Ryan, Wyden to announce new Medicare proposal

The Wall Street Journal: Ryan Revises Medicare Plan
Republican congressman Paul Ryan plans to unveil a new Medicare proposal Thursday that would give future seniors the choice of purchasing private insurance coverage or staying in the traditional federal plan. The concept, which is backed by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, steps back from the House Budget Chairman's previous plan to end the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program for future retirees and replace it with subsidies that seniors would use to purchase private health plans (Radnofsky and Weisman, 12/14).

The Washington Post: Ryan To Announce Plan To Keep Federally Funded Medicare
Seniors would still receive a set amount of money from the government to buy insurance, as they would under the Medicare proposal Ryan included in the budget blueprint that passed the House last year. But the new approach would let that subsidy, known as premium support, rise or fall along with the actual cost of the policies -; creating more protection for seniors and saving potentially far less in the budget (Montgomery,12/14).

The New York Times: Lawmakers Offer Bipartisan Plan To Overhaul Medicare 
Just as important as the details of their proposal was the fact that the two were working together on an issue that both parties have exploited for political advantage. In 2010, many Republicans won House seats -; and the support of older voters -; by arguing that President Obama's health care law would damage Medicare. Democrats are hoping to retake the House by arguing that Mr. Ryan and other House Republicans are pushing for the privatization of Medicare, which they say could greatly increase costs for beneficiaries (Pear, 12/14).

Politico: Ryan, Wyden Back A New Medicare Option
Wyden is the first Democrat on Capitol Hill to so strongly embrace a variant of Ryan's approach. And Ryan has accepted more flexibility than the Medicare approach in the House budget. Wyden insists the plan would be designed in ways that would preserve the safety net for the elderly. ... Ryan and Wyden plan to release a white paper with more details Thursday at an event sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center (Haberkorn, 12/14).