Ryan's plan to reshape Medicare triggers cost, political concerns

News outlets report on how the plan to privatize Medicare may actually increase costs and how the GOP plan could turn out to be a "front-burner" issue during the presidential primary.

Los Angeles Times: Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare Privatization Plan Increases Costs, Budget Office Says
When House Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan unveiled his blueprint this week for cutting federal spending by $5.8 trillion over the next decade, he argued that a revamping of the government's health safety net would rein in skyrocketing costs. But because commercial insurers cost more to run than government plans, the Wisconsin Republican's proposal to privatize Medicare starting in 2022 would actually spark a dramatic increase in how much the nation spends on health care for the elderly, according to an independent analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (Levey, 4/7).

Politico: New Hampshire Baby Boomers' Views Not Set
About a third of the state's 1.3 million people are between the ages of 45 and 65, according to government estimates. That makes it very likely that Ryan's controversial proposal to save more than $6 trillion over the next decade — partly by transforming Medicare into a voucherlike program — will be closely scrutinized in New Hampshire, home to next year's first-in-the-nation Republican presidential primary. The question of whether these boomers will be willing to accept painful reforms to ensure that they'll receive benefits when the youngest among them are ready to retire could turn out to be a front-burner issue in the presidential primary and also in the fall, when the swing state will be up for grabs (Hohmann, 4/8).