Medicare and Medicaid have been the talk of the nation since Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney named Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) as his running mate. Rep. Ryan became a key leader of the Republican party when he proposed his Path to Prosperity, a GOP-supported budget plan. His plan also provided alternative reforms to those in the Affordable Care Act. For example, the plan includes turning Medicaid over to the states and converting Medicare into a premium support plan. But most of the nation doesn't seem to agree, according to a recent poll by the Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation. The poll found that only 36% of registered voters think Medicare should be a voucher system.
Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons/MarkGregory007Rep. Paul Ryan and Gov. Mitt Romney hit the campaign trail with a focus on Medicare reform. They are shown here campaigning in High Point, N.C.
Not surprisingly, the Obama administration has amped up its criticism of the GOP duo.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services continues to highlight how the ACA will make life easier for doctors. Most recently, HHS officials promoted the ways they'll be easing the paperwork burden for physicians and hospitals who enroll in electronic payments. For more on that, and to find out about how employers will be incentivizing workers to pick the least expensive providers, listen to this week's Policy & Practice Podcast.
--Frances Correa (@FMCReporting)