Dean Struggles With a Stance Over Medicare

[DoveTurnedHawk]

<...>

Dr. Dean said, according to news reports at the time, that he "fully subscribed" to the idea of substantially reducing the growth rate in Medicare spending and he praised that element of a Senate Republican budget plan that was vehemently opposed by Democrats on Capitol Hill.

He argued that "we ought to put Social Security back on the table " in an effort to balance the federal budget, and he suggested that Congress consider raising the retirement age.

<...>

But several veterans of the budget wars of the mid-1990's noted that there were major differences between the Republican plans for Medicare in 1995 and the one that ultimately passed with bipartisan support two years later. For one thing, the spending reductions in Medicare. were smaller. (An estimated $260 billion over seven years in the Senate plan in 1995, compared with an estimated $200 billion a few years later.)

Chris Jennings, Mr. Clinton's health care adviser, said: "Dean is right that the Clinton Administration desired to constrain growth in the Medicare program and strengthen the trust fund. But we did not embrace the magnitude of cuts advocated by the Republican leadership."

<...>

In his comments in May 1995, Dr. Dean praised the budget plan advanced by Senator Pete V. Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, which called for reducing the rate of growth in Medicare spending by about $260 billion over seven years. A spokesman for Dr. Dean noted that the candidate supported Mr. Domenici's general goal on Medicare spending.

<...>

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/01/politics/campaigns/01DEAN.html

DTH