Issue Position: Protecting Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security

Issue Position

Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security are fundamental programs for seniors and the disabled. I will always fight to protect and strengthen these programs. For decades, Social Security has been a vital safety net for our seniors, and some estimates show that without Social Security, the poverty rate amongst seniors would be as high as 44%.

In Medicaid and Medicare, we should be looking for smart ways to reduce costs without hurting citizens. For example, federal law prohibits the Medicare program from negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for better prescription drug prices. This is ridiculous -- any private program purchasing drugs for 28 million citizens would be able to negotiate for sizable discounts. If we made this simple change, we would reduce costs for seniors and for the government. The plan sponsored by Rep. Paul Ryan, which makes deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, is wrong because it won't reduce costs. Instead, it just shifts costs off the federal budget onto the shoulders of our seniors or onto the books of state budgets that are already strapped. We shouldn't embrace radical reforms like the Ryan Plan or the privatization of Social Security.

Of course, these programs have changed over time, and we must have an open mind about other appropriate adjustments. But I oppose efforts to privatize Medicare and Social Security because they would leave our seniors vulnerable to volatile markets, and many such proposals would also directly remove funding from Medicare and Social Security. We have to have programs that people can count on as they contemplate their retirement years. Instead of talking about dismantling Social Security, I will work to find common ground on reforms and adjustments that preserve the long-term integrity of the program.

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