Seniors step up efforts to protect against cuts to Medicare

With reductions in Medicare spending on the table in the debt-ceiling negotiations, the AARP is taking aggressive steps to defend the program.

The Washington Post: Seniors' Groups Take To Airwaves And Capitol Hill To Protect Social Security, Medicare
First, AARP tried to convey disappointment. In May, the group launched a TV ad warning that Congress might try to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits as part of a deal to raise the national debt ceiling. "The country can do better," it said. Then, in June, it tried ridicule. Another TV ad hit Congress for pondering those cuts while the government spent money on such things as pickle research and experiments in which shrimp ran on treadmills (Fahrenthold, 7/13).

CQ HealthBeat: AARP To Congress: Maybe We Seem Like An Easy Target
As the debt negotiations drag on, the protests against any possible entitlement cuts build. The senior citizens advocacy group AARP on Wednesday launched its third wave of recent TV ads warning against reductions in Social Security and Medicare, and officials described the latest onslaught as the most aggressive in the series (Norman, 7/13).

Meanwhile, with an increase in Medicare's eligibility age one of the ideas under consideration, USA Today reports on the savings it would garner, and other consequences of this proposed policy change -

USA Today: Medicare Age Hike Could Save $125B Over 10 Years
A White House offer to increase the age of Medicare eligibility to 67 as a compromise to Republicans during budget talks would save about $125 billion over 10 years, records show, but such a move could leave many seniors without care if last year's health care law were repealed (Kennedy, 7/14).