race who supported slashing Social Security benefits, cutting Medicare up to $716 billion, and raiding Social Security and Medicare accounts to pay for reckless spending and the Biden-Harris-Tester illegal immigrant invasion.”
PolitiFact rated Sheehy’s claim about Tester false. Sheehy’s campaign told the fact-checking site that it was based on Tester’s 2010 comments in general support of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, known as the Simpson-Bowles Commission, a bipartisan group organized to develop ways to reduce the federal whose 2010 proposals included some adjustments to Social Security benefits and eligibility ages. PolitiFact noted that Tester never endorsed the proposals themselves and that his 2012 campaign specifically said he did not back them.
Sheehy’s claim that Tester voted to cut Medicare funding is also false. In 2012, PolitiFact debunked claims by Republicans that the Tester-backed Affordable Care Act included a $716 billion Medicare cut: “While the health care law reduces the amount of future spending growth in Medicare, the law doesn’t actually cut Medicare. Savings come from reducing money that goes to private insurers who provide Medicare Advantage programs, among other things.” In July of this year, it debunked similar claims that the Inflation Reduction Act, for which Tester also voted, included cuts to Medicare because its provisions authorizing the government to negotiate lower prescription drug costs is expected to save the program an estimated $237 billion over 10 years.
Sheehy and the National Republican Senatorial Committee made the same false claims in an August campaign ad.
One of Sheehy’s biggest campaign supporters has been Americans for Prosperity Action, an anti-government political group bankrolled by fossil fuel giant Koch Industries. The group, which has endorsed Social Security benefit cuts and a higher eligibility age, has already spent more than $6 million this year to try to defeat Tester.
Sheehy’s campaign page contains a brief statement about Medicare and Medicaid: “We must keep our commitment to every Montana senior to protect their Social Security and Medicare benefits. Our nation made a promise to our seniors, and I will fight each and every day to honor that promise and preserve the benefits they’ve earned.”
It contains no indication of whether Sheehy would back cuts or other changes to the programs for the millions of Americans who have paid into them but not yet reached retirement age. The Sheehy campaign did not respond to a Montana Independent request for comment for this story.
Tester has been endorsed by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, Montana Alliance for Retired Americans, and Social Security Works, groups that work to protect the safety net programs. In the past three Congresses, Tester earned 100% ratings from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, a nonpartisan nonprofit.
“Senator Tester stands up for Montana seniors everyday – and has delivered for us. He’s lowered the cost of living, held criminals who attempt to scam older Montanans accountable, and increased access to quality, affordable health care. Tester has spent his career fighting to protect Medicare and Social Security, and he’ll always protect the hard-earned benefits that provide a secure retirement for Montana seniors,” Montana Alliance for Retired Americans president Jay Reardon said in September. “Nobody fights harder or delivers more for older Montanans and working families than Senator Tester. From taking on the big pharmaceutical companies to save Montanans money on their prescription drugs, to relentlessly defending our hard-earned retirements, Jon Tester never shies away from a fight. Montana seniors are lucky to have him in our corner.”
Sheehy has said he wants to replace the Affordable Care Act with an unspecified new health care system that would somehow protect and rely on “transparency, competition, and shopping for services.” More than 40 million Americans have obtained health insurance coverage under the ACA, including more than 117,000 Montanans covered by expanded Medicaid and 66,000 Montanans who purchased private plans through the law’s insurance exchange.