Senate GOP eyes Medicare cuts with Trump's blessing

• "The president is willing to eliminate any waste, fraud and abuse anywhere," Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) told Axios about the White House meeting Wednesday night that he attended, "which opens up Medicare, as well," he added.
• "What the president made clear is he does not want to see any cuts to beneficiaries, but to go after... the waste, fraud and abuse," said Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), clarifying that Trump opened up Medicare as an option at the meeting.
• Politico first reported on the Medicare discussions.

What to watch: One possibility being floated is a bill from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), cosponsored by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), which would extract savings from the Medicare Advantage program.

• The measure would crack down on an insurer practice known as "upcoding," where health insurers classify patients as sicker in order to secure higher government payments.
• Cracking down on the practice has some support from Democrats as well, but would be sure to draw the opposition of the health insurance industry.
• Johnson gave support for Cassidy's proposal, saying he thinks it would go after waste, fraud and abuse — and he thinks Trump would support it.