Raising the Medicare retirement age is pretty pointless.
If people age 65 aren’t getting Medicare, they’ll mainly be getting Medicaid or heavily subsidized PPACA coverage.
I think the main things that can be done for Medicare is with the drug program (Part D) and barring supplemental coverage for outpatient physical therapy and devices such as fancy wheelchairs. I would also move many drugs to OTC status.
As for Social Security, there is a relatively minor problem that needs about a 6% correction. This will have to be dealt with, but we shouldn’t lose an election over an eventually unavoidable issue.
The big problem is with Social Security disability. The disability trust funds is just about broke. However, there will be automatic benefit cuts, so it really is up to the Democrats to propose SS disability solutions.
What I would like to see for SS disability is employer hiring incentives based on VA style disability ratings along with benefit cuts starting May 1,2017 of 10% (or less if enough people are removed from the rolls). There would be no benefit cuts if you are:
1. drug offense free and
2. physically unable to operate an automobile or are legally incompetent
I would also like to see financial institutions barred from taking more than $10 in fees and other charges from a SS disability account in a calendar or statement month.
No, Social Security has a much bigger problem than that.
The only alternative evaluated by the SSA that actually solves the problem is an eventual 50% increase in payroll taxes.
There are lesser alternatives that post the problem for a few years, but they will fail within a couple of generations -- and probably sooner because the SSA's "intermediate" assumptions have historically been too optimistic.
The big problem is with Social Security disability.
You do realize that many chronically unemployed were declared disable and moved to SS disability during the last 7 years. Logic was if you could not garner employment you must be disabled, this was actively encouraged as people used up their two year unemployment benefit.