House GOP eying major Medicare overhaul in 2017

The head of the House Budget Committee said Thursday that lawmakers are eying an overhaul of Medicare next year.

{mosads}Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) said he expects lawmakers to push forward with an overhaul “within the first six to eight months” of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

He said it would be tackled through the budget tactic in the Senate called “reconciliation,” which allows major spending-related bills to pass the upper chamber without a veto.

“I think that’s probably in the second phase of reconciliation, which would have to be in the fiscal year 2018 budget,” Price added.

It’s the first time that a House GOP leader has said officials are planning to fast-track an overhaul of Medicare in 2017.

It’s unclear how far House Republicans will go in making changes to Medicare — a process that will especially tricky through reconciliation.

House Republicans have released a range of proposals, from eliminating the ObamaCare cost-cutting panel called the Independent Payment Advisory Board to a major shift that would phase out the publicly run program into private plans.

Overhauling Medicare has been a major goal for Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) since 2011.

Fiscal conservatives have also been eager for reform of the nation’s entitlement programs, which comprise the bulk of the federal mandatory spending not controlled by Congress.

This report was updated at 10:54 a.m.