Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee on Thursday warned against simultaneously overhauling the ACA and Medicare, saying such an undertaking would be "biting off more than you can chew," according to Reuters.
Sen. Alexander gave the comments after House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Republican legislators' plan to discuss reforming Medicare with President-elect Donald Trump's administration. Speaker Ryan is a longtime proponent of privatizing Medicare.
"Well, of course it's up to the speaker and Senator [Mitch] McConnell (the majority leader) what our agenda is, but my advice to them would be, save Medicare for another day," said Sen. Alexander, chairman of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, according to the report.
The government has sought to reduce spending on the program, which serves more than 50 million Americans who are elderly or disabled, according to the report. Increased federal spending on Medicare is largely driven by the cost of medical services and prescription drugs.
"We want to begin immediately to repeal Obamacare," Sen. Alexander said, according to the report. "Trying to deal with the solvency issues in Medicare at the same time falls into the category of biting off more than you can chew ... a little humility here would be in order, we can't do everything at once and we shouldn't try."