House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (WI) appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday to discuss his recent FY2012 budget proposal, which has been hailed as “the first credible plan endorsed by either party for preserving [Medicare]” (Wall Street Journal, 4/6/11).

In the interview, Chairman Ryan points out that “the biggest threat to Medicare is the status quo. Medicare is going bankrupt in nine years.”

“So what are we doing? We’re preserving and protecting it,” he says.

“No change occurs to Medicare for anybody who’s on Medicare or 10 years away from retiring. And for future generations, what we are proposing is a personalized Medicare. A Medicare system that works exactly like the health care I have as a Member of Congress and federal employees have. It would look like the prescription drug benefit or Medicare Advantage. So we already have these kinds of ideas in practice. I mean, prescription drug benefit came in 40% below cost projections because it harnessed the power of choice and competition." 

“We want to have comprehensive Medicare plans available to future seniors that they can pick from and have these plans compete againsteach other for their benefit. It works with federal employees, it works with the prescription drug benefit, and more to the point, it saves Medicare.”

Watch the full interview: