Deficit cutters target upper-income Medicare beneficiaries

McClatchy reports:

In the scramble to come up with a deficit-reduction deal by Thanksgiving, members of Capitol Hill's supercommittee appear to have one group squarely in their crosshairs: high-income Medicare beneficiaries.

Some fiscal conservatives argue that the federal government shouldn't help finance health care benefits for the rich. "Frankly, if you're a wealthy person, the taxpayers should not subsidize your (Medicare)," said Robert Moffit, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank. "You're retired. You own your own home. ... You're making $165,000 a year. No, faced with a $37 trillion unfunded liability in Medicare, the answer is no, we're not going to pay for you."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has left the door open to asking wealthy seniors to pay more, and public opinion polls show support for the idea.