Obama on Medicare Changes

July 15th, 2011

As lawmakers continue to clash over fiscal strategy, President Obama announced today that he would support “means-testing” for Medicare recipients. Means-testing requires those above a certain income level to pay greater fees for medical care. House Majority leader Eric Cantor later proposed a budget plan acknowledging that a 10% increase in the cost of hospital visits and prescription drugs for high income earners would result in an additional $38 billion dollars in revenue.

Obama’s announcement caused a backlash among several activist groups, who fear that tampering with Medicare would make it vulnerable to future budget cuts. However, this may be due to confusion, as means testing for Medicare already exists. Obama only supports increasing the fees for those above the current income threshold means-testing, according to a White House press release.

Obama also announced that drug companies may be targeted for budget cuts as the government attempts to reduce the national debt.