GOP Sources Discuss Effect of Ryan’s Budget on Medicare Benefits
House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) fiscal year 2014 budget proposal will not alter Medicare benefits for individuals age 55 and older, despite previous reports that the plan might include changes to coverage for people who currently are as old as 59, according to several Republican sources, Politico reports.
Ryan has been privately circulating the idea that his new budget proposal might include changes to future Medicare retirement benefits for people who currently are as old as 59, despite GOP leaders' pledge that the program would not be altered for people ages 55 and older. Ryan was expected to introduce the proposal on Wednesday in a press briefing.
The proposal aims to balance the federal budget in a decade. It also calls for deeper spending cuts and would enact changes to Medicare more quickly than the previous proposal, which delayed those alterations until 2023.
However, Connor Sweeney -- a spokesperson for Ryan â" -- on Tuesday said, "Writing a budget is a collaborative process that is still ongoing," adding, "We don't comment on rumors with respect to that process" (Sherman/Allen, Politico, 3/5).