The White House proposed raising the Medicare eligibility age

at 04:08 PM ET, 07/11/2011

Interesting. The Huffington Post is reporting that five separate sources, including Democrats and Republicans, are saying that the White House broached raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.

Perhaps that’s not surprising. The presumed presence of the Affordable Care Act makes that a safer play than it once was: 65- and 66-year-olds without the means or the health history to purchase insurance now will have subsidies and protections in 2014. But it’s still a big concession on the White House’s part and, alongside the proposal to chain the consumer price index to cut Social Security benefits and raise taxes, would’ve generated a huge backlash from the left. That’s the sort of policy change that would get some in the party to start talking about primary challenges.

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