Something Everyone Should Read on the Recent Study on Medicare

I've been seeing some misreporting on a recent Medicare study floating around right wing opinion pieces. I first encountered it in this op-ed by Robert Samuelson. The basic contention is that the left is incorrect in their critiques of the Medicare Advantage program and that competition does in fact reduce health care costs. However, the study's author takes exception to this and wrote an article in response:

Hey Republicans! Stop Misusing my Medicare Study!

I have no particular comments to make about this. I just think everyone needs to be aware of the misuse of research and outright lies being made. There is very little evidence that the private market can provide medical care more effectively, cheaply, or efficiently than the public sector so it is no surprise that advocates of this approach find it necessary to misrepresent and lie. More attention needs to be paid to the refutations of this abuse of scholarly research and I'm glad David Cutler takes the time to do so.