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April 5, 2011

GOP Proposes Sweeping Changes to Medicare & Medicaid 
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In news from Capitol Hill, Republican House Budget Committee Chair Paul
Ryan is set to outline a budget plan today that would cut more than $4
trillion from federal spending over the next decade and make sweeping
changes to the nation's Medicare and Medicaid programs. Medicare now
pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled
Americans. The Wall Street Journal reports Ryan's plan would essentially
end Medicare as a program that directly pays those bills. Healthcare
advocates say the proposal would shift more healthcare costs to older
Americans, while the block grant proposal for Medicaid would lead to
reduced benefits and make fewer people eligible for the program. Ryan
appeared on Fox News Sunday this week.

Rep. Paul Ryan: "Medicare itself, literally, crowds out all other
government spending at the end of the day. We can't sustain that. We
have got to get Medicare solvent."



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