Parties continue to clash over ways to curb Medicare spending

Amidst a pitched political debate over the federal deficit, all sides agree that health care spending must be addressed. Still, Medicare continues to cause considerable political differences. At the same time, a new CBS poll finds that Americans have "mixed feelings" about what should happen to the health insurance program for senior citizens.

CBS: Poll: Most Want Medicare Changes, But Wary Of GOP Plan
A new CBS News poll shows that Americans have mixed feelings about what should happen to Medicare: While 53 percent say the program needs fundamental changes, 58 percent say it should continue the way it is set up now. Americans were asked which of three statements comes closest to their views: "Medicare works pretty well and only minor changes are necessary to make it work better"; "There are some good things about Medicare, but fundamental changes are needed"; or "Medicare has so much wrong with it that we need to completely rebuild it," (Montopoli, 6/13).

The Washington Post: Parties Agree On Need To Curb Health Care Spending But Deadlock Over Medicare
Amid a bitter debate over taming the federal deficit, the political parties are in rare agreement on a need to curb the nation's spending on health care — and on Medicare most of all. ... For the most part, Democratic health-policy analysts support a patchwork of older ideas, such as raising retirement ages, making moderate use of private subsidies or setting higher prices for wealthy participants. The most optimistic liberal health-policy experts contend that Medicare costs will slow because of changes embedded in last year's law to overhaul the health-care system. ... "In many ways, the Democrats sort of shot their wad on the Affordable Care Act," said Marilyn Moon, senior vice president and director of the health program at the American Institutes for Research. "We have to see how far it takes us before we start a lot of other stuff" (Goldstein, 6/10).