Medicare

Section Highlights:

Christie called Paul Ryan’s Medicare voucher plan “courageous” and “thoughtful.”
Christie said Americans could become lazy if entitlement programs were not reformed.
Christie proposed raising the retirement age for Medicare, and insisted the United States must “reduce Medicare benefits.”
Christie called for an expansion of means testing for Medicare beneficiaries, which would force seniors above a certain income level to pay more for their health benefits.

Ryan Plan

2011: Christie Called Paul Ryan’s Voucher Medicare Plan “Courageous” And “Thoughtful.” According to Mother Jones, ‘‘Now, pain will be inflicted when we change that,’ he went on. ‘People are going to do with less. People who are used to having entitlement at a certain level will not have them at that level anymore. That’s the story.’ Christie cited Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s ‘courageous’ and ‘thoughtful plan’ to ‘fix those systems’ by replacing Medicare with a voucher program.” [Mother Jones, 9/7/11]

September 2012: Christie Said Mitt Romney And Paul Ryan Would Not Change Medicare For Seniors. According to ‘Face the Nation,’ on September 30, 2012 Christie said, ‘Well, the first-- the first bit of good news 1is that-- that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are not going to change Medicare for those seniors. They are going to change Medicare for folks like me, who just turned fifty, and-- and-- and younger, who are going to need to know that if you want to have any semblance of Medicare, that you’re going to have to make some changes to it. And here’s the-- here’s the dirty little secret, Bob, President of the United States knows that, too, but he’s not talking about it. He’s not being honest with the American people about it. In the end I think the American people, if we lay out our vision well, will reward us for telling the truth and the President right now is avoiding the truth, the way he’s avoided so many hard truths over the last four years.’ [Face the Nation 9/30/12]

Entitlement Reform

Christie Said That Without Entitlement Reform, Americans Would Become ‘Disincentivized’ From Working. According to the Star-Ledger, ‘He clarified the statement yesterday, insisting he was speaking hypothetically. Unless the government reins in entitlement programs like Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security and the tax code, the Republican governor said Americans could become ‘disincentivized’ from ‘being ambitious’ and growing the economy. ‘If we don’t reform those programs, those programs conceivably could eat the rest of the budget alive,’ he said during a news conference at the Jewish Community Center in Bridgewater. ‘No national defense. No investment in education. No investment in research to cure disease. We know we’re not going to let that happen. So what happens is we become a society where people are more geared on what entitlements they are getting than on growing the pie to make America bigger and to grow revenue for the government.’’ [Star-Ledger, 4/12/12]

Christie Said Republicans Should Reform Entitlements Or Face Primary Challenges. According to The Hill, ‘New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) urged Congress to address the solvency of programs like Social Security and Medicare and warned Republicans they could face primaries for failing to cut government spending. Christie said it had become a ‘political strategy’ for Republicans to ignore reforming entitlement programs. ‘Our new, bold Republicans that we just sent to the House of Representatives, they’re not talking about it,’ Christie said. ‘They’re waiting for [President Obama] to talk about it.’ Christie said the future prosperity of the country warrants discussion of those controversial issues. ‘We are teetering on the edge of disaster,’ he said during a speech Wednesday at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. ‘Stop playing the political games. Stand up and do the right thing and speak the truth. ‘Or join the long parade of leaders who have come before us and failed.’’ [The Hill, 2/17/11]

Benefit Cuts

Christie Called For Cutting Medicare Benefits: “We’re Going To Have To Reduce Medicare Benefits.” According to Mother Jones, ‘He presented his accomplishments in New Jersey as a model for curing the nation’s ills: ‘We know the answers. They’re painful answers. We’re going to have to reduce Medicare benefits. We’re going to have to reduce Medicaid benefits. We’re going to have to raise the Social Security age. We’re going to have to do these things. We’re going to have to cut all types of other government programs that some people in this room might like.’’ [Mother Jones, 9/7/11]

Retirement Age

April 2015: Christie Proposed Raising The Retirement Age For Medicare. According to the Associated Press, “Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie proposed pushing back the age of eligibility for Social Security and Medicare for future retirees on Tuesday as part of a plan to cut deficits by $1 trillion over a decade, an approach he said would confront the nation's ‘biggest challenges in an honest way.’” [Associated Press, 4/14/15]

Christie’s Proposal Would Increase The Medicare Retirement Age To 67 By 2040. According to the Associated Press, “He'd also increase the Medicare eligibility age gradually to 67 by 2040 — and turn Medicaid into a block grant program to the states, which Republicans have long proposed and critics say could mean reduced benefits over time.” [Associated Press, 4/14/15]

Means Testing

April 2015: Christie Proposed Expanded Means Testing For Medicare Beneficiaries, Which Would “Make Wealthier Americans Bear More Of The Cost Of Their Own Health Care.” According to Yahoo, “In some ways, Christie’s entitlement plan, which his policy team says would save the country more than $1 trillion over 10 years, is an amalgam of what conservatives like Paul Ryan and bipartisan commissions have been suggesting for years. On Medicare, for instance, Christie will propose gradually raising the retirement age to 69 and expanding existing ‘means testing’ — that is, making wealthier Americans bear more of the cost of their own health care.” [Yahoo, 4/14/15]