Last month, the US House of Representatives voted to pass the budget plan authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). On Wednesday, May 25, 2010, the United States’ Senate voted 57 to 40 against the Ryan Budget Plan. The Ryan Budget Plan would have turned Medicare into a voucher program. Under Representative Ryan’s Budget Plan, senior citizens would have to buy private insurance. As you could imagine, it may be difficult for an elderly person to identify an insurance company that would sell an insurance policy to them at a moderate price.
Members of both majority political parties rejected the Ryan Budget Plan. Republican Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Scott Brown of Massachusetts voted with Democrats to reject the budget plan. Rand Paul (R-KY) also opposed the plan, calling for greater budget cuts. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), stated that the Ryan Budget Plan “…would turn over seniors’ health to profit-hungry insurance companies. It would let bureaucrats decide what tests and treatments seniors get. And it would ask seniors to pay more for their health care in exchange for fewer benefits. That’s a bad deal all around.”
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stated, “House and Senate Republicans are on record: they want to break the bedrock promise that this country made to our seniors-that after a lifetime of hard work, they would be able to depend on Medicare-at the same time that Republicans are giving tax breaks to Big Oil. On the other hand, Democrats are committed to preserving and strengthening Medicare while creating jobs, responsibly reducing the deficit, and growing our economy.”
Sources: “Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal blocked by Democrats, U.S. Senate”, The Capitol Column, Thursday, May 26, 2011, Column Staff Writer. “Harry Reid on NY Election: Voters Reject Republican Plan to Kill Medicare” The Capitol Column, Friday, May 26, 2011, Column Staff Writer. National Public Radio.
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