President’s Budget Plan To Include Medicare And Medicaid Spending Cuts But No Structural Changes

The Wall Street Journal: Budget Plan Has Familiar Ring
The president will propose cutting spending on Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly, and Medicaid, the joint federal-state program for the poor and disabled. However, he isn't proposing the structural changes that experts say are needed to control spending in these programs over the long term. For instance, Mr. Obama won't suggest raising the Medicare eligibility age ... he again will put forward proposals to reduce spending by roughly $248 billion on Medicare and roughly $72 billion on Medicaid. The proposals include higher premiums and deductibles for many beneficiaries and lower payments to drug companies, hospitals and nursing homes (Meckler, 2/7).