TPMDC

Boehner: Republicans Voted To Turn Medicare Into Obamacare

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

Another top Republican has admitted what few members of his own party will admit. In fact, it’s the toppest-Republican.

According to Speaker John Boehner, the House Republican budget, which passed on April 15, “transforms Medicare into a plan that’s very similar to the President’s own healthcare bill.”

That’s from an interview with ABC’s Jon Karl. Boehner joins Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) as one of the few high-profile elected Republicans who will admit that the GOP’s Medicare privatization plan is similar in many key respects to the health care law they have spent the last two years demonizing.

After acknowledging those similarities, Cornyn said he’d be open to tweaking the health care law in ways that appease both parties without throwing the entire thing out.

By contrast, Boehner’s second-in-command, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor denied the similarities.

Brian Beutler

Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.

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