For Our Seniors

Preserving Medicare and Social Security

Senator Mikulski believes we must create a safety net for seniors by:

• Ensuring the solvency of Social Security and Medicare.
• Eliminating scams against seniors, especially Medicare fraud
• Maryland Medicare fraud hotline: 1-800-377-5879.

Fighting to Improve the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

Senator Mikulski is fighting to improve the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit by:

• Fighting for a comprehensive benefit with no gaps in coverage.
• Introducing legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for all seniors.
• Helping employers maintain existing coverage for retirees.

Increasing Medical Research to Find Cures

Senator Mikulski continues to fight for more medical research:

• Ensuring the availability and accessibility of health care for veterans and continuing to support research funding at VA.
• Sponsoring legislation to increase and expand Alzheimer's research.
• Fighting to double the National Institutes of Health budget by 2003 and to double the budget of the National Institute on Aging for research on diseases of older Americans such as Alzheimer's and Osteoporosis.

Meeting Day-to-Day Needs And Guaranteeing Seniors' Rights

Senator Mikulski helps seniors meet their day-to-day needs and stands up for seniors' rights:

• Helps in the ongoing efforts to assist seniors through Meals-on-Wheels, community service employment, nutrition, vulnerable elder protection and state and community aging programs by making sure the Older Americans Act continues to fund these programs.
• Created the National Family Care giver Support Program to help families caring for older relatives. Provides reliable respite care and support services such as training, counseling and support groups.
• Passed a law that allows seniors to return to their continuing care facility after hospitalization.
• Fighting to ensure that the surviving spouse of a deceased Social Security beneficiary receives at least half, and up to the entire check, for the last month of the beneficiary's life. Under current law, even if Social Security recipient dies on the last day of the month, the check must be returned.
• Making sure seniors are cared for by skilled nurses by championing legislation that makes nursing education more affordable and creates specialized training programs for geriatric care.
• Sponsoring legislation to allow retirees to keep more of their Social Security benefits. Under current law, Social Security benefits are reduced by 2/3 for those who also receive a local, state, or Federal government pension that was not covered by Social Security.
• Leading the fight for a new tax credit of up to $5,000 to help pay the expenses of families who care for a loved one with chronic care needs.
• Improving preventative health benefits under Medicare, to ensure that medical tests such as Pap Smears, Mammograms and Osteoporosis screening are available and affordable.
• Cosponsoring legislation to improve Medicare coverage of mental health services.