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Exclusive: Bernie Sanders details plan to support American seniors ahead of Iowa appearance
Brianne Pfannenstiel, Des Moines Register Published 4:47 p.m. CT July 19, 2019
Excerpt:
The senator from Vermont and 2020 presidential candidate shared details of his plan with the Register ahead of his scheduled appearance at a Saturday afternoon forum sponsored by the Register and the AARP in Council Bluffs. It is the last of five such forums attended by 17 Democrats running for president.
Sanders' Medicare for All plan would be phased in over four years to cover all Americans, and it would eliminate private health insurance. Sanders said his Medicare for All proposal would lower the price of prescription drugs by requiring the federal program to negotiate drug prices and allowing patients, pharmacists and wholesalers to purchase lower-cost drugs from Canada and other countries. After that, the plan would cap out-of-pocket drug costs for consumers at $200 annually. The expanded Medicare program also would add coverage for things such as dental care, hearing aids, vision exams and podiatry as well as home and community-based long-term care services.
"I want Iowans and especially seniors to understand that under our proposal, we expand Social Security benefits in areas that they desperately need," he said. To pay for an expansion of those Social Security benefits, Sanders supports lifting the payroll tax cap.
Sanders' plan also calls for:
🔹Quadrupling funding for the Older Americans Act, which supports services such as home-delivered meals, and creating a new office within the Administration for Community Living to address social isolation among seniors
🔹Signing an executive order to put a moratorium on future pension cuts and reverse cuts that have already been made
🔹Expanding heating and cooling assistance through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
🔹Expanding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, as well as the Meals on Wheels program
🔹Cracking down on scams and predatory financial practices that target seniors
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/07/19/bernie-sanders-social-security-medicare-for-all-details-plan-support-american-seniors-joe-biden/1775716001/
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