Ryan Budget Ends Medicare

Ryan Budget Proposes Major Medicare Alteration

From The Medicare Rights Center:  "Let’s be clear, the budget introduced today by Representative Ryan is still a voucher plan that ends the Medicare program as we know it.  The budget may include a few new provisions compared to 2011, but the premise is still exactly the same -- Medicare beneficiaries (those over 65 and people with disabilities) pay more for health care and the federal government pays a lot less.  The proposal replaces Medicare’s guaranteed benefits with a 'premium support' payment that consumers can use to buy private insurance or, in a new twist, the traditional Original Medicare program.  However, there is no guarantee that the subsidy or voucher would match the rate at which health care costs increase.  This means that in order to buy adequate coverage, people with Medicare and their families will need to pay more out of pocket."

MORE:  "House Republicans thrust their vision of a smaller government, a flatter tax code and a free-market Medicare system into the 2012 election season on Tuesday, banking that fears over surging federal deficits will trump longstanding voter allegiances to popular government programs.  The House Budget Committee blueprint for spending and taxation over the next decade would reshape Medicare into a system of private insurance plans, shrink programs for the poor and turn them over to state governments, and try to simplify the tax code for individuals and businesses."

AND MORE:  "House GOP leaders unveiled a 2013 budget blueprint Tuesday that has little chance of becoming law but draws a clear contrast with Democrats on taxes, spending, and a host of hot-button political issues -- all of which could play a pivotal role in the 2012 campaign.  Republicans cast the $3.53 trillion plan -- which doubles down on past GOP proposals to overhaul Medicare and other politically sensitive programs -- as a bold attempt to reverse skyrocketing federal deficits and avert a looming fiscal catastrophe."

FROM NCPSSM:  GOP/Ryan Budget Plan Targets Seniors…Again  "CouponCare for Medicare – Tax Cuts for the Wealthy – Benefit Cuts for Everyone Else"

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The Ryan Budget Proves the Tea Party's Power Is Here to Stay

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