As the article points out, he is not offering (as is often the case with this President) many specifics as to how he intends to achieve these cuts. The White House is offering dollar totals however ($340 billion over the next ten years):
~snip~
The savings would come by "reducing waste, increasing accountability, promoting efficiency and improving the quality of care" in Medicare and Medicaid, according to the White House fact sheet.
The proposals to achieve them include a cap in the growth of Medicare spending per beneficiary, to GDP plus half a percent. Currently, the per-beneficiary cost is set to soar from $12,000 a year today to more than $44,000 by 2040.
His debt commission proposed capping growth in total federal health spending -- everything from Medicare to health insurance subsidies -- to the rate of economic growth plus 1% after 2020.
In addition, the president's debt-reduction framework would further strengthen the newly created Independent Payment Advisory Board to serve as an enforcer of other cost-saving Medicare reforms.
And like his commission, he's proposed ways to cut unnecessary prescription drug spending.
CNN
I think however that you are missing the point of my posts on this topic. This level of budget cutting to these programs are in a realm that Republican Presidents could only dream of. It is the reality that both the Dems and Republicans are willing to cut these programs by hundreds of billions that is alarming. Given this initial stance by the President, can you not see the compromise to come?
If BOTH parties are talking about cuts in the hundreds of billions, then we can be sure that cuts are going to come to these programs, concessions will be made to the Republicans and services will in turn suffer. Logically, it will be those who can least afford these services on their own who will feel the greatest impact.
If we ignore major cuts to these programs as proposed (however vaguely) by Democrats and/or the President - while solely focusing in on the draconian and unrealistic Republican proposals, then it is a foregone conclusion that cuts to these programs will become reality. As far as I am concerned, that would be a Republican victory, certainly not a victory for the American people.