Fact checkers wasted no time today in pointing out flaws in both candidates' statements during the presidential debate.
Politico --Analyzing Health Care Statements
President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney had at it out over health care Wednesday night — providing some of the toughest, and wonkiest, moments of the night.
Both candidates also showed they had done their research, citing studies to back their claims about Obama's health care law and how the other would cut Medicare spending — but they both managed to stretch the truth.
Los Angeles Times -- Romney Repeats Erroneous Claims on Health Care
Mitt Romney repeated a number of erroneous claims during Wednesday’s debate about President Obama’s healthcare law, including that it relies on a board that will decide "what kind of treatment” patients can get.
This is a myth advanced repeatedly by critics of the Affordable Care Act and debunked consistently by independent fact-checkers.
Washington Post -- The $700 Billion Medicare Cut
Romney accused Obama of taking $716 billion from Medicare. This $700 billion figure comes from the difference over 10 years (2013-2022) between anticipated Medicare spending (what is known as “the baseline”) and the changes that the law makes to reduce spending. The savings mostly are wrung from health-care providers, not Medicare beneficiaries — who, as a result of the health-care law, ended up with new benefits for preventive care and prescription drugs.