By Philip Bunnell
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Democratic Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) condemned Republican House Budget Chair Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisc.) budget plan for its proposed Medicare cuts. All four, particularly Senator Mikulski, offered fiery charges that Ryan’s budget would harm seniors, especially older women.
Secretary Sebelius warned that Ryan’s budget would erase the recent benefits put in place by last year’s Affordable Care Act, as well as future benefits that the bill will provide.
“The approaches that the Democrats in Congress and the President want to take … is to improve Medicare,” Sebelius added, noting that Democrats have already begun to ensure the longterm solvency of the program.
The Senators present, while taking time to tout last year’s healthcare bill, were more pointed in their criticisms of Ryan’s proposed budget. Sen. Rockefeller said that he “didn’t know what was in [Ryan’s] head, I think it was just numbers, but… all across the country, what he did with Medicare would be disastrous.”
Rockefeller also accused Ryan’s plan of “demolishing Medicaid, almost with the back of his hand,” and cautioned against turning it into a block grant program that could be mismanaged.
No senator though took a more aggressive stance than Senator Mikulski.
“The Paul Ryan budget continues the Republican attack on women,” Mikulski began, and condemned the plan as “a nightmare” for senior women.
Mikulski told reporters that “the take away from this press conference is that the Democratic women of this Senate aren’t going to take this and we’re going to stand up for the women of America.”
Mikulski warned that the Ryan plan “doesn’t shrink government, it shrinks benefits,” which Mikulski said would only help insurance companies.
The podium at the press conference was emblazoned with the words “GOP Medicare Plan: Cutting Seniors’ Benefits From Day One,” indicating that the imminent budget battle in the coming weeks and months will likely be a rough and polarizing one.