Carney: Obama won't back higher Medicare age

President Obama won't support raising the eligibility age for Medicare — an idea he had once embraced — White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday.

Carney said during his daily press briefing that Obama has ruled out raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 as a way to slow healthcare spending and reduce the federal deficit.

Obama had previously been open to raising the eligibility age as part of a "grand bargain" that would include spending cuts as well as tax increases to reduce the deficit. But Carney said Monday that the Medicare change is off the table.

Gradually raising the eligibility age would save the government more than $100 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But it would largely shift healthcare costs to seniors, because private insurance is more expensive than Medicare.

Carney said Obama is still open to a proposal to change the way Social Security benefits are calculated, also as part of a broader agreement on debt and deficit reduction.

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