Romney proposal would privatize part of Medicare




Mitt Romney is tackling one of the 2012 presidential contest's most delicate issues today.

The Republican presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts governor has released a broad plan to transform Medicare, the popular health-insurance program for the elderly. He addressed the lightning-rod issue and other spending cuts during a fiscal policy speech before an afternoon gathering of conservative activists at the Washington Convention Center, where the tea party-allied group Americans for Prosperity is holding a two-day event.

Romney has struggled to win over tea party supporters, and his cuts would not go as far as some would like. But he says he would slash federal spending by $500 billion in his first term as president.


"The idea instead is to set the Medicare payment to provide each senior with money that they can go out use to go and buy a plan," a senior Romney adviser said before the speech. "In that respect, it's exactly the same exact thing as a Ryan plan."

The campaign couldn't say how much the change would save taxpayers. But a host of unrelated cuts would trim as much as a half trillion dollars over four years, he said.







Romney favors raising the retirement age for younger workers and limiting increases for wealthier recipients. And on Medicare, he says the government would issue a voucher, or "premium support," to seniors to purchase their own plan.
