Democrats, White House Slam New Bipartisan Medicare Plan
Just hours after it was released on Thursday, leading Democratic lawmakers and White House officials criticized a bipartisan proposal by House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to overhaul Medicare by providing beneficiaries "premium support" to purchase traditional Medicare coverage or a private health plan. White House spokesperson Jay Carney said, "We are concerned that the Wyden-Ryan [plan] ... would undermine rather than strengthen Medicare." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the proposal would cause Medicare to "wither on the vine," quoting remarks made by GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich in 1995 about what would happen to Medicare if it faced competition from private health plans.
- "White House Blasts New Medicare Plan by GOP's Ryan" (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/Boston Globe, 12/15).
- "Dems, Allies Firmly Reject Paul Ryan's New Medicare Reform Plan" (Baker, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 12/15).