September 03, 2021 12:42 PM UTC

Colorado Democrats Push to Lower Medicare Age to 60

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• by: Colorado Pols

All four of Colorado’s Democratic Members of Congress — Reps. Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse, Jason Crow, and Ed Perlmutter — have signed onto legislation seeking to lower the age for Medicare eligibility from 65 to 60.

As CNN reports:

This legislation comes as Democrats are working to expand Medicare benefits through their multi-trillion-dollar spending proposal being used to fulfill much of President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda. The lawmakers are introducing this legislation with the hopes of it being included in the final reconciliation package…

…Lowering the eligibility age from 65 to 60 is widely popular across the Democratic caucus, with 70% pledging to support the measure earlier this year. It is even a priority that Biden himself has called for. Lowering the eligibility age by five years would expand Medicare to at least 23 million people, according to the cosponsors of the legislation.

In addition to trying to include a lower Medicare eligibility age in the reconciliation package, Democrats also want to use the voting maneuver, which allows them to pass legislation without relying on Republican votes, to also include a historic of expansion of Medicare to cover hearing, dental and vision care for the first time.

Polling data shows that reducing the age for Medicare qualification and expanding the program to cover hearing, dental, and vision care are both broadly popular ideas.