Greenville, South Carolina (CNN) – Mitt Romney quickly clarified comments he made regarding Medicaid Friday, saying he had in fact been familiar with the entitlement program in the early 1990s.

At a town hall in Sioux City, Romney told an audience he had once been unclear about the particulars of the program.

“You wonder what Medicaid is, those that are not in all this government stuff,” he said. “I have to admit I didn’t know all the differences between these things before I got into government. And then I got into it and understood that Medicaid is the health care program for the poor, by and large.”

Romney first ran for Senate in 1994.

WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials are offering to cut tens of billions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid in negotiations to reduce the federal budget deficit, but the depth of the cuts depends on whether Republicans are willing to accept any increases in tax revenues.

Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama told congressional Republicans on Wednesday that entitlement reforms were under discussion as part of a deficit reduction deal.

In the meantime, the White House continued to challenge a controversial GOP proposal to overhaul Medicare.

Obama met for 75 minutes with House Republicans a day after the GOP-controlled House overwhelmingly rejected a measure to raise the national debt ceiling without any accompanying deficit- or spending-reduction provisions.

Washington (CNN) — Top Republicans tiptoed their way around the Medicare question Sunday, playing to their conservative base by backing a controversial overhaul proposal while acknowledging they will have to negotiate the issue with Democrats.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, both told Sunday talk shows that all issues are on the table in deficit reduction talks led by Vice President Joe Biden intended to reach a deal on raising the federal debt limit.

The battle which has raged over the past several weeks over House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s debt-cutting plan always had an air of unreality about it.

It was obvious well before April 5, the day Ryan released his blueprint, that it had no chance of being approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate this year.

It did pass the House on a near party-line vote — a vote Democrats will be quite happy to use as a cudgel against Republicans just as the GOP used last year’s vote on the health care overhaul as a weapon against Democrats in the 2010 campaign.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans pushing deep cuts to government spending are seeking to reassure older Americans that their health insurance will remain intact even if Medicare is privatized.

Elderly voters could be pivotal in the 2012 election, where both Democrats and Republicans will be judged for proposed cuts to the federal health insurance program to reduce deficits.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — When it comes to deciding who pays to reduce runaway Medicare costs, President Obama and House Republicans have very different views.

Republican lawmakers would sock it to future generations of senior citizens, most of whom would have to pay more for their medical coverage.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul raised the idea Sunday that wealthier people like his opponent, the co-owner of a Kentucky Derby horse, should pay more for Medicare coverage.

Paul also warned in a speech in his hometown that unless the U.S. starts dealing with its mounting debt, it could eventually face the same chaos that erupted in Greece when violent protests rocked that debt-plagued country.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama used the anniversary of Social Security to trumpet Democrats’ support for the popular program and accuse Republicans of trying to destroy it.

Seventy-five years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Social Security into law, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday: “We have an obligation to keep that promise, to safeguard Social Security for our seniors, people with disabilities and all Americans — today, tomorrow and forever.”

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says Medicare will exist for many more years, thanks to new legislation that helped put the health care program for America’s seniors on stronger financial footing.

Seniors already are benefiting from that new health care law, said Obama, noting that many have received $250 rebates to help buy medicine, for example.