Social Security & Medicare

I firmly believe Social Security and Medicare are earned benefits Americans have paid for from their first day on the job, and seniors deserve to know that what they have earned will be protected. Many seniors would be destitute without the benefits they worked for, earned, and have every right to expect. I am fundamentally against any plan or budget deal that privatizes, reduces, or compromises these successful and necessary programs or the benefits they provide. 

To that end, when the President proposed switching to a chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate senior's cost-of-living and inflation adjustments for Social Security, I strongly opposed this proposal, as it would have greatly reduced seniors' rightly-earned benefits, and I joined like-minded Members of Congress and seniors advocacy groups in a protest outside the White House gates, where we presented a petition signed by more than 2 million people to the President opposing these cuts to Social Security. I was also the original cosponsor of H.CON.RES.32 - Opposing Chained Consumer Price Index, which strongly states that Chained CPI should not be used to calculate Social Security benefits.

I have also fought to protect cuts to Medicare Advantage, joining some 160 Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle in urging the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to restore the Administration's proposed cuts in the Medicare FFS program. Read my letter here.

I am an original cosponsor of H.R.676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, which ensures that every resident of the United States receives a card at birth that would guarantee access to a full range of medically-necessary services - including primary care, dental, prescription drugs, mental health services, and long term care.

I am also working on several bills to expand and strengthen these earned benefits:

• The Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act (H.R.1179), would ensure hospital observation stays count toward the requirements to receive Medicare Part A benefits. Groups like the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living support this legislation to fix what has become a hardship for seniors, who are often misled to believe their skilled nursing stay would be covered by Medicare. 
   
• The Rural Hospital Access Act, (H.R.1787), and the Rural Hospital Fairness Act, (H.R.2578), would make it easier for rural hospitals and their patients to receive Medicare payments.
   
• The Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act, (H.R.713), to repeal the cap on outpatient physical and speech therapy services for Medicare recipients recovering from a stroke.
   
• The Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act, (H.R.1148), expands coverage to include services provided by radiologist assistants.
   
• The Improving Cancer Treatment Education Act, (H.R.1661), ensures that any education services a cancer patient receives - even before they receive treatment - is covered by Medicare.
   
• The Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act (H.R.942), would create a separate benefit category under Medicare for complex rehab technology products, to allow for Medicare coverage to be better tailored to recipients' needs.

I have spoken from the House Floor in support of reinstating the Health Care Tax Credit (HCTC), a program that expired in January 2013, which slashed the pensions of thousands of retired workers on the Iron Range, former employees of companies like LTV and National Steel - giants of American manufacturing. Watch the clip of my speech here.

As a businessman, I learned to prioritize equipment repair and replacement; if the equipment was broken beyond repair, I replaced it immediately. If the equipment was getting older but still working, I planned for the future. The same principle applies to Social Security and Medicare. Neither faces an immediate crisis, but we need to plan sensibly for the future. With that in mind, we need to examine ways to permanently stabilize and assure funding for both Social Security and Medicare in the years to come, without reducing benefits. But in all cases, future reforms must in no way diminish the earned benefits Americans require, expect, and deserve.



Other Issues for Seniors:

Financial scams targeting seniors are called "the crime of the 21st century" because they're so prevalent, and unfortunately, often go unreported or are difficult to prosecute. I'm committed to ensuring our seniors are fully protected against fraud, telemarketing and online scams, and abuse or exploitation, and to that end, I'm working on the following bills to protect our seniors:

• The Seniors Fraud Prevent Act (H.R.1953) - ensures complaints of fraud are handled quickly by the appropriate law enforcement agencies, and requires the government to distribute information materials to seniors and their families or caregivers to explain the process for reporting a possible scam. This is the House companion version of the bill that Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced after meeting with a Duluth woman whose mother was scammed out of $47,000. Common scams include fake investment plans, fake prizes and sweepstakes, charity scams, Medicare insurance fraud, counterfeit prescription drugs, funeral and cemetery scams, predatory home lenders, telemarketing and mail fraud. 
   
• I'm an original cosponsor of the Protecting Seniors from Health Care Fraud Act (H.R.3616) - makes sure that seniors have the most up-to-date information about common scams by requiring the government to mail a list of the top ten health care fraud schemes to seniors. This list would be updated quarterly and would also be posted online to help seniors, law enforcement, and government agencies combat and reduce fraud.
   
• The Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act (H.R.3090) - in order to address serious issues of abuse or exploitation of seniors, this bill would ensure that all programs under the Older Americans Act of 1965 include training in elder abuse prevention. This legislation also establishes a National Adult Protective Services Resources Center, to improve the ability of our local and state adult protective services programs to respond effectively to abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults, including home care patients and long-term care facility residents. 

Unscrupulous telemarketers, direct mail offers, phony "miracle" drugs, contest winnings, funeral and cemetery fraud, investment schemes, predatory lenders, stolen benefits checks – my staff and I hear these stories again and again as we travel throughout Minnesota. Read my recent newsletter aimed at helping seniors and their families protect themselves against scammers.