Keeping Promises to Our Seniors by Preserving Medicare and Social Security Benefits
“Our seniors deserve the peace of mind and certainty that the programs they’ve been planning their retirement around will remain intact and be the safety net they’re meant to be.” – Ron Johnson
Preserving Medicare and Social Security and keeping the programs sustainable long-term are important steps in keeping America’s promise to our seniors.
First and foremost, Medicare and Social Security must preserve benefits for current retirees and those approaching retirement.
Upcoming generations of Americans deserve a safety net, too. That’s why Ron is committed to keeping these programs solvent and making reforms necessary to do so after first securing benefits for current retirees and those approaching retirement.
Ron is committed to going to Washington to fix the problems with our broken system and ensuring our seniors are cared for. This is no time to play politics with promises to our seniors, that’s why Ron is serious about making reforms.
ObamaCare’s Broken Promise to Seniors
ObamaCare represents a broken promise to seniors as it makes cuts to Medicare that will impact 100,000 Wisconsin seniors utilizing the Medicare Advantage program. ObamaCare makes $523 billion in Medicare cuts while increasing taxes by $569 billion. Russ Feingold provided the 60th vote for this legislation.
By repealing ObamaCare, which Ron supports, the Medicare cuts would be eliminated and Congress could start fresh on real reforms to bring down the cost of health care and make Medicare solvent in order to fix problems like the “donut hole.”
Social Security Solvency
Preserving Medicare and Social Security and keeping the programs sustainable long-term are important steps in keeping America’s promise to our seniors. First and foremost, Medicare and Social Security must preserve benefits for current retirees and those approaching retirement. Upcoming generations of Americans deserve a safety net, too. That’s why Ron is committed to keeping these programs solvent and making reforms necessary to do so after first securing benefits for current retirees and those approaching retirement. Ron is committed to going to Washington to fix the problems with our broken system and ensuring our seniors are cared for. This is no time to play politics with promises to our seniors, that’s why Ron is serious about making reforms.
Deficit Reduction and Social Security
Our nation has a spending problem, not a taxing problem. Instead of raising taxes during a weakened economy to reduce the deficit, Ron believes we should be taking common sense measures such as placing an overall cap on government spending, applying unspent stimulus and TARP money to deficit reduction, and repealing the massive health care bill which would add a trillion dollars to our deficit. If our country begins to rein in and prioritize spending, not only can we reduce the deficit and keep the promises to seniors, but we can secure the funds designated for the Social Security Trust Fund instead of spending the money for other commitments.
Medicare Fraud
Members of Congress have known for years that Medicare and Medicaid fraud is a massive problem, but instead of addressing the criminals who steal from our seniors, Congress has dealt with the problem by cutting payments to honest doctors and hospitals. This is simply not the way to end waste fraud and abuse in Medicare. Instead of expanding government to result in more of the same waste and abuse, we should be requiring private sector authentication technologies to begin to root out fraud in the system.
Physician Access for Medicare Beneficiaries
The massive health care bill, which Ron would seek to repeal and replace with better reforms, will implement changes that could restrict physician access for Medicare beneficiaries. According to the Clinical Journal of the American Geriatrics society, “Because of these changes to Medicare reimbursement, physicians have expressed a need to restrict their reliance on Medicare. And with approximately 32 million Americans set to gain insurance coverage, physicians could easily move their focus from Medicare to these newly-covered commercial patients, making it difficult for older adults to find qualified PCPs to care for their medical needs.” Instead of a redistribution of health care, Ron would support measures that will bring down health care costs through free market reforms which will lead to more affordable and accessible care, and would help Medicare beneficiaries retain access to qualified physicians.
