Wasserman Schultz: GOP budget proposal, 'death trap for seniors' [View All]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/14/wasserman-schultz-gop-budget-proposal-death-trap-for-seniors/

Wasserman Schultz: GOP budget proposal, 'death trap for seniors'
By: CNN's Laura Klairmont


Washington (CNN)– Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz stood by her comments that Republican Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal is a "death trap for seniors" in a CNN interview Thursday.

The incoming head of the Democratic National Committee reasoned that dramatic cuts in state funding within the GOP proposal would put seniors living in nursing homes under Medicare at risk.

"You are going to have some seniors not survive because they won't be able to either get access to a nursing home or they will get kicked out of a nursing home and they will have to make it on their own," Wasserman Schultz said Thursday on CNN's American Morning.

The GOP budget drafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan would have seniors purchase private health care insurance from an insurance exchange with the government subsidizing premiums up to a limit.

Wasserman Schultz told MSNBC earlier in April that Paul Ryan's plan would be a "death trap" for seniors because it would force the elderly to pay a heightened amount for health insurance each year.

During Wednesday's address, President Obama likened the system under the GOP proposal as "a voucher program that leaves seniors at the mercy of the insurance industry, with a shrinking benefit to pay for rising costs."

The president's long-term budget proposal includes limited cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.