‘Nickel-and-Dime’ Threat to Medicare Advances Charged

WASHINGTON —  President Reagan’s proposed changes in Medicare and Medicaid would “nickel-and-dime . . . to death” past advances in federal health programs for the poor and elderly, leaders of a Senate panel on aging charged today.

Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania, ranking Republican on the Special Committee on Aging, criticized the Administration’s proposed increase in premiums, saying senior citizens already spend an average of more than 15% of their incomes on health care.

He cited a Republican staff analysis of the White House proposal, which he said shows Reagan has suggested too many cuts that would “nickel-and-dime these achievements to death.”

Committee Chairman John Melcher (D-Mont.) agreed, accusing the Administration of building “a track record of trying to back out of its commitments on important social programs.”