Social Security & Medicare

We have a fundamental obligation to help senior citizens get the resources and support they need. It is to all our benefit if our retirees have Social Security and Medicare so they can live healthy and independent lives. That’s why I am working hard to strengthen Medicare and protect Social Security.

Social Security

Social Security must remain a safety net that covers all of our seniors. Washington state seniors have spent a lifetime contributing to Social Security. They are entitled to the benefits they have earned. I strongly oppose the privatization of Social Security, and have a proven record of protecting this benefit.

While Social Security is fiscally sound for the near future, the retirement of the baby boom generation will strain it. We owe it to future generations to keep Social Security solvent and not take unnecessary risks with it. That is why I support a proposal to make the benefit formula more generous, use a cost-of-living formula that takes into account the expense of seniors’ purchases, and preserve Social Security for the future by scrapping the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes.

And I am an advocate for extending Social Security benefits for same-sex couples, ensuring all Americans have access to the benefits they have earned.

I will always fight to keep the Social Security program solvent and protect the guaranteed benefit that it provides seniors of this and future generations.

Medicare

I believe seniors today and long into the future should have access to Medicare - a bedrock of our social safety net. That is why I have consistently voted to protect Medicare as a guaranteed benefit, while Republicans persist in trying to end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system.

We need to ensure that Medicare is protected for future generations, and protected from attempts to weaken or take advantage of it.

I voted for the Affordable Care Act, in part, for the help it will provide our seniors. More than 47,000 seniors and people with disabilities in Washington state now are benefiting from closing the Medicare doughnut hole. This has saved individuals hundreds of dollars a year on average. And 102,000 seniors in the 2nd District are benefiting from Medicare preventive services that no longer require co-pays, co-insurance, or require them to have met their deductible.

I fought for better access to health care for Medicare beneficiaries by supporting free preventative care and maintaining Washington state’s physician reimbursement rate. And I voted to repeal the flawed payment formula that caused uncertainty for seniors about whether they could continue seeing their doctors.

Finally, I support efforts across the federal government to crack down on Medicare abuse and fraud that deprives seniors of the assistance they have earned. Uncovering Medicare fraud protects Medicare’s long-term viability and returns taxpayer dollars to their rightful purpose.