Durbin: Conrad budget 'doesn't savage' Medicaid

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) on Wednesday unveiled a budget blueprint that cuts the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years but cuts healthcare entitlements much less than House Republicans' proposal.

"It has a very small, 10-year effect on Medicare and on Medicaid, it does not savage it," Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters after the meeting. "The cuts there — I can't remember the number — but when you compare it to the Paul Ryan budget, there's a dramatic difference."

The House budget chairman's plan would essentially halve federal spending on the state-federal healthcare program for low-income Americans, saving more than $700 billion over 10 years.

Durbin said the Conrad budget cuts Medicare by $29 billion over 10 years, but he later said he wasn't sure. Conrad wouldn't go into specifics but said he has the full support of Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee.

"I am trying my level best to preserve options for whatever emerges," he said.

After the meeting, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he would have trouble voting for the Conrad plan if it came up for a floor vote, partly because he believes it doesn't go far enough on Medicare.

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