President Obama unveiled a plan Wednesday to cut Medicare and Medicaid costs, but without slashing benefits for seniors and the needy. The proposal, which would save $340 billion over the next 10 years, relies on controlling prescription drug costs and overhauling how the federal government funnels Medicaid money to states. It also gives more cost-cutting power to an advisory board created by last year's health care reform law. The savings would grow to $480 billion by 2023 and $1 trillion in the following 10 years, according to the White House. Obama chastised Republicans for shifting the health care burden to the elderly and the poor. A plan put forth last week by Representative Paul Ryan, a Republican who chairs the budget committee, would reduce the government's health care obligations by asking seniors to pay more for their health coverage and cutting federal funding for Medicaid.
