OPINION

Pawlenty touts Medicare proposal during Iowa trip

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WAUKEE, Iowa — Republican presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty told people during a Monday stop in Iowa that the key difference between his Medicare proposal and the proposal introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wiscosnin, is that his plan will change the way providers are paid.

The former Minnesota governor spoke to a group of about 60 people during a campaign stop at Point of Grace Church in Waukee. He said his plan would include "performance pay."

"We will begin to move providers from getting paid not just for the volume of procedures they crank out, but whether people are actually getting healthier and getting better," Pawlenty told The Des Moines Register.

He also told ABC's "This Morning" that he would support Ryan's proposal to privatize Medicare if his only choices were Ryan's plan or doing nothing.