GOP budget replaces Medicare with vouchers for future retirees; beneficiary costs seen rising

WASHINGTON » Congressional budget experts say future retirees would pay more for health care under a new House Republican budget proposal.

The fiscal blueprint would put people now 54 and younger in a different kind of health care program when they retire. Unlike parents and grandparents in traditional Medicare, they’d get a federal payment to buy private insurance from a choice of government-regulated plans.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, in an analysis released late Tuesday, said a typical beneficiary would spend more for health care under the proposal.

GOP leaders want the House to act quickly on the ambitious plan from House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis. But the Congressional Budget Office report could create a big political headache for Republicans.