Walking on stage Saturday hand-and-hand with his retired mother, GOP vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan vowed to hundreds of Florida seniors that he and Mitt Romney, if elected, would preserve Medicare for them.
The future of Medicare has emerged as a major campaign issue as the Romney and Obama campaigns argue who has a better plan to reform the federal program as they try to win the votes of millions of seniors in November.
"We will preserve and protect your benefits," Ryan told those assembled at The Villages, a sprawling retirement-age community in central Florida. Our plan "does not affect those in or near retirement."
The Wisconsin congressman and House Budget Committee chairman also went on a direct attack against President Obama's Medicare plan, arguing the president took $716 million from the program for startup funds for his health-care reform law.
"Medicare will not be used as a piggy bank for ObamaCare," Ryan said.
Ryan said the Romney campaign's plan has bipartisan support in Congress and is rooted in 1990s, Clinton-area program in which applicants can pick the government-run program or enter into a voucher system that allows them to pick from private health-care providers.
Ryan's mother, Betty Douglas, lives part-time in the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., area.
Ryan, in his roughly 15-minute speech, also praised Romney's leadership and vowed that he and the GOP presidential candidate will improve the U.S. economy, with an unemployment rate about 8 percents for more than three years.
"He is a leader who will make tough decisions to get Americans back to work," Ryan said. "We will lead."
The future of Medicare has emerged as a major campaign issue as the Romney and Obama campaigns argue who has a better plan to reform the federal program as they try to win the votes of millions of seniors in November.
"We will preserve and protect your benefits," Ryan told those assembled at The Villages, a sprawling retirement-age community in central Florida. Our plan "does not affect those in or near retirement."
The Wisconsin congressman and House Budget Committee chairman also went on a direct attack against President Obama's Medicare plan, arguing the president took $716 million from the program for startup funds for his health-care reform law.
"Medicare will not be used as a piggy bank for ObamaCare," Ryan said.
Ryan said the Romney campaign's plan has bipartisan support in Congress and is rooted in 1990s, Clinton-area program in which applicants can pick the government-run program or enter into a voucher system that allows them to pick from private health-care providers.
Ryan's mother, Betty Douglas, lives part-time in the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., area.
Ryan, in his roughly 15-minute speech, also praised Romney's leadership and vowed that he and the GOP presidential candidate will improve the U.S. economy, with an unemployment rate about 8 percents for more than three years.
"He is a leader who will make tough decisions to get Americans back to work," Ryan said. "We will lead."