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Republican vice presidential candidate聽Paul Ryan聽acknowledged on Thursday that his proposed healthcare reforms rely on many of the same spending reductions for which he has criticized President Barack Obama, something that could undercut a central message of the Republican campaign.

Ryan and Republican presidential challenger聽Mitt Romney, charge that Obama's 2010 health law would weaken the popular聽Medicare聽health plan for the elderly by reducing its costs by $716 billion over the coming 10 years.

On Thursday, Ryan聽acknowledged that his own budget plan would keep the savings included in Obama's Affordable Care Act even as it would do away with the law itself.

"We voted to repeal Obamacare repeatedly, including those cuts," he told reporters at a hot dog stand in聽Ohio.

"When you repeal all of Obamacare what you end up doing is that repeals (those savings) as well. In our budget we've restored a lot of that," he said, referring to the savings.

Ryan's statement underlines the fact that his own budget plan, which passed the聽House of Representatives聽this spring, envisions spending $205 billion less on聽Medicare聽than Obama would during that time period.

Democratic Representative聽Chris Van Hollen, an Obama ally, told reporters Ryan聽would not use those savings to improve health coverage.

"While the Ryan聽plan took the savings, they did not plow any of the money back into strengthening聽Medicare聽benefits and in fact they used the money as part of their plan for additional tax cuts for the very wealthy," Van Hollen said on a conference call.

Medicare聽has moved front and center in the presidential race since Romney picked Ryan聽to be his running mate on Saturday.

Ryan has galvanized conservatives with his plan to gradually convert聽Medicare's fee-for-service approach into a system that relies on private insurers to keep costs down.

Under Ryan's plan, retirees would get a set amount of money each year to purchase health insurance on the private market or to pay for traditional聽Medicare.

The amount of the subsidy would grow at a slower rate than the projected rate of medical inflation. The nonpartisan聽Congressional Budget Office聽says that could force retirees to pay more out-of-pocket costs for their medical care.

The plan would only apply to people younger than 55.

Public reception of the plan has been mixed, with older voters most skeptical. Obama and his fellow Democrats charge that Ryan's approach would "end聽Medicare聽as we know it."

Obama plan unpopular too聽

Romney and Ryan聽are banking on the fact that voters, who go to the polls Nov. 6, are also unenthusiastic about Obama's health law.

Obama's planned health savings would come largely through reduced payments to hospitals and insurers, and patient benefits would not be affected. The savings would be used to expand health coverage to 30 million lower-income Americans.

Romney said that too much cost squeezing could prompt health care providers to drop out of the program, leaving聽Medicare聽recipients with fewer treatment options. His campaign said on Tuesday it would "restore the funding to聽Medicare."

"As the seniors in聽America聽understand what the President's plan is doing to聽Medicare, they're going to find it unacceptable," Romney told a news conference in聽Greer, South Carolina on Thursday.

As a congressman, Ryan聽was known for his detailed presentations about the merits of his plan and the perils of rising health costs. But the Romney campaign so far has avoided discussing details of the plan on the campaign trail.

"Romney wants Ryan聽to be the Coke Zero of his campaign: All the bold taste, but none of the calories of a detailed policy discussion of entitlements," said聽Dante Scala, a political analyst at the聽University of New Hampshire.

One Republican strategist with knowledge of the campaign's thinking said that its cautious approach was less due to Ryan's abilities than a desire to avoid a repeat of the disastrous reception of the party's 2008 vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.

"I think it's smart that he gains his footing, his traction and his comfort level," the strategist said. "Frankly, I'm pleased that they're erring on the side of caution as they tell the country who he is."