\u201cDo you want<\/u> to continue with this medication?\u201d asks an actor portraying a doctor in a new political ad, holding a pill bottle out to a fictional patient. When the patient nods, the fake doctor turns left to two people in dark suits, who frown and shake their heads. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d the doctor tells the patient. \u201cInsurance companies and Washington bureaucrats \u2014 these guys are working together to swipe $500 billion from Medicare to pay for Pelosi and Schumer\u2019s out-of-control spending spree.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ad<\/a> was put out last month by the 60 Plus Association<\/a>, a Koch<\/a>–funded<\/a> 501(c)(4) group founded in 1992 by a Republican Senate staffer as a conservative alternative<\/a> to AARP. Contrary to the ad\u2019s claims, the spending package Democrats are now trying to push through Congress \u2014 using the filibuster-proof reconciliation process \u2014 would expand Medicare benefits to cover dental, vision, and hearing and allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. AARP has described<\/a> the group, which does not disclose its donors, as one of several “front groups that purport to represent older Americans but instead push industry friendly political messages.\u201d It is one of five dark-money groups that recently joined a coalition<\/a> asking members of Congress to vote against the historic social spending package known as the Build Back Better plan, the centerpiece of President Joe Biden\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n