Coburn, Lieberman Propose Raising Medicare Age

By Andy Wiltrout

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) teamed up Tuesday to release a proposal aimed at extracting wasteful Medicare dollars to be put toward deficit reduction.

Their plan will require high income Americans to pay more for their share of Medicare. For example, Medicare parts B and D recipients would have to pay 100 percent of there premium costs. The proposal could achieve a net savings of as much as $700 billion over the next decade, according to an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.

The pair said that their plan would “save Medicare and reduce the debt.”

Under the plan, the maximum out-of-pocket cap level for an individual with an income between $85,000 and $107,000 would be $12,500. “We simply do not believe that tax dollars should be used to pay premiums for those who can afford to pay on their own,” said Lieberman.

The duo’s plan would also raise the age of eligibility for Medicare by two months each year over a 12 year period until the eligibility age reaches 67 in 2025. Lieberman and Coburn justified this specific proposal by noting that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will provide non-wealthy Americans who are approaching retirement with greater insurance options.

“Our plan contains some strong medicine, but that is what it will take to keep medicare alive” the duo said in a statement released later in the day. “We believe our plan administers the medicine in a fair way. It asks just about everyone to give something to help preserve Medicare, but it asks wealthier Americans to give more than those that have less.”

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