In V.P. debate redux, candidates' policies scrutinized

Coverage in the days after the vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan examines policy positions, claims, and accusations related to Medicare, Medicaid and other policy points.

CQ HealthBeat: Ryan Uses Idea Of Means Testing To Defend Medicare Plan
GOP vice presidential nominee Paul D. Ryan stuck during Thursday's debate to the broad vision for Medicare that he and his running mate have been promoting, while disputing criticism that seniors would not be able to afford coverage under their plan. Facing off against Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Wisconsin Republican offered an energetic defense for shifting Medicare toward a premium-support model. He said seniors with less money would receive more support under the GOP plan while wealthier individuals would get less -- a concept that was a part of Ryan's fiscal 2013 budget plan and has popped up in some of his campaign speeches (Attias, 10/12).

The Associated Press: AP Says Ryan Asked For Federal Help While He Championed Cuts
Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is a fiscal conservative, champion of small government and critic of federal handouts. But as a congressman in Wisconsin, Ryan lobbied for tens of millions of dollars on behalf of his constituents for the kinds of largess he's now campaigning against, according to an Associated Press review of 8,900 pages of correspondence between Ryan's office and more than 70 executive branch agencies. [Including a] Kenosha health center's request to use money under Obama's new health care law to help meet health care needs of "thousands of new patients" who lack coverage. Ryan's December 2010 letter to the Health and Human Services Department, first reported by the Nation magazine and also obtained by the AP, appears at odds with his pledge to repeal "Obamacare" (Gillum, 10/13).

Politico: At VP Debate, Biden Mixed Up Medicare And Medicaid
Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday night that Rep. Paul Ryan's budget would mean 19 million people would be thrown off Medicare. A lot of big numbers get thrown around in the Medicare debate, but that one doesn't crop up a lot. Some conservatives said flat out that Biden made it up in the debate with Ryan. But the Obama campaign says Biden just misspoke. He meant Medicaid, according to campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith (Kenen, 10/12).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: [The] vice presidential debate provided contentious contrast on the issues of abortion and Medicare between Vice President Joe Biden and the Republican nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan. The candidates sparred over the role their faith plays in their positions on abortion and laid out their tickets' visions for Medicare reform (Villegas, 10/12).