The House Budget Committee approved the latest spending plan from Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) in March. The vote was 22 to 17 along party lines.
The plan outlines several steps to balance the budget: keeping new “fiscal cliff” deal taxes, trusting rosy economic growth forecasts and enacting huge funding cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
Medicare would lose $716 billion in funding, as a voucher system is put in place for seniors born after 1959. Medicaid funding for nursing homes would also be slashed.
President Barack Obama quickly rejected Ryan’s spending plan. But many Republicans believe Americans are ready to tackle the deficit.
“The election didn’t go our way. Believe me, I know what that feels like,” acknowledged Ryan. But that doesn’t mean fellow Republicans should abandon their principles, he said.
From the April 01, 2013 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
