Candidate Carson touts U.S. health savings accounts for elderly
Source: Reuters
Politics | Sun Oct 25, 2015 2:34pm EDT
Candidate Carson touts U.S. health savings accounts for elderly
WASHINGTON
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, who is making inroads against front-runner Donald Trump, on Sunday denied he would end the Medicare healthcare program for the elderly, saying he would provide the option of using a government-backed savings account to buy health insurance.
Interviewed on "Fox News Sunday," Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, said, "The program that I have outlined using health savings accounts ... largely eliminates the need for people to be dependent on government programs" like Medicare.
While he said in a separate interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that "I'm not talking about getting rid of those programs," he told Fox the savings accounts would be an "alternative" to the popular Medicare program.
[font size=1]
-snip-[/font]
It was not clear from Carson's remarks exactly how his savings plan would work and whether Medicare funding would be cut. He said that some of the federal expenditures going into Medicare and the Medicaid program for the poor could be diverted to private accounts.
[font size=1]
-snip-[/font]
Read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/25/us-usa-election-carson-health-idUSKCN0SJ0UD20151025