NEWS FLASH

Study: Raising The Medicare Age Could Cut Seniors’ Social Security In Half | As GOP presidential candidates and Republican members of the super committee have zeroed in on raising the Medicare age to reduce the deficit, a new report finds that such a move would dramatically reduce middle-class seniors’ Social Security checks. The group Strengthen Social Security estimates that increasing the eligibility age would consume 45 percent of the Social Security checks seniors receive. After paying into the entitlement program their entire lives, seniors would have to start paying for nearly half of their health care costs out-of-pocket, up from 28 percent. In short, more of seniors’ money would go directly to private insurance companies. Social Security payments are already modest, yet are essential for keeping millions of seniors out of poverty.