LITTLE ROCK, Ark (AP) — Sen. John Boozman said Tuesday that a controversial Republican plan to turn Medicare into a voucher-like program for future beneficiaries is helping start the discussion on how to address the popular program's rising costs.

The Arkansas senator said he wasn't worried about a political backlash for Republicans for supporting the proposed Medicare changes, which Democrats have heavily criticized.

Those proposed alterations were included in a House budget plan rejected by the Senate last week. The measure would transform Medicare into a program in which future beneficiaries — people now 54 and younger — would be given a subsidy to purchase health insurance rather than have the government directly pay hospital and doctor bills.