Republicans pushing deep cuts to U.S. government spending are seeking to reassure older Americans that their health insurance will remain intact even if Medicare is privatized.
Elderly voters could be pivotal in the 2012 election, where both Democrats and Republicans will be judged for proposed cuts to the federal health insurance program to reduce deficits.
President Barack Obama has proposed trims to the old-age benefits while denouncing as "radical" a Republican plan that would replace Medicare with vouchers giving recipients a fixed amount of money to buy private insurance.
Pushing back, Republican lawmakers have been holding town halls across the country with a clear message: Medicare is unsustainable in its current form and only their plan will guarantee future seniors access to healthcare.
Freshman Republican Steve Stivers said there is a need to reform Medicare to ensure coverage for future retirees.
In an interview, Stivers said he has been busy explaining to people aged 55 and up that they will see no change in their benefits under the Republican plan which would save nearly $6 trillion over the next decade.
"I talk about how for people 54 and under we are preserving the system, we are reforming it to save it because frankly in nine years if we do nothing Medicare goes broke," he said.
That message is crucial if Republicans hope to win support for their plan to privatize the popular government-run program, said John Feehery of Quinn Gillespie Communications and a former Republican congressional staffer.
"In order to be able to sell it, you've got to come up with a communications plan that tells senior citizens that are 55 and over that this is not going to touch you," Feehery said.
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Elderly voters could be pivotal in the 2012 election, where both Democrats and Republicans will be judged for proposed cuts to the federal health insurance program to reduce deficits.
President Barack Obama has proposed trims to the old-age benefits while denouncing as "radical" a Republican plan that would replace Medicare with vouchers giving recipients a fixed amount of money to buy private insurance.
Pushing back, Republican lawmakers have been holding town halls across the country with a clear message: Medicare is unsustainable in its current form and only their plan will guarantee future seniors access to healthcare.
Freshman Republican Steve Stivers said there is a need to reform Medicare to ensure coverage for future retirees.
In an interview, Stivers said he has been busy explaining to people aged 55 and up that they will see no change in their benefits under the Republican plan which would save nearly $6 trillion over the next decade.
"I talk about how for people 54 and under we are preserving the system, we are reforming it to save it because frankly in nine years if we do nothing Medicare goes broke," he said.
That message is crucial if Republicans hope to win support for their plan to privatize the popular government-run program, said John Feehery of Quinn Gillespie Communications and a former Republican congressional staffer.
"In order to be able to sell it, you've got to come up with a communications plan that tells senior citizens that are 55 and over that this is not going to touch you," Feehery said.
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