WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's new plan to raise Medicare premiums for upper-income seniors would create five new income brackets to squeeze more revenue for the government from the top tiers of retirees.
The administration revealed details of the plan Friday after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified before the Congress on the president's budget. The details had not been provided when the budget was released earlier in the week.
The idea of "means testing" has been part of Medicare since the George W. Bush administration, but ramping it up is bound to stir controversy. Republicans are intrigued, but most Democrats don't like the idea.
The plan itself is complicated. The bottom line is not: more money for the government.
Obama's new budget calls for raising $50 billion over 10 years by increasing monthly "income-related" premiums for outpatient and prescription drug coverage. The comparable number last year was $28 billion over the decade.