Sen. Rick Scott says Inflation Reduction Act is ‘a war on Medicare’

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) voiced his opposition to the landmark climate, tax and health legislation the Senate is in the process of voting on, characterizing the bill as a “war on Medicare.” 

During an appearance on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” Scott was asked by moderator Margaret Brennan if there was anything he considered good in the legislation, noting that it expands Medicare access that benefits his state and that it aims to reduce the deficit, which Republicans normally call for.

“Here’s the way I look at it. Right now, this bill actually ought to be called the war on seniors act. I mean, this is a war on Medicare,” Scott said.

When Brennan noted that reducing the cost of Medicare is not the same as cutting benefits, Scott said: “Margaret, it’s $280 billion that would have been spent it was anticipated to be spent, it’s not going to be spent now and the drug companies that will be doing more research are not gonna be able to spend the money on research there will be life-saving drugs that seniors will not get,” Scott replied. 

Brennan then asked Scott to respond to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that 1 percent of new drugs would be impacted by the bill and noted that the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget had called his claim “misleading.”

“We shouldn’t be cutting Medicare like this. I don’t believe it and by the way, we shouldn’t be raising taxes ever, but especially in a recession,” Scott said.

Scott’s remarks came after Vice President Harris broke a 50-50 vote in the Senate on Saturday to advance the Inflation Reduction Act, which no Republican is expected to vote for.

The proposed legislation aims to address climate change issues, lower the cost of prescription drugs and reform the tax code.

Scott’s colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also voiced his disapproval of the proposed legislation, saying the bill will “make everything worse.”

“This is gonna make everything worse. I voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, voted for gun legislation,” Graham told CNN’s “State of the Union” moderator Dana Bash on Sunday.  “I’m not gonna vote for this.”