Donald Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday night that the President-elect was “open to hearing” alternatives to the Medicare program, including one put forth by House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Conway was responding to a question from “PBS NewsHour” host Judy Woodruff, who asked about Trump’s view of Ryan’s proposal that Medicare be phased out in favor of a “premium support system”—his term for privatization.
“President-elect Trump has made very clear that he wants to make good on the promises that we as a nation have made to the seniors who rely upon Medicare, and certainly the lower income Americans who rely upon Medicaid and other entitlements like Social Security, frankly, for those who receive that,” Conway began.
Still, she said, Trump was open to hearing “different solutions and better ways of doing things.”
“He will, I’m sure, take a look at Speaker Ryan’s proposal and other proposals,” she continued. “In this case, he will go ahead and look at alternatives, Judy, as long as it does not interfere with what he has said, his commitment to keep the promises to those currently relying on them.”
During the campaign Trump had vowed that he was “not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid.” Now, his transition website states that he will “modernize” Medicare, “so that it will be ready for the challenges with the coming retirement of the Baby Boom generation – and beyond” and “[m]aximize flexibility for States [sic] in administering Medicaid.”
Watch below via “PBS Newshour.” The discussion of Medicare comes at around 5:24:
