With his push to privatize Medicare increasingly becoming an albatross around the neck of the GOP, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) is continuing his efforts to explain it clearly to the American public.
Ryan has released a new video, posted on the House Budget Committee’s Web site, with no shortage of charts and graphs.
The video is entitled, “The Path to Prosperity (Episode 2): Saving Medicare, Visualized.”
“Those in or near retirement should not be forced to reorganize their lives because of government’s mistakes,” Ryan says in the video. “That’s why our budget ensures no changes for those 55 years old or older. But for current taxpayers and future generations, we need real reform.
“Rather than putting the government in charge, our plan provides financial support to help future Medicare patients pay for the insurance plan that works best for them and their families. Patients will have the freedom to choose from a list of guaranteed coverage options - the same kind of system members of Congress enjoy today. And insurance providers, competing for patients’ business, will look to lower the costs and increase quality for their services - the way it always works when the consumer is in charge.”
It should be made clear that this video was not simply made in any kind of hasty response to Tuesday night’s Democratic victory in the special election for the historically safe Republican NY-26 district, and where Democrats made Ryan’s proposals a key issue.
When asked for comment, Budget Committee spokesman Conor Sweeney told TPM that the video was recorded on May 13, almost two weeks ago, and posted after production finished up this week.
TPM asked Sweeney, did the public attention on the NY-26 special election factor into the decision-making process of rolling out a continued explanation of the Medicare proposals? No, Sweeney responded, it did not.
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