"Scrap Medicare," Says Gingrich

US House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich has told the House Ways and Means Committee that Medicare should be replaced. Making it clear that savings within the Medicare program would be a goal as the Republicans look for ways to balance the budget while offering tax cuts, he testified that a new system could save much money.

Any new system should be market-based, to give seniors a greater choice of better health at a lower cost while saving a lot of money, he said, in an unusual appearance of a Speaker before a Congress panel. He then told reporters that the House Budget Committee would consider proposals after the 100-day plan to implement the Republican Contract With America.

Ways and Means chairman Bill Archer later said that any Medicare savings should be used to finance health care reforms, and he noted that the Speaker's comments involved long-range plans. Rep Archer has said that he could support higher premiums for upper-income Medicare recipients' Part B insurance for doctors' visits, but among the programs under his panel's jurisdiction, he has so far only pointed to welfare savings as a way to finance tax cuts.