Column: Truth about Medicare age

Nancy Pelosi

Republicans want to raise eligibility age as part of any fiscal cliff deal.

Americans have not had to deal with the reality of this scenario since the advent of Medicare more than 45 years ago. Yet in the talks to avert the fiscal cliff, the idea of raising the Medicare age is central to the Republican proposal. There's just one critical problem: It doesn't work. It doesn't have public support. It's unfair. And it doesn't lower health expenditures.

Such a proposal is a reflection of the broader Republican plan: an assault on the middle class, seniors -- and our future....Put another way: raising the Medicare age asks the most vulnerable citizens to pay more with little to show for it in terms of long-term deficit reduction or more affordable care, for seniors or anyone else. It increases health spending across-the-board. It takes money out of the pockets of a small slice of Americans.

We can do better -- and we have. Democrats are the only ones who have enacted a plan that extends the solvency of Medicare without cutting benefits through the Affordable Care Act.

Make no mistake: Democrats are ready to discuss even more savings that extend the life of Medicare without hurting beneficiaries. We should reduce health expenditures and build on our work in the Affordable Care Act to slow the growth of health costs. We should be strengthening Medicare, not undermining it.

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2012/12/11/nancy-pelosi-on-medicare-and-fiscal-cliff/1761101/