Seniors

Medicare Improvements

Congresswoman Nita Lowey will always stand by our region’s seniors and against policies that jeopardize the benefits they have earned through a lifetime of hard work.

Congresswoman Lowey voted for the most significant package of Medicare improvements that have become law in recent years, including:

• Extending the life of the Medicare trust fund;
   
• Providing free preventive care and annual wellness exams;
   
• Eliminating the Medicare Part D “donut hole;”
   
• Providing bonus payments to doctors for treating Medicare beneficiaries; and
   
• Reducing fraud to save precious resources and ensure that seniors receive the care they deserve.

Stopping Bad Budget for Seniors

Congresswoman Lowey opposed the 2012 Republican budget, which was defeated, because it would have:

• Provided tax breaks to special interests at the expense of seniors;
   
• Ended Medicare as we know it and forced seniors to purchase coverage through private insurers;
   
• Given seniors health care vouchers that would not increase with the rate of health costs; and
   
• Forced seniors to pay more than twice as much for care than they would under current Medicare, costing more than $6,000 in additional out-of-pocket expenses in 2022.

Protecting Retirement Benefits and Social Security

Senior citizens in Westchester and Rockland Counties earned Social Security and Medicare benefits from a lifetime of hard work, and Congresswoman Lowey is working to ensure those benefits are protected.

Congresswoman Lowey has been a tireless advocate for protecting Social Security and employee pensions, including:

• Strongly opposing efforts to privatize Social Security;
   
• Supporting the 2012 cost-of-living increase that provides an additional $50 a month for the average retiree in Westchester;
   
• Voting to shield Social Security from cuts in deficit reduction proposals;
   
• Leading the efforts to ensure family caregivers and women who are widows or divorced are treated fairly; and
   
• Protecting Social Security benefits from unfair taxation.