To: The United States Senate
Senate Democrats: Don't touch the Medicare eligibility age.
Raising the Medicare eligibility age isn't a compromise -- it's a complete surrender of the middle class. A recent poll showed that two out of every three Americans wants Congress to keep its hands off Medicare.
No matter how Republicans try to sweeten the deal, don't cave on Americans: Don't touch the Medicare eligibility age.
No matter how Republicans try to sweeten the deal, don't cave on Americans: Don't touch the Medicare eligibility age.
Why is this important?
Rumors are swirling in D.C. that Republicans might be willing to include higher tax rates for the wealthy in a deficit deal if Democrats agree to dangerous benefit cuts like raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.
Raising the eligibility age is very bad policy. The problem here isn't with the benefits Americans have earned -- it's a cost-of-healthcare problem. Medicare is lower-cost than private insurance, and squeezing the youngest Medicare recipients into private insurance will only make costs worse.
We need to control health care costs, not limit access. We can't let the wealthy corporate interests that are spending furiously to push for this succeed.
Raising the eligibility age is very bad policy. The problem here isn't with the benefits Americans have earned -- it's a cost-of-healthcare problem. Medicare is lower-cost than private insurance, and squeezing the youngest Medicare recipients into private insurance will only make costs worse.
We need to control health care costs, not limit access. We can't let the wealthy corporate interests that are spending furiously to push for this succeed.