Hike Urged in Medicare Eligibility Age

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans plan to propose gradually raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67 and charging $5 for each home visit by health care workers as they overhaul the medical insurance program for the elderly.

In addition, a draft of the Senate GOP’s plans for Medicaid omits any of the $1.5 billion that Clinton administration and congressional budget bargainers agreed to provide to help the elderly poor pay monthly premiums for Medicare coverage. Republicans said they would supply the assistance, but perhaps not all $1.5 billion.

White House officials expressed opposition to all three ideas. But they avoided threatening a veto.

“We’re particularly concerned it does not include premium protections for low-income Medicare beneficiaries,” said Lawrence Haas, spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The drafts were prepared by Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.) for briefings he is holding this week with members of his panel. Its details, including plans to spend $16 billion to expand health insurance coverage for up to 5 million children, could change before Roth formally presents them to his committee for votes next week.

In Medicare, Roth would slowly raise the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 now to 67 by 2027, the same gradual increase already enacted for Social Security.

That change would produce billions of dollars in long-term savings for Medicare, whose costs are projected to skyrocket as the massive baby boom generation begins retiring in 2008.

Haas said the administration believes that proposal should await future attempts to address the long-range financing problems faced by Medicare.

Objections also came from the American Assn. of Retired Persons. Chief lobbyist John Rother said the idea means that people who retire at age 65 could face two years without health insurance or face expensive payments to cover themselves.

Roth would also end free visits by home health care workers at a time the government says costs for the service are growing rapidly.

“At $5 a visit, it’s typically a service needed for an extended period of time, so it’s quite a hit on the low-income population,” Rother said.