Keeping Our Commitment to Seniors

Social Security and Medicare are sacred promises we have made to our seniors, who spent a lifetime paying into these critical programs that support tens of thousands of Iowa residents. They deserve to retire in financial security supported by the benefits they’ve earned. In Congress, I fought to protect Social Security and Medicare against any efforts to cut benefits or weaken their solvency so that both current seniors and future generations can count on them.

Similarly, we must ensure that seniors on fixed incomes are not overly burdened by the cost of rising prescription drug prices. No senior should be forced to go bankrupt to preserve their health. We must allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices on medications and be open to the best policy ideas to reduce costs, like bringing more generic drugs to market or closing the Medicare Part D donut hole earlier.

Similarly, it is critical that we expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing coverage so that seniors can receive the care they need.

Sadly, Sen. Chuck Grassley has been no ally to Iowa seniors. Sen. Grassley not only helped write the law banning Medicare from negotiating for cheaper prescription drugs, but he also has spent decades supporting benefit cuts to Social Security. He’s voted to raise Social Security’s retirement age, and backed privatizing the program, which could put seniors’ earned benefits at risk. And he’s voted to turn Medicaid into a voucher program that would gut its benefits and cost seniors more for their care.