Medicare/Medicaid

Debt Deal Could Spare Middle and Upper Class Seniors, But Slam The Poor

Benjy Sarlin | June 20, 2011, 5:45AM

Medicaid recipients receive treatment

Democrats' rallying cry on deficit talks couldn't be clearer: It's the elderly, stupid.

That means Medicare benefits are off-limits, a message that Democrats plan to reinforce at every opportunity through November 2012. With Republicans demanding trillions in cuts to raise the debt limit, however, savings are going to have to come from somewhere. The most logical option left is Medicaid, a favorite conservative target whose low-income recipients carry little clout in Washington compared to Medicare's elderly and middle-class base.

But there is one politically tricky obstacle to cutting Medicaid: Millions of seniors -- including those who consider themselves middle class -- rely on Medicaid cover their nursing home care, meaning any raid on its funding could complicate Democrats' image a the tireless champion of retirees across the land.

Mindful of the problem, aides and lawmakers are floating a way forward: shielding the elderly from Medicaid cuts while slashing aid to poor and uninsured Americans.

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Medicare

Democrats Break Down Impact Of GOP Medicare Plan District By District

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 3, 2011, 5:04PM

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA)

House Democrats have broken down the massive changes to Medicare and Medicaid proposed by the House GOP into a convenient take home size.

Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman (CA) and Frank Pallone (NJ), voters can now see what Democrats say is the direct impact of the Republican plan to turn Medicare into a voucher system on every congressional district in the country.

Waxman and Pallone have set up an interactive map that allows viewers to pop open a report on the impact of the Medicare change on the population in their community.

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