GOP drops Medicare changes from federal budget plan

Republican Congressional leaders announced yesterday that their plan to privatize Medicare as part of a larger budget-balancing proposal has effectively been scrapped (Source: “GOP drops plan to privatize Medicare,” McClatchy Newspapers via Columbus Dispatch, May 6, 2011).

Speaking after ongoing budget negotiations with Vice President Joe Biden, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., the majority leader said, "I have not taken Medicare off the table, but the president has. The reality is, this president has excoriated our budget plan and the Medicare proposal."

The GOP’s budget plan, as articulated by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan last month, called for Medicare to transition into a program that provides seniors with vouchers to buy insurance in the private market.