Biden will seek Medicare changes, up tax rate in new budget

By CHRIS MEGERIAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has started to unveil parts of his budget proposal being released later this week. The Democratic president is beginning with his plan for Medicare, including higher taxes on wealthy people to increase funding for the program’s trust fund. Biden also wants to expand Medicare’s ability to negotiate prescription drug prices. Biden writes Tuesday in The New York Times that Medicare is “more than a government program.” Biden calls Medicare “the rock-solid guarantee that Americans have counted on to be there for them when they retire.” The president is scheduled to release his budget proposal Thursday in Philadelphia. The budget proposal’s future is uncertain, with Republicans in control of the House.