The Associated Press: When Medicare is the piggy bank

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By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR (AP)

WASHINGTON — Medicare is looking like a big fat piggy bank for health care overhaul.

President Barack Obama and the Democrats want to pay for much of their plan to cover the uninsured by cutting hundreds of billions from the Medicare budget over the next 10 years.

From its inception, the health plan for seniors has been kept afloat by taxes out of workers' paychecks. Now, Medicare savings would count toward helping uninsured working-age children and grandchildren afford their own coverage.

Most seniors are willing to help younger generations. But having reached that point in life when you have to spend more time in the doctor's office than you'd prefer to, older Americans worry the cuts will mean lower quality care.
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