by Andrew Moran

Created on: March 11, 2013

Former 2012 Republican Vice Presidential candidate and United States House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan unveiled aspects of the GOP budget Sunday and part of it includes repealing President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.

Speaking in an interview with Sunday host Chris Wallace, Ryan said that he will not back down from the healthcare reform law, even if some of his Republican colleagues feel the party should move on.

When Wallace noted that any repeal of Obamacare will not transpire, Ryan responded that it should because it will lead to a deterioration of quality in hospitals and clinics and hurt the overall economy.

“We believe it should. That’s the point. This is what budgeting is all about,” stated Ryan. “It’s about making tough choices to fix our country’s problems. We believe ‘ObamaCare’ is a program that will not work. We believe ObamaCare will actually lead to hospitals and doctors and healthcare providers turning people away.”

A few of his elements of his budget proposal are expected to be announced Tuesday. One part of Ryan’s plan is to turn Medicare from its present state into a program that aids in subsidizing insurance-policy purchases “based on who you are – total subsidy for the poor and the sick, less of a subsidy for wealthy seniors.”

Another part of his plan would turn Medicaid into a block grant that would permit states to craft their own programs. Both concepts would transform Medicare and Medicaid from a one-size-fits-all program.

The Ryan budget would overhaul the tax code to lower rates. The budget projects that spending would be cut by $5 trillion over the next 10 years and slow spending growth to 3.4 percent each year. Essentially, the proposal would eliminate annual federal budget deficits within a decade rather than 20 years, which Ryan proposed during the presidential campaign.

“We think it's going to look ugly over the next couple of years and that's why we're going to propose replacing Obamacare with patient-centered health care, with a better system for everybody, for the poor, for people in the states, for Medicare, so that we can actually have affordable health insurance for everybody, including people with preexisting conditions, without costly government takeovers which is what Obamacare represents,” said Ryan. “And yes, our budget does promote repealing Obamacare and replacing it with a better system.”

Washington Democratic Senator and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray is expected to announce the senate’s budget blueprint Wednesday, according to Politico. This plan would consist of tax hikes on upper-income households and corporations, while also incorporating spending cuts to domestic programs.

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