{mosads}Chained CPI is easily the biggest entitlement cut in Obama’s budget. He has backed away from earlier proposals to raise the Medicare eligibility age, instead proposing a series of narrower benefit changes, such as charging wealthy seniors a higher premium for Medicare.
AARP said it was still reviewing those proposals, but criticized the basic premise of shifting more costs onto seniors.
“Instead of making harmful cuts to Medicare or shifting additional costs onto beneficiaries, we need to look for savings throughout the healthcare system, including Medicare,” LeaMond said.
The seniors’ lobby praised Obama’s proposal to cut Medicare spending by reducing the program’s payments for prescription drugs — a plan that congressional Republicans oppose, and the pharmaceutical industry has fought tooth-and-nail.