White House Rules Out Raising Medicare Eligibility Age | TPMDC

White House Rules Out Raising Medicare Eligibility Age | TPMDC

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“The president’s made clear that we don’t believe that’s the right policy to take,” he told reporters.

The White House was never fond of the idea, which Republicans and conservative advocates support, but was open to gradually raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67 as part of a broader deal in prior deficit reduction talks. Carney’s remarks nix the proposal in the White House’s most explicit terms yet.

Raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67 would save the federal government $125 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, by shifting some of the health care burden to younger seniors by requiring them to obtain insurance on their own.

House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) office responded to Carney.

“The White House keeps saying what they won’t do to replace President Obama’s devastating sequester — when will they tell us what they will do, and call on the Senate Democrats to pass it?” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in an email to TPM.

Immediately after Carney made his remarks, Boehner spokesman