Ryan Hammers His Plan Against Reid; Feels the 2012 Recruitment Heat

[Geee]

Fox News:

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan is unfazed by opponents who use CBO numbers to attack his budget proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and other Democrats have argued Ryan's plan would ask seniors to pay more for their benefits -- charging every senior $6,000 more every year -- in exchange for fewer benefits.

"What that [CBO] analysis forgot to include was the extra $7,800 a year that go to lower income seniors to cover all of their out of pocket costs. They're measuring any Medicare reform plan like ours against a mythical future, a fiscal fantasy, which is a collapsing system," Rep. Ryan (R-Wisc.) emphatically told Bret Baier Thursday evening.


"They literally forgot to put that in the analysis," he added.

Posed with Reid's critique that Ryan's plan "would turn over seniors' health to profit-hungry insurance companies," Ryan struck back.

"Private companies already offer Medicare, have Medicare advantage, offer prescription drug benefits, Medigap insurance is offered, Part A and B is already delivered through private health insurance companies. So if he's concerned about private businesses involved in the Medicare delivery system then he should be concerned about Medicare as we know it because that's exactly how the benefit is delivered today."