Few blogs have been as consistent and (I suppose some would say shrill) in their call to to prevent the Medicare eligibility age from going up to 67. Austin just sent me this:
Congress doesn’t need to raise the Medicare eligibility age this year, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday.
Raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67 was on the table in earlier debt talks, and has been floated again as Boehner and President Obama look for a way to avoid the looming fiscal cliff.
Republicans have insisted that increases in tax rates must be accompanied by cuts to entitlement programs, including Medicare. But Boehner’s most recent proposal calls for higher rates on taxpayers making more than $1 million per year, and he said Tuesday that raising the Medicare age can wait for a broader package of tax and entitlement reform next year.
I’m not as happy with Sam Baker’s last line:
Gradually raising the eligibility age to 67 would save the government roughly $113 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Which completely ignores all the spending that would have to occur to compensate for these “savings”. But you know what? I’m putting this in the win column.
