A national conservative nonprofit aligned with Republican House leadership is targeting U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo with a six-figure ad campaign calling on the Thornton Democrat to oppose cuts to Medicare – a position the pediatrician says she’s always held.

The American Action Network charges in the ads that a Biden administration proposal to adjust payments to insurance companies through the Medicare Advantage program could lead to higher costs or reduced benefits for the 30 million seniors who participate in the plan, though Democrats reject the contention.

The dark money issue advocacy group, which is tied to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Congressional Leadership Fund and doesn’t disclose its donors, plans to spend $115,000 to air the ads aimed at Caraveo for three weeks on broadcast, cable and digital platforms, a spokeswoman told Colorado Politics.

Part of a more-than $2 million ad campaign targeting 14 House Democrats – most of whom represent potential swing seats – are the latest sign that Colorado’s 8th Congressional District could be in play next year.

Caraveo, a former state legislator, won a close race last year in the nearly evenly divided district, which covers parts of Adams, Weld and Larimer counties north of the Denver metro area. Last month, the Cook Political Report included the 8th CD among fewer than two dozen seats nationwide that it considers toss-ups.

In the 30-second ad, a narrator accuses President Joe Biden of proposing “massive Medicare Advantage cuts to seniors” and says Caraveo “is silent,” then urges viewers to “speak out” by calling Caraveo to tell her to “protect Colorado seniors and stop Biden’s Medicare cuts.”

A spokeswoman for Caraveo’s campaign told Colorado Politics the lawmaker’s record of protecting Medicare speaks for itself.

“Congresswoman Caraveo has spent her career caring for our community as a doctor and standing up for hardworking families,” Kaylin Dines said in an emailed statement. “She will not support plans to cut Medicare or Social Security, which millions of Coloradans rely on. Caraveo has always protected Coloradans in retirement, including cutting taxes for Colorado seniors by exempting Social Security income from taxation.”

The ad echoes recent attempts by Republican politicians and insurance industry groups to put Democrats on the defensive over Medicare spending as the parties negotiate ahead of a vote this summer to raise the federal debt ceiling.

“Joe Biden and his liberal friends in Congress are talking out of both sides of their mouth: Promising to protect Medicare while pushing benefit cuts for seniors,” AAN President Dan Conston said in a statement. “Each and every liberal in Congress needs to speak out now and stop Biden’s cuts to Medicare benefits before it’s too late.”

Last month, in response to similar rhetoric from Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the nonpartisan Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact site determined that claims proposed Medicare Advantage changes amount to “cuts” are false.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra fired back at the accusation on Twitter.

“Any claim that this Administration is cutting Medicare is categorically false,” Becerra tweeted. “Leave it to deep-pocketed insurance companies and industry front groups to characterize this year’s proposed increase in Medicare Advantage payments as a pay cut.”