Issue Position: Seniors

Issue Position

Social Security and Medicare must remain fiscally solvent to ensure retirement security for current seniors, our children and grandchildren. However, Social Security has been operating at a deficit since 2010. Unless Social Security is modernized and strengthened, these deficits may cause the annual cost-of-living adjustments to shrink or disappear entirely in the future. Representative Bilirakis strongly believes that Congress must make serious fiscal reforms to ensure our financial stability while still ensuring that we uphold the commitments we have made to our seniors. He is absolutely opposed to legislation that will cut Social Security for seniors in order to pay for overseas operations, health care for others or any other program. Any cuts to Social Security will be especially difficult for those seniors on fixed incomes.

Congressman Bilirakis also supports the Medicare program. Medicare is extremely important to seniors, and arguably the most popular aspects of the program -- Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D -- operate successfully because of free market principles. Medicare also needs to ensure its fiscal viability for current and future beneficiaries. Gus has introduced two major pieces of legislation to protect Medicare, and save money within the program without impacting benefits or beneficiaries. H.R. 3392, the Medicare Part D Patient Safety and Drug Abuse Prevention Act, would establish a Safe Pharmacy Access Program, to prevent high-risk beneficiaries from abusing controlled substances. This is a cost-saving measure utilized by private industry, TRICARE, and state Medicaid programs. H.R. 2828, the Medicare Abuse Prevention (MAP) Act, would remove Social Security Numbers from Medicare cards and strengthens the civil and criminal penalties for Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP abuse. It would also incentivize states toconduct their own prescription drug monitoring programs.

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