WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is opposed to efforts to raise the Medicare eligibility age as part of efforts to cut the deficit, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday.
"No," Carney unequivocally said when asked if Obama would support such measures. "The president has made clear that we don't believe that is the right policy to take."
Obama and congressional lawmakers had discussed raising the eligibility age in their negotiations in search of a "grand bargain" on the fiscal cliff, and Carney had previously refused to rule out that Obama was considering the measure, which is strongly opposed by progressives.
Carney told reporters that the president is still open to adjusting how inflation is calculated for the purposes of cost of living adjustments to entitlement programs like Social Security as part of a "comprehensive" agreement.