Congress, Medicare | featured news

House and Senate Republican leaders told President Barack Obama Thursday that they will refuse to nominate candidates to serve on an advisory board that is to play a role in holding down Medicare costs under the new health care act.

House Democrats are making clear that GOP vice presidential contender Paul Ryan is one of their opponents in the election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching automated calls in 50 districts today aimed at tying Republican candidates to Ryan's plan to revamp Medicare, the government-run health insurance program for seniors.

Republicans are ready to ram through the House an election-year, $3.5 trillion budget that showcases their deficit-cutting plan for revamping Medicare and slicing everything from food stamps to transportation while rejecting President Barack Obama's call to raise taxes on the rich....

Despite discomfort in the Republican ranks, House and Senate negotiators reached a deal in principle early Thursday to extend a payroll tax break, continue unemployment benefits and ensure that Medicare doctors do not get a pay cut this year.

The proposal would pay for extending a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits in part through changes to Medicare and a pay freeze for federal workers.

President Obama seeks up to $4 trillion in deficit cuts, putting Social Security, Medicare, defense spending and tax reform on the table as part of a balanced approach to cuts, officials say.

After Democrats won a special election dominated by Medicare, analysts predict a more competitive race next year for control of the House.

The special election race was dominated by the national debate over a GOP plan to overhaul Medicare. Democrat Kathy Hochul has won a special congressional election in a conservative pocket of western New York, a race dominated by the national debate over House Republicans’ proposal to overhaul Medicare, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

After a week of partisan wrangling, the Senate on Friday passed legislation to spare doctors a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments looming for months. But the last-ditch effort came too late.