WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-run Senate is poised to vote down a controversial House budget plan that calls for turning Medicare into a voucher-like program for future beneficiaries.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the vote's likely to take place Wednesday afternoon. At the same time, Republicans are forcing a vote to put Democrats on record for or against President Barack Obama's February budget proposal, while conservative Republicans will get votes on even more stringent plans.

Reid is staging the votes to put Republicans on record regarding a plan by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that would transform Medicare into a program in which future beneficiaries — people now 54 years old and younger — would be given a subsidy to purchase health insurance rather than have the government directly pay hospital and doctor bills.

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