Politico (5/27, Haberkorn) reports, "Top House Democrats on Wednesday said they support a taxpayer-funded brochure outlining the changes in Medicare under the health care overhaul, amid growing Republican cries of propaganda." Earlier this week, CMS "mailed the four-page brochure to over 40 million Americans who use Medicare to explain how the program will change under the reform law. Critics say the mailing is overtly partisan and contains inaccuracies about what the overhaul will do." But, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "said they have a responsibility to educate people about what's in the overhaul and what's not." Sebelius added, "We want to inform America's seniors about what the act actually contains."
        The Hill (5/27, Pecquet) notes that the brochure discusses "closing the Part D 'doughnut hole' that requires seniors to pay full price for their drugs above a certain threshold, free preventive care, and increased efforts to combat fraud and abuse that endanger the program's solvency." Nevertheless, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) "blasted the outreach efforts on the Senate floor Tuesday, pointing out that Sebelius had objected to private Medicare Advantage plans using its communications to seniors to raise concerns with the health reform law when it was being debated." In addition, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) said, "The 'mailer is misleading, at best. ... At worst, I fear it could represent taxpayer-financed government propaganda.'"

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