republican plan

Medicare has been the hot issue this week, as the Republican plan to overhaul Medicare failed in the Senate and Democrat Kathy Hochul won a disputed seat in New York's 26th Congressional District, campaigning against a House Republican plan to overhaul Medicare.

Mary Kate Cary, columnist and blogger for U.S. News and World Report , and Cynthia Tucker of The Atlanta Journal Constitution give their analysis on the health and budgets debates on Capitol Hill.

At the heart of the Republican plan is a proposal to give everybody in the program a subsidy to buy private health insurance.

Its supporters say it would reduce health care spending. But critics contend it allows the government to spend less on Medicare by making patients pay more — potentially a lot more.

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President Obama has praised Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan for his ideas on deficit reduction. But most congressional Democrats are up in arms over his proposals, which include partial privatization of Medicare and Social Security.

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A new report from the Congressional Budget Office shows the recently released Republican plan won't significantly expand insurance coverage to the tens of millions of Americans who lack health insurance.

And on Saturday, debate begins on the Democrats' health bill in the House.

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