During an interview with Greta van Susteren Wednesday night, Bill Nelson told a whopper or two. Follow this link to read the entire transcript. Here’s the whopper Sen. Nelson told:

VAN SUSTEREN: Does the bill — does the bill cut Medicare?

NELSON: What it does is…Medicare Advantage, that is a 14 percent boost to insurance companies, which is Medicare Advantage, it’s a Medicare HMO…what it does is it tapers that out over time. But what I did was in the Finance Committee say that we need to certainly get the efficiencies over time, but it’s not fair to take it away from the people that already have this additional 14 percent. And so in the Finance Committee, I grandfathered in those that have it, particularly with regard to my state.

So that’s the lay of the land. That was done for some other states, as well.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, that’s the Medicare Advantage. What about Medicare itself? Are people going to lose some of the benefits that they have had under this Democratic bill?

NELSON: Well, the answer to that is no. As a matter of fact, what this bill does is save Medicare in the future because if you don’t change Medicare right now, it’s going bust within a few years. This brings the cost curve down over time, so that Medicare will be solid. And where it gets the efficiencies is the doctors, the hospitals, other health care providers have to come off of some of the reimbursements that they get under Medicare. That’s how you get the efficiencies.

Medicare won’t be solid because of the Medicare cuts. That’s because the money being cut from Medicare is going to insure the uninsured. Sen. Nelson knows that because that’s what the CMS actuary testified to recently.

More significantly, though, is the fact that Sen. Nelson essentially said that the way to saving Medicare is cutting re-imbursements to doctors and hospitals.

MEMO TO SEN. NELSON: Doctors are already losing money on Medicare patients. That’s why they’re cutting down on the number of Medicare patients they treat. If Medicare is cut more, hospitals will go bankrupt. Meanwhile, doctors will either go bankrupt or retire, leaving seniors without the health care they need.

Sen. Nelson would be wise lining up a lobbyist’s job while he’s still a senator. Voting to cut Medicare isn’t the way to endear himself to Florida’s seniors. On the contrary, it’s the fastest path to joining the retirement community.

I haven’t talked much about Sen. Nelson of Florida but I’ll take the opportunity to expand on him here. I’ve never trusted him because he isn’t a principled politician. In short, he’s slippery. That isn’t where the American people are at. After dealing with President Obama, they’re looking for principled politicians whose statements don’t come with an expiration date. They want politicians that aren’t looking for the next too-clever-by-half angle to exploit.

The bottom line is that Bill Nelson is dishonest. What he isn’t is a man of gravitas.

Technorati: Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Health Care, Doctors, Hospitals, Reimbursement Rates, Bankruptcy, Retirment, Rationing, Democrats

Cross-posted at California Conservative