Paul Ryan, the author of the GOP’s plan to transform Medicare into a private insurance subsidies system, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he’s not concerned about Democrats’ attacks, when asked whether they might hurt Republicans hoping to maintain their House majority this November.
Ryan told George Stephanopoulos:
No, I’m really not concerned about that, actually, George, because we’re taking responsibility for dealing with the drivers of our debt. You have to remember, George, that Medicare is going bankrupt, that the president’s health care law puts a board of 15 unaccountable bureaucrats in charge of cutting Medicare, which will lead to denied care for seniors. The president’s health care law takes the $500 billion from Medicare to spend on Obamacare.
And so I think when you actually look at what we’re proposing, we’re showing that there’s a bipartisan consensus in Congress on how to preserve the Medicare guarantee, how to save and strengthen the program. We don’t change any benefit for anybody 55 and above, and we save this guarantee for younger generations so they can actually count on it.
Ryan pointed to his work with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) in developing a less sweeping alternative that keeps traditional Medicare as an option. He sought to portray such reforms as inevitable.
