Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
Medicare benefit cuts are "off the table."
The Nevada Democrat spoke just minutes after Vice President Joe Biden convened another meeting with top lawmakers on finding spending cuts to accompany legislation allowing the government to continue to borrow to finance its operations and avoid defaulting on U.S. bonds.
Republicans are pressing for savings from the rapidly growing Medicare program, but Democrats stand adamantly against proposals to raise the eligibility age for the program, require wealthier seniors to pay more for Medicare or boosting copayments for visits to doctors and hospitals.
Now Reid, and other Senate Dems, need to do the same for Medicaid, which doesn't have the same level of support as Medicare. They need to understand that Medicaid is not an acceptable bargaining chip to appease Republicans on Medicare cuts.
For one thing, the seniors Dems want to protect would also be hurt by Medicaid cuts. For another, Medicaid is critical to the expansion of healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and the new law would be significantly undercut. Not to mention there are millions of people who would be thrown to the wolves.
That, and Medicaid is important to the public. A number of recent polls, from KFF (and KFF again) to PPP, to Anzone Liszt Research have found the public nearly as opposed to Medicaid cuts as to Medicare.