Then there is the issue of how we are going to care for our senior citizens going forward in a way that we can afford and that fulfills our implicit obligations to our elders who often cannot fend well for themselves.

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Ryan also revived his proposal to reform Medicare, the health care program for senior citizens that is considered the biggest driver of rising federal deficits as costs increase and more Americans become eligible.

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The committee began debating the compromise measure last week, with arguments erupting over Democratic proposals to reduce subsidies for some Medicare coverage while eliminating fraud and waste in the government health care plan for senior citizens.

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Simply put, if the residents of nursing homes did not have Medicaid and Medicare to help pay for their medical costs and nursing homes, many senior citizens would be priced out of nursing home care altogether.

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