January 28, 2013
Medicare spending should not be cut to reduce the national deficit, according to the majority of respondents ina recent national poll from the Harvard School of Public Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The eligibility age for Medicare should be raised from 65 to 70 years, and the program should include private plans competing with the current fee-for-service model, the Business Roundtable proposed Wednesday.
While Congressional lawmakers continue to negotiate avoiding the looming so-called fiscal cliff, a long-term care provider group reports Americans oppose cutting Medicare payments to nursing homes.
Increasing the Medicare age to 67 would save the federal government $148 billion between 2012 and 2021, but the savings would be offset by an increase in Medicaid spending, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday.
