The plan is modeled after one Ryan proposed last year with Alice Rivlin, budget director under President Bill Clinton. The Ryan-Rivlin plan said the amount of assistance would be calculated in part by taking the average federal cost per Medicare enrollee.  In its analysis of the Ryan-Rivlin plan, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said it involved vouchers. Republican sources have admitted to CNN that the term "vouchers" is politically explosive, especially for such a controversial set of changes like those being proposed by Ryan.  His proposal would only affect people younger than 55, with those 55 and older continuing to receive Medicare benefits under the existing system, Ryan said.  The proposal was intended to provide help to low-income senior citizens while requiring wealthier senior citizens to pay more for their health coverage, he said.  On Medicaid, Ryan's proposal would provide states with block grants to cover the costs of health coverage for the poor. Sources said the plan would cut Medicaid spending by up to $1 trillion, though Ryan provided no specific figure on Sunday.  Medicare and Medicaid are part of federal entitlement programs that comprise the lion's share of federal spending. So far, negotiations on federal spending for the rest of the current year -- fiscal 2011, which ends on September 30 -- have focused solely on cuts in non-security discretionary spending, with no changes in Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security.  Ryan, R-Wisconsin, said his plan would bring "well over" $2 trillion in savings in coming years, and he criticized President Barack Obama for offering a 2012 budget proposal that contained no reforms of entitlement programs.
House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan said Sunday he will unveil a Republican budget for 2012 this week that proposes dramatic changes to Medicare, Medicaid and other political lightning rods.The plan, to...