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Debate on budget options: Ryan offer is 'cruel'; Obama unwilling to take risks necessary for grand bargain

It's a cruel budget. To finance his largess to the very well-off, Ryan would - through steep Medicaid cuts and the repeal of Obamacare - leave an additional 40 million to 50 million poor or moderate-income Americans without health insurance, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (E.J. Dionne Jr., 3/13).

15 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Ryan's 'tired ideas;' House GOP 'reboots' on budget; Bloomberg's soda campaign 'ill-conceived'

All the tired ideas from 2011 and 2012 are back: eliminating Medicare's guarantee to retirees by turning it into a voucher plan; dispensing with Medicaid and food stamps by turning them into block grants for states to cut freely; repealing most of the reforms to health care and Wall Street; shrinking beyond recognition the federal role in education, job training, transportation and scientific and medical research.

14 Mar 2013

Budget proposals show Democrats and Republicans far apart

The House GOP plan, which was unveiled yesterday, would repeal the health law's subsidized insurance exchanges and Medicaid expansion and turn Medicare into a premium-support system.

14 Mar 2013

Ryan's budget plan -- to be released today -- reprises 2012 election issues with Medicare, Medicaid changes

Early reports on the budget being advanced by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., suggest the blueprint will score savings by proposing to turn Medicaid into a block grant program, repealing much of the 2010 health law and applying a premium support model to Medicare.

13 Mar 2013

Ryan says critics of his budget need to offer 'credible alternative' for Medicare; Opponents blast plan as repeat of failed past efforts

On Tuesday, we're introducing a budget that balances in 10 years - without raising taxes. How do we do it? We stop spending money the government doesn't have.

13 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 12, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about this week's roll out of budgets on Capitol Hill and how Democratic and Republican fiscal blueprints will underscore key partisan differences.

12 Mar 2013

FlexToBa program can enhance health of older adults

Fitness DVDs are a multimillion-dollar business, and those targeting adults over the age of 55 are a major part of the market. With names like "Boomers on the Move," "Stronger Seniors" and "Ageless Yoga," the programs promise much, but few have ever been rigorously tested.

12 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: 5 lies about entitlements; Obama's plans for Medicare still not clear; Generic drug makers need to be accountable

So here's a list with a bit more gravitas: The five biggest lies you're being told about entitlement programs. Never mind that the very word "entitlement" is a lie. Social Security and Medicare got that name because workers became "entitled" to those benefits by paying into the system. In recent years, however, the term has become distorted to signify benefits people are entitled to without earning them. Leaving that whopper aside, here are the top five.

12 Mar 2013

Obama continues efforts to woo Republicans

In what one news outlet described as a "charm offensive," President Barack Obama is seeking common ground with rank-and-file Republicans for a deficit reduction deal that would overhaul the tax code and slow the growth of Medicare and other entitlement programs.

11 Mar 2013

Rep. Ryan says budget plan will assume repeal of health law

In an interview on Fox, the House Budget chairman doesn't make clear if the plan he will announce this week will call for a total repeal of the 2010 law but he says Republicans are still keen to get rid of the health overhaul.

11 Mar 2013

Sebelius credits health law with slowing medical cost growth; Survey shows few insurers now cover services required in 2014

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday credited President Obama's health care law with a recent slowdown in medical spending. The Congressional Budget Office has projected a significant slowing in the growth of Medicare spending and healthcare costs more generally.

11 Mar 2013

House Republicans, Senate Democrats to release competing budget plans next week

As President Barack Obama courts Republican lawmakers who might be interested in a "grand bargain," the chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees are expected to release competing budget proposals. Some hope a conference committee might be able to work out the differences on taxes and spending, including changes to Medicare.

8 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Ryan's efforts on Medicare leave Republicans 'howling;' Retirement may be too expensive for seniors

Paul Ryan is one of the few considering the long-term trajectory of federal spending who is also preparing a solution without artificial fiscal cliffs. Perhaps surprisingly, his ideas for structural budget and entitlement reform have some Republicans howling even before Democrats get an opportunity to speak up.

7 Mar 2013

Ryan's Medicare plan said to back away from age cutoff

News organizations report that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is expected to exempt people 55 years old and older from his Medicare overhaul - despite his personal preference to raise that age to 56.

7 Mar 2013

New tool can help determine senior citizens' 10-year survivability rates

A UC San Francisco team has developed a tool that can help determine - and perhaps influence - senior citizens' 10-year survivability rates.

6 Mar 2013

Inspector General finds unclear definition, enforcement of 'conflict of interest' may alter Medicare coverage decisions

Deciding which drugs will be covered by Medicare can influence huge amounts of spending, but government officials do little to police conflict of interest among doctors and pharmacists who make those decisions, federal investigators said Monday.

6 Mar 2013

Automatic budget cuts lead Republicans to sharpen focus on Medicare cost-cutting plans

With the deadline for averting sequestration having come and gone, lawmakers and the White House are jockeying for position in the next round of budget battles.

5 Mar 2013

State roundup: Medicaid costs slow states' recovery

Like a bad hangover that won't go away, some states are still suffering from the effects of the recession that technically ended three and half years ago. … Some states, including Iowa, Indiana and Tennessee, started the new session with surpluses, but none are planning to embark on new spending.

1 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Former Sen. Gramm criticizes Obama on budget cuts; Debate on revamping Medicare needs less heat, more deliberation

While history shows that a divided government can enact significant spending cuts as an alternative to sequesters, that doesn't appear to be the path Mr. Obama intends to follow. Instead of protecting civilian defense workers, the president will continue to force the Pentagon to buy biofuels at $27 per gallon to promote his green agenda.

27 Feb 2013

Is avoiding sequestration possible?

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., told the Wall Street Journal that he would consider a tax increase if it is accompanied by reductions in entitlement spending.

27 Feb 2013

Seniors News and Research

Debate on budget options: Ryan offer is 'cruel'; Obama unwilling to take risks necessary for grand bargain

Viewpoints: Ryan's 'tired ideas;' House GOP 'reboots' on budget; Bloomberg's soda campaign 'ill-conceived'

Budget proposals show Democrats and Republicans far apart

Ryan's budget plan -- to be released today -- reprises 2012 election issues with Medicare, Medicaid changes

Ryan says critics of his budget need to offer 'credible alternative' for Medicare; Opponents blast plan as repeat of failed past efforts

First Edition: March 12, 2013

FlexToBa program can enhance health of older adults

Viewpoints: 5 lies about entitlements; Obama's plans for Medicare still not clear; Generic drug makers need to be accountable

Obama continues efforts to woo Republicans

Rep. Ryan says budget plan will assume repeal of health law

Sebelius credits health law with slowing medical cost growth; Survey shows few insurers now cover services required in 2014

House Republicans, Senate Democrats to release competing budget plans next week

Viewpoints: Ryan's efforts on Medicare leave Republicans 'howling;' Retirement may be too expensive for seniors

Ryan's Medicare plan said to back away from age cutoff

New tool can help determine senior citizens' 10-year survivability rates

Inspector General finds unclear definition, enforcement of 'conflict of interest' may alter Medicare coverage decisions

Automatic budget cuts lead Republicans to sharpen focus on Medicare cost-cutting plans

State roundup: Medicaid costs slow states' recovery

Viewpoints: Former Sen. Gramm criticizes Obama on budget cuts; Debate on revamping Medicare needs less heat, more deliberation

Is avoiding sequestration possible?

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