Coulomb excitation effects on alpha-particle optical potential below the Coulomb barrier

A competition of the low-energy Coulomb excitation (CE) with the compound nucleus (CN) formation in $\alpha$-induced reactions below the Coulomb barrier has been assumed by Rauscher [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 061104 (2013)] in order to use the same optical model (OM) potential for description of the latter and the alpha-particle emission as well. In this Comment we show that the corresponding partial waves and integration radii provide evidence for the distinct account of the CE cross section and OM total-reaction cross section.