McConnell: Medicare Must be Part of Debt Deal

The Hill reports:

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday that Medicare reform must be part of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, despite indications that changing the entitlement will be politically unpopular.

Democrats made Medicare reforms pushed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) a central issue in a special election in upstate New York they won last week, despite it being a heavily Republican district.

But McConnell dismissed suggestions that the Democrats’ success in that election would factor in negotiations to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit. He described suggestions that Medicare would not be part of a solution to reducing annual deficits as “silly talk” and “nonsense.”

“Medicare will be part of any agreement to begin to reduce our long-term debt. I’m not going to put a number on the overall package but we all know what the driver of the debt is,” McConnell said.

At a press conference earlier this month, McConnell said short-term spending cuts and cuts to entitlement programs would have to be part of the debt limit agreement.

He reaffirmed that Medicare would have to undergo substantial spending cuts, despite indications that Democrats could exploit the GOP position to score political points.

McConnell said current beneficiaries would not be affected by the changes, but declined to say what specific reforms he supports. McConnell also declined to say whether he supported Ryan’s Medicare proposal, despite pointed questioning.