GOP budget blueprint would increase future Medicare costs for seniors

The budget document unveiled yesterday by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R- Wis., includes sweeping changes to the Medicare program. For instance, the plan would mean that, for people younger than 55, Medicare would be transformed into a "premium-support" program. It would also raise Medicare's eligibility age and leave the program's "doughnut hole" intact.

The Wall Street Journal: Medicare Cost Would Rise For Many Under Ryan Plan
The House Republican plan for overhauling Medicare would fundamentally change how the federal government pays for health care, starting a decade from now, likely resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs and greater limits to coverage for many Americans (Adamy, 4/5).

Kaiser Health News: CBO: Seniors Would Pay Much More For Medicare Under Ryan Plan
Kaiser Health News staff writers Julie Appleby, Mary Agnes Carey and Laurie McGinley report: "Seniors and the disabled would pay sharply more for their Medicare coverage under a new plan by House Republicans aimed at curbing the nation's growing deficit, a Congressional Budget Office analysis shows" (Appleby, Carey and McGinley, 4/5). KHN also provides video excerpts of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., sparring over the Medicare provisions.

The Associated Press: GOP Budget Seen Raising Health Costs For Retirees
Most future retirees would pay more for health care under a new House Republican budget proposal, according to an analysis by nonpartisan experts for Congress that could be an obstacle to GOP ambitions to tame federal deficits (Alonso-Zaldivar, 4/6).

The Washington Post/Kaiser Health News: Rep. Ryan's Proposed Changes Would Be Biggest Yet For Medicare
When House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan announced his plan to redefine Medicare, as part of a broader Republican budget proposal, he did not sketch in all the details. But the outlines make clear that his ideas would represent the biggest change to the federal health insurance program for the elderly since its creation nearly five decades ago (Appleby, Carey, Galewitz, Serafini and Weaver, 4/5).

NPR: GOP's 2012 Budget Plan: Courageous Target For Democrats
Ryan would radically change Medicare and Medicaid although he mostly leaves Social Security alone. … For those younger than 55 years old, Ryan would reshape Medicare to turn it into a "premium-support" program. In other words, instead of the current single-payer approach of Medicare, under Ryan's approach seniors would get payments of up to $15,000 a year to buy health insurance from private insurers. Critics doubt this would do anything to control health care inflation which, along with the aging of the Baby Boom, help explain why Medicare's costs are expected to drive deficits if nothing is done (James, 4/5).