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GOP Plan Claims Medicare Savings, Critics Say Seniors Would Pay

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House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., touts his 2012 federal budget on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., touts his 2012 federal budget on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)

House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan has put out the Republican blueprint for the future of the federal government with a proposed 2012 budget.  The plan cuts spending on Medicaid and other domestic programs, sharply lowers taxes for businesses and the wealthy and privatizes Medicare.

Rep. Ryan says his plan would cut Medicare costs.  But according to an analysis from the Congressional Budget office:

"Under the proposal, most elderly people would pay more for their health care than they would pay under the current Medicare system."

The plan would raise the Medicare retirement age, and make Medicare participation voluntary. We sort through the details with Howard Gleckman, resident fellow at the non-partisan Tax Policy Center where he writes for the blog Tax Vox.

This segment aired on April 6, 2011.

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