Misstatements about Medicare abounded during the first of the 2012 presidential debates, which aired Wednesday, October 3. President Barack Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney sparred repeatedly on Medicare, resurrecting sound bites that have featured prominently and consistently in their campaigns to date. 

Romney repeatedly accused Obama of cutting $716 billion from Medicare through the Affordable Care Act and vowed to repeal the act on day one of his presidency. Obama defended his signature legislative achievement, saying it will drive innovative changes in Medicare and health care more broadly that will result in better care and lower costs. 

Meanwhile, Obama discredited the Romney-Ryan plan to convert Medicare into a "voucher" or premium-support system, in which beneficiaries would receive a defined contribution and choose to use that to purchase insurance on the private market. Obama contended that maintaining traditional Medicare as a choice for beneficiaries, which Romney has said he would do, would cause it to decay or die because insurers would figure out a way to cherry-pick the healthiest seniors and leave the poorest and sickest in the current form of the program. 

Obama also pointed to the Massachusetts health care plan Romney enacted as governor of the state as a blueprint for the ACA and questioned why a plan that worked well for Massachusetts could not work equally well for the rest of the country. To this, Romney replied that, unlike his Massachusetts plan, the ACA is expensive, cuts $716 from Medicare and puts into place an unelected panel of bureaucrats to decide on benefits for Medicare beneficiaries.

Here's a round-up of MNG content that will tell you all you need to know about Romney, Obama, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and their plans to revamp Medicare:

Medicare Economics

MNG Understanding Medicare

Medicare Finances Made Simple

President Barack Obama’s Position on Medicare Reform

MNG Medicare FAQs

What Is President Barack Obama’s Position on Medicare Reform?

MNG Understanding Medicare

The Democratic Party's Approach to Medicare Reform

MNG Beyond the Sound Bite

Fact/Fiction: Seniors’ Drug Prices Will Increase If the Affordable Care Act Is Repealed

Fact/Fiction: Under the Affordable Care Act, All Real Estate Transactions Are Subject to a 3.8 Percent Sales Tax

Fact/Fiction: ‘Obamacare’ Taxes Wheelchairs and Pacemakers

Fact/Fiction: One Out of Six Hospitals and Nursing Homes Will Go Out of Business Because of 'Obamacare'

Fact/Fiction: Because of the Affordable Care Act, Millions of Seniors Will Lose Their Medicare Advantage Coverage

Fact/Fiction: Obama Is Gutting Medicare With $716 Billion In Cuts and Hurting Seniors

Mitt Romney’s Position on Medicare Reform

MNG Medicare FAQ

 What Are Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney’s Views on Medicare Reform?

MNG Beyond the Sound Bite

Fact/Fiction: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan Would End Medicare as We Know It

Fact/Fiction: Premium Support Could Increase Seniors’ Health Care Costs by $6,400 Per Year

Fact/Fiction: If Mitt Romney is Elected, and If He Repeals the Affordable Care Act, Medicare Will Go Broke in 2016

Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare reform proposals

MNG Medicare FAQs

What Is House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) Plan for Medicare Reform?

How Would U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) Reform Proposals Impact Medicare Beneficiaries?

How Is U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) Medicare Reform Plan Proposed With U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) Different From Ryan’s Previous Plans?

 What Does U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) Propose for Medicare Reform in the House Budget Committee’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget, “The Path to Prosperity?”

 How Would U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) Fiscal 2012 Budget Proposal Reduce Federal Health Care Spending and Address Rising Health Care Costs?

 What Are the Key Components of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.) and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) Medicare Reform Plan?

MNG Understanding Medicare:

Timeline: Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare Reform Proposals

Premium Support

MNG Medicare FAQs:

What Is the Premium Support Option, and How Is it Different From Current Medicare?

How Would Premium Support Impact Medicare Beneficiaries?

How Would a Premium Support Payment System be Designed?

How Would Premium Support Contain Rising Health Care Costs?

How Would Premium Support Impact Provider Payments?

How Would Premium Support Impact Insurance Companies?

MNG Understanding Medicare

At Issue: Covering Premium Support as a Medicare Reform Option

Will the American Medical Association Back Premium Support?

A Health Care Policy Lion Roars Out Against Premium Support

Raising the Medicare Eligibility Age

MNG Understanding Medicare

Raising the Medicare Eligibility Age Harms Minorities, Is a “Benefits Reduction,” Experts Say

What Will Raising the Medicare Eligibility Age Mean?

At Issue: Covering a Proposal to Increase the Medicare Eligibility Age

MNG Beyond the Sound Bite

Fact/Fiction: Increased Longevity Will Sink Medicare

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