Ben Carson pitches repealing Obamacare, raising Medicare eligibility age in health reform plan

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson unveiled a broad outline Wednesday to reform health care in the United States, calling for the repeal of President Obama's signature health-care law while detailing a restructuring of Medicare that would raise the eligibility age to 70.

The retired neurosurgeon's proposal rests on tax-protected “health empowerment accounts” — a de facto expansion of health savings accounts, which in Carson's vision would be opened for each citizen upon birth and grow over time based on individual contributions. Those accounts would be paired with high-deductible "catastrophic" medical coverage to cover patients facing significant and unexpected health problems.