Seniors

Millions of Americans have worked hard their entire lives and depend on Social Security benefits during their golden years.  As Congress and the ObamaAdministration look at ways to reduce the deficit, I will oppose measures that pay off the deficit with the Social Security Trust Funds.  The federal government should not adopt any proposal that could threaten the financial security of millions of Americans.  On August 2, 2011, President Barack Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011, which included provisions aimed at deficit reduction and an increase in the debt limit of up to $2.4 trillion.  In addition, the legislation established the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, which was responsible for identifying $1.2 trillion in budget savings over ten years by November 23, 2011.  However, on November 21, 2011, the bipartisan committee announced it would not be able to agree to budget savings by its deadline.  Without this agreement, automatic, across the board cuts equal to $1.2 trillion will be implemented in January 2013.  Fortunately, Social Security is protected from these cuts.  The Social Security program is not responsible for our budget deficit and should not be made the scapegoat for our nation’s fiscal problems. 

In addition to ensuring Social Security’s long term solvency, we need to make changes to the program to better reflect the cost of living for seniors.  In 2010 and 2011, seniors did not receive a cost of living adjustment (COLA) despite the increases in the cost of health care.  We must improve how COLAs are calculated.  Each year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the possible COLA increase by studying a number of goods and services purchased by average workers called the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).  Unfortunately, this process does not take into account the true purchasing needs of seniors.  That’s why I’m a cosponsor of H.R. 798, the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act of 2011.  This bill would replaced the CPI-W with a Consumer Price Index for Americans 62 Years of Age and Older (CPI-E) to ensure seniors receive fair benefit adjustments that reflects their higher costs of living. 

Our goal must be to ensure that Social Security is fiscally and structurally sound so that the system on which our seniors and families rely is not undermined recklessly.  Strengthening and protecting the Social Security system is a top priority for me as I work to protect our nation’s seniors.

Health Care Reform and Seniors

In the lead up to health care reform, there were numerous hearings in which Members of Congress listened to the recommendations of stakeholders, including patients, doctors, and employers and these viewpoints were important in shaping the health care reform bill.  The bills, H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, made key improvements to our health care system that will directly benefit seniors and Medicare recipients. 

The Medicare Part D Prescription Drug program covers 75 percent in yearly prescription costs up to $2,930 and then coverage ends.  For most beneficiaries, coverage doesn’t resume until costs exceed $6,730.39.  This is called the “donut hole” and H.R. 4872 will close this gap in benefits by 2020, helping more than twelve thousand seniors in Marin and Sonoma counties pay much less for prescription drugs.  In 2011, seniors who reach the coverage gap received fifty percent discount when buying brand name prescription drugs, and will continue to do so in 2012.  This legislation also eliminated copayments for preventive services in Medicare so that patients won’t be charged for visiting the doctor for routine check-ups. 

In the 6th Congressional District of California, the health care reform bill: 

• Improved Medicare for 78,000 beneficiaries, including free preventative and wellness care; and
• Provided 7,800 seniorsin the district prescription drug discounts worth $4.5 million, an average discount of $590 per senior.

Impacts of the House Leadership Medicare Plan

The budget passed by in March 2012 would end Medicare as we know it. First, it significantly cuts spending on Medicare by eliminating benefits and shifting costs to seniors and individuals with disabilities.  Second, it ends traditional Medicare for individuals under 55 by transforming Medicare from a guaranteed benefit program to a privatized voucher program.  The budget also increases the eligibility age for Medicare, which is currently 65.  Beginning in 2023, the eligibility age increases by two months each year, until it reaches age 67 in 2034.  These changes will mean that millions of Americans will have to wait an extra two years until they can receive Medicare benefits.

Medicare Physician Payments

No other federal program has proven to be as successful as Medicare at providing affordable health care for our seniors.  We must ensure that Medicare keeps pace with today’s medical advances and the increasing role that prescription drugs play in senior’s everyday treatment.

A reduction in Medicare payments would have a devastating effect on physicians, other healthcare providers, and patients across the country.  A 27.4% cut to Medicare physician payment rates was scheduled to take effect on March 1, 2012.  Fortunately, Congress passed H.R. 3630, Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which extended current Medicare reimbursement rates through December 31, 2012.  While I’m pleased that these cuts were delayed, I believe we must find a long-term solution to the broken Medicare physician payment system so beneficiaries can continue to be treated by their physicians.  I will continue to support efforts to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula for calculating Medicare payments and set out a path for comprehensive reform that is fair to patients and physicians. 

Sonoma County physicians are affected negatively by the Geographic Practice Cost Index (GPCI), which inappropriately groups counties into payment localities that don’t reflect the real cost of providing care.  I’m very concerned that the low reimbursement rates are turning doctors away from working with Medicare patients or even from medicine itself.  That’s why last Congress I cosponsored H.R. 2820, the GPCI Justice Act, which would have updated the way localities are structured in California and permanently fix the problem of pay discrepancies.  In much the same way that Medicare pays hospitals, this bill would have used metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), rather than counties, as the basis for organizing localities.  While this bill did not pass Congress, I remain committed to fighting for fair reimbursements for doctors in Sonoma County.

Seniors Access to Prescription Drugs

All seniors deserve a real, meaningful prescription drug benefit under Medicare.  No one should be forced to choose between paying rent or paying for prescription drugs.  Yet, too many Medicare beneficiaries are spending their golden years worried about how they will afford the medications they must take to remain healthy.