Rep. Paul Ryan on health inflation at White House health summit
The Washington Post, February 25, 2010
CQ Transcriptions
BOEHNER: Mr. President -- Mr. President, Mr. Ryan is going to open this conversation on behalf of us.
RYAN: Thank you.
Look, we agree on the problem here. And the problem is health inflation is driving us off of a fiscal cliff.
Mr. President, you said health care reform is budget reform. You're right. We agree with that. Medicare, right now, has a $38 trillion unfunded liability. That's $38 trillion in empty promises to my parents' generation, our generation, our kids' generation. Medicaid's growing at 21 percent each year. It's suffocating states' budgets. It's adding trillions in obligations that we have no means to pay for it.