To the Editor:

The Republican senator from North Carolina recently released a newsletter in which he stated the Senate Finance Committee health care reform proposal “cuts Medicare by nearly half a trillion dollars” and jeopardizes health coverage for seniors.

AARP, which is very protective of seniors and Medicare, responded with a bulletin that breaks down and explains this $500 billion in savings. The savings are expected to be achieved mainly by reducing fraud and waste more aggressively; reducing government subsidies to private Medicare Advantage plans; paying doctors more for practices that improve quality of care and save money; and paying providers a little less of an increase each year in an effort to gradually trim the rate at which Medicare costs climb over time.

These are not reductions in benefits; they’re not even reductions in the prices that Medicare pays. The best way to keep Medicare benefits secure and keep health care costs down for seniors is not to be afraid to take some steps to improve the program.

I encourage readers to check out this informative AARP bulletin. Go to www.AARP.org, click on BULLETIN TODAY, click on YourHealth. The bulletin is named “How Health Care Reforms Would Affect Medicare.”

I am disappointed that Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has resorted to misleading and irresponsible statements. I had considered him a moderate Republican.

Carole Larivee

Waynesville