WASHINGTON �� Since the election, Democrats have sounded constant alarms about Republican plans to cut Medicare. But House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Sunday he hasn't discussed doing so with President-elect Donald Trump.
Ryan said on CBS's "60 Minutes" that he wants to overhaul Medicare so that benefits will remain for future generations. But changing the program is not at the top of the legislative agenda, Ryan said.
Infrastructure funding is one of the Republicans' "high priorities" and "on day one" Congress is going to start repealing burdensome regulations, Ryan said.
But the overriding priority of the new Congress is repealing the 2010 health care law, Ryan said, reiterating what he and congressional Republicans have been saying for weeks.
"We have to make good on this promise," he said. "We have to bring relief as fast as possible to people who are struggling under 'Obamacare.'"
Ryan said there will be a transitional period before the Affordable Care Act is fully repealed "so that people can get better coverage at a better price." He said he did not know yet how long that period would last. As Trump and others have promised, Ryan said parts of the health law assuring coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and allowing children to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26 would be kept.
"We believe that we should have support based on age," Ryan said. "The sicker and the older you get, the more support you ought to get. If you're a person that has low income, you probably should have more assistance than a person with high income, for example."
On taxes, Ryan said Trump's plan resembles that of House Republicans and that individual and corporate rates would be lowered with the cost covered by eliminating "loopholes."
Ryan was hesitant to commit to a specific rate structure, but noted that for individuals House Republicans had been discussing collapsing the seven brackets into three with rates of 15 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent. House Republicans have proposed lowering the current 35 percent corporate rate to 20 percent, while Trump has proposed 15 percent, Ryan said.
