By Alex Moore
As we mentioned in this issue’s lead article, the 2024 election will have immense consequences for America’s future, including that of its senior citizens. Candidates for Congress frequently schedule town hall meetings and debates—where members of the audience can ask them questions—in the lead-up to an election, which is a great opportunity to ensure they hear your opinions.
We encourage you to attend a town hall and invite other people that you know. When attending, be prepared to ask questions about issues that concern you. Here are a few starters:
1.
The Social Security Trustees have forecast that the program’s trust fund will become insolvent in 2033, which would create a forced reduction of benefits for retirees. Do you pledge to propose or support legislation that would address the program’s finances without cutting benefits? If so, what policies would you advocate for?
2.
One major issue for retirees is the metric the Social Security Administration (SSA) uses to calculate Social Security’s COLAs, the Consumer Price Index. Over time, the CPI has evolved from an index built around a standard basket of essential goods to a changing basket that assumes people’s spending habits will change when prices rise—which essentially factors in a reduced cost of living for seniors over time. The SSA also uses the CPI for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W), not the CPI for the Elderly (CPI-E) that better reflects our budgets to calculate the COLA. What do you think Congress should do to fix the way we calculate Social Security’s COLAs?
3.
Medicare recently began negotiating drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies with new powers granted by the Inflation Reduction Act. This has resulted in strong initial results, like capping the cost of insulin at $35 per month for seniors and limiting out-of-pocket drug costs to $2,000 per year for Medicare Part D enrollees. What proposals do you support to continue lowering drug prices for seniors?
4.
Care at a nursing home or assisted living facility is unaffordable for many, and the U.S. has a critical shortage of home healthcare workers to help seniors age in place. Additionally, many employees are unable to take time off work to care for aging relatives because family leave isn’t included in their benefits packages. How would you approach increasing access to care providers who can help seniors age in their homes rather than being forced to move to expensive assisted living facilities or nursing homes before they absolutely need to?
