(Washington) – Today Congressman John B. Larson released the following statement on the proposed budget by House Republicans:

"Paul Ryan, in a clear effort to appease the radical tea party members of the Republican caucus, has put forth a budget even more austere than his last proposal to end Medicare as we know it. Today Ryan refused to deal with the problems our nation is currently facing, and proposed a budget that would end the Medicare guarantee, end protections for those with pre-existing conditions, and prevent children from staying on their parents policies until age 26.

"This budget does not address the most critical thing we can do to address our deficit – create jobs. This budget also fails to recognize the fact that we do not have a Medicare beneficiary problem, we have a problem related to the overall costs of healthcare. These costs need to be addressed based on the extraordinary amount of waste, fraud, and abuse that exists in the system, not on the backs of beneficiaries.

"This proposal is disingenuous and again shows a Republican leadership willing to throw raw meat to their radical conservatives, who would rather see millions without healthcare than admit that the American people are better served by making sure everyone has an opportunity to be insured."

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