Top Dem Says GOP Efforts To Overhaul Medicare Will Fail: ‘Make Our Day’

Senate Minority Leader-elect Chuck Schumer of N.Y. speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Minority leader-elect Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) released a defiant statement on Friday in response to reports that Congressional Republicans plan to shift Medicare towards a more privatized system now that the GOP controls both chambers of Congress and the White House.

“The Republicans’ ideological and visceral hatred of government could deny millions of senior citizens across the country the care they need and deserve,” Schumer said in the statement. “To our Republican colleagues considering this path, Democrats say: make our day. Your effort will fail, and this attack on our seniors will not stand.”

The New York Times reported Thursday that House Republicans plan to move forward on plans to shift Medicare towards a system based on fixed government contributions that Democrats have decried as a “voucherization” of the program.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) brought up his desire to make an overhaul of Medicare one of Congress’ priorities soon after the election. Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee, told reporters on Capitol Hill not long after that Republicans were considering moving on major changes to Medicare in the next six to eight months. President-elect Donald Trump waffled on plans to drastically change Medicare during the campaign, but earlier this week, his campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Trump was open to considering Ryan’s proposals as well as other alternatives.

Read the full Schumer statement below:

“Medicare is one of the most successful government programs ever created – it’s been a success story for decades. The Republicans’ ideological and visceral hatred of government could deny millions of senior citizens across the country the care they need and deserve. To our Republican colleagues considering this path, Democrats say: make our day. Your effort will fail, and this attack on our seniors will not stand.”

— U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer

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