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Released: August 15, 2011

Taking on Medicare and Medicaid

Source: Walter Pincus, Washington Post (Free Registration)

Editor’s note: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released a plan in July that he said would achieve $9 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade. Here, we review parts of the proposal. Coburn, a doctor, has some strong ideas about Medicare and Medicaid, which, he said, provide “health-care coverage for approximately one in five Americans and, along with Social Security, make up the backbone of the federal safety net.” Among his proposals: raising the entry age for Medicare; means-testing beneficiary payments; raising some premiums for all seniors; increasing funding for investigating fraud and abuse of both systems; and freezing for 10 years the Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors. Why such dramatic steps?

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