House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan's bipartisan Medicare proposal with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., drew immediate fire from the White House earlier today, but now Ryan is fighting back.

"We are concerned that Wyden-Ryan, like Congressman Ryan’s earlier proposal, would undermine, rather than strengthen, Medicare," said White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, according to the Huffington Post. "The Wyden-Ryan scheme could, over time, cause the traditional Medicare program to “wither on the vine” because it would raise premiums, forcing many seniors to leave traditional Medicare and join private plans. And it would shift costs from the government to seniors. At the end of the day, this plan would end Medicare as we know it for millions of seniors. Wyden-Ryan is the wrong way to reform Medicare."

Ryan's office just emailed the following response from him:

“I am grateful to have a partner in my friend Senator Wyden, as we work together to create space for bipartisan solutions to address our nation’s most pressing challenges.  It is disappointing to find the President of the United States increasingly isolated from this growing bipartisan consensus on efforts to save and strengthen our critical health and retirement security programs.  The President’s failure to offer credible solutions to the challenges facing Medicare is a disservice to seniors, a disservice to hardworking families, and a disservice to the next generation.  A more glaring disappointment is the President’s failure to recognize a sincere effort by a Democrat and a Republican to come together and offer solutions, betraying his own rhetoric and his own commitment to those we have the privilege to serve.  America deserves better.”