host: max richtman. guest: well, first of all, i have to say i am a little biased about acupuncture. my wife is a holistic veterinarian with a clinic in bethesda and do a lot of acupuncture. and i see real miracles on animals treated by acupuncture. that is a slight aside and a plug. there are many improvements that need to be made in medicare, we feel. eyeglasses are not covered. i care -- eyecare. hearing aids. dentil is not covered. these are so important to seniors and their quality of life. we have been talking to other groups and trying to build coalitions to improve medicare by adding benefits. it is a tough thing to do in these economic times. let me just go back to the affordable care act. because there were additions and benefits that are new, that i think seniors are not aware of, and they need to be aware of them. for the first time since medicare was created, preventive care, screening, testing, no out-of-pocket cost paid for by the medicare program. this obviously has, i think, and long ter

max richtman at the committee to preserve social security and medicare says that's enough. >> slashing medicare, which is what is being considered now by some, without it also addressing overall health care costs and health care inflation across the board, will not solve anything. it will just squeeze medicare beneficiaries. >> reporter: democrats have pushed for medicare savings by forcing providers to change the way they deliver care, rewarding quality over quantity. republicans come from the other side, arguing for reforms to make americans more cost- conscious consumers of health care. mcclellan says any solution to medicare's funding will have to do both. >> we need to change the way medicare pays doctors and hospitals, so that they do get paid more when they take steps to keep people healthy and avoid unnecessary services. we also need to give medicare beneficiaries an opportunity to be more effective and powerful consumers of health care. >> reporter: given the white-hot political risks of tackling a long-run reform of medicare, analysts expect a big agreement to reduce medicare