Medicare ‘Gag Order’ A Sign That Obama, Democrats Are Desperate On Health Care, Republican Leader Says

(CNSNews.com) – Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the recent gag order imposed by Medicare on insurance companies participating in its Advantage program shows that President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are desperate to pass their health care overhaul legislation.

McConnell, speaking on a conference call Monday, said the Medicare gag order showed that Democrats are "willing to employ any tactic to try to quiet the voices of dissent." McConnell said their "desperation" is illustrated by the way Democrats are trying to "shut up critics of the bill.”

McConnell was referring to a Sept. 21 statement released by the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) – a division of the Department of Health and Human Services – directing companies that participate in the Medicare Advantage program to cease all communication with beneficiaries dealing with the administration’s planned cuts to the Advantage program.

That order was instigated by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) after he discovered that insurance giant Humana, which is headquartered in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, had sent its Medicare Advantage customers a mailing that warned them of the possible benefit reductions that might occur if the program’s funding were cut.

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