Social Security is a promise we made to seniors who have paid into these programs with every paycheck.  Medicare is the promise of health care coverage for millions of seniors and people with disabilities.  We have an absolute obligation to keep these promises and protect Social Security and Medicare.

People across our community have paid into the Social Security and Medicare programs for decades, understanding that these programs would provide health and financial security later in their lives.  We can—and we must—ensure the long-term viability of these programs.

In Congress, I oppose efforts to privatize Social Security and Medicare, and I oppose efforts to cut benefits for seniors or the disabled. To ensure the long-term viability of these programs we need to make government work more efficiently by cutting wasteful spending, fraud, and abuse, but not by cutting these programs.

I voted for the historic Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which addresses the issue of high prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for high-cost drugs.  It also provides seniors and people with disabilities who have Medicare coverage with new protections against unaffordable prescription drug bills, and puts money back in the pockets of seniors. 

Medicare beneficiaries are some of the most vulnerable for contracting COVID-19 and other diseases, and should not be forced to choose to forgo regular care or risk exposure.  In Congress, I led a bipartisan effort to expand telehealth services during the public health emergency, ensuring Medicare patients would not have to make this risky choice.

I also co-sponsored legislation to ensure benefit guarantees and to address the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) that unfairly impacts many in our community, especially our teachers.