Following a familiar script, House Republicans today introduced a budget bill for fiscal 2016 that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), partially privatize Medicare, turn Medicaid into a block-grant program for states, and produce a $13 billion budget surplus in 2024.
The script dates back to 2011, when the House Budget Committee, then chaired by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), first proposed this package of measures. Even if the House and Senate, both controlled by the GOP, were to approve them, President Barack Obama would likely use his veto pen.
Under the plan released today by the House Budget Committee, Medicare would shift to a "premium support" model beginning in 2024 for new enrollees — in other words, Americans born in 1959 and thereafter. Seniors would choose between traditional Medicare or a private health plan, with the
