Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Christie Calls For Raising Retirement Age, Overhauling Entitlements
Los Angeles Times: Christie Calls For Cuts In Social Security, Medicare
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, saying that the “American people have the appetite for hard truths,” called Tuesday for cutting Social Security benefits and raising Medicare premiums for future upper-income retirees and raising the retirement age. Although several other Republicans with presidential ambitions have called for changes in the nation’s giant retirement benefits programs, Christie’s proposals are more detailed and more likely to generate controversy. (Lauter, 4/14)
The Wall Street Journal: Christie Calls For Social Security Cuts
In addressing entitlements, Mr. Christie sought to cast himself as independent from an unpopular Congress and willing to tell hard truths about programs he said threatened to “bankrupt our nation.” ... While GOP lawmakers and leaders have often called for scaling back health-care entitlements, Social Security has presented more of a political third rail. Recent Republican budgets haven’t proposed major changes to Social Security and instead focused on overhauling Medicare, the federal health insurance for the elderly and disabled, which trustees last year said was on pace to exhaust its reserves in 2030. Current estimates show the Social Security program will be unable to make full benefit payments by 2034, which means lawmakers could be forced before then to contemplate raising Social Security taxes or reducing benefits. Mr. Christie’s proposal in many ways would go beyond the most detailed overhaul Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) proposed in 2010. (Haddon, Hook and Timiraos, 4/14)
Manchester Union Leader: Christie Pitches Entitlement Reform On NH Visit
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday unveiled a 12-step plan to reform entitlements, saying unchecked federal spending on the programs would deepen the deficit and eventually bankrupt the nation. ... The proposal includes raising the retirement age for Social Security to 69 and raising early retirement to 64; raising the eligibility age for Medicare one month per year, so that by 2040 it would be 67 years old; and eliminating the payroll tax for seniors who stay in the workforce over 62. ... Medicaid is the most problematic entitlement program, Christie said. His proposal calls for per capita caps indexed to the number of Medicaid enrollees, giving each state a set amount of funds per enrollee. (Tuohy, 4/14)
CBS News: Election 2016: Chris Christie Unveils National Entitlement Reform Plan
Christie ... has an ambitious plan to change Medicare and Medicaid. He would also restructure Social Security, changing it from an entitlement to what would effectively be an insurance policy. (Uchimiya, 4/14)
McClatchy: Christie Wants Big Changes In Social Security, Medicare
Under the Christie plan, the Social Security retirement age would jump to 69 and Medicare to 67, according to WMUR-TV in Manchester. The Social Security age is now on a sliding scale, depending on the year of one’s birth, and will hit 67 for those born in 1960 or after. The Medicare eligibility age is 65. (Lightman, 4/14)
Meanwhile, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also talked about making unspecified changes to Medicare to keep it solvent -
Los Angeles Times: After Soaring Rhetoric, Rubio Begins To Outline Policy Positions
He told Hannity that Medicare would need to be changed if it is to remain solvent, a nod to a GOP plan that would give future seniors -- people now in their mid-50s and younger -- a lump sum to buy insurance or apply to Medicare. (Mascaro, 4/14)
