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Candidates Speak Out On Senior Issues
Howard Dean called the governorship "the greatest job in Vermont" when he took the state's top post in 1991. In the decade since, Governor Howard Dean has led Vermont with a firm fiscal discipline, an unwavering commitment to children's health care and education, and a keen environmental awareness. Governor Dean is a physician who previously shared a medical practice with his wife. (To read more about his wife Judy, click here.) He received his B.A. from Yale University in 1971 and his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City in 1978. He served in the Vermont House from 1982 to 1986, was elected lieutenant governor in 1986, and became governor in 1991 with the death of then-Governor Richard Snelling. A common-sense moderate who firmly believes that social justice can only be accomplished through strong financial management, Governor Dean has cut the income tax twice, removed the sales tax on most clothing, and reduced the state's long-term debt. Not only did the governor pay off an inherited $70 million deficit, he worked with lawmakers to build "rainy day" reserves to help the state through any future economic downturn. During the Dean tenure, more than 41,000 new jobs have been created, the state's minimum wage has climbed twice, incentive programs have expanded to help downtowns attract new businesses, and tax incentives were created to attract and keep new companies. If fiscal management is Governor Dean's trademark, improving the lives of Vermont's children is his passion. A physician, Governor Dean strengthened the Dr. Dynasaur program to guarantee health coverage to virtually every child in Vermont age 18 and under. Vermont has one of the lowest uninsured rates in the country and one of the highest rates of immunized children. Governor Dean has expanded programs to help seniors afford prescription drugs, and he signed into law one of the toughest managed-care consumer protections in the United States. It is the preservation of Vermont's precious natural resources and landscapes that the governor considers his legacy. Governor Dean worked with local communities and the federal government to preserve more than one million acres of farmland, shorefront, working forests, and wilderness. Under the Dean Administration, 76 of the state's leaking landfills were safely closed, and Vermont became a leader in the move to reduce mercury pollution and stop power plants from polluting the air. Governor Dean has created bikeways, led the effort to restore commuter rail service in Vermont, and led a strong, coordinated attack on sprawl. Working with lawmakers, prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement, Governor Dean has cracked down on violent crime in Vermont and ensured that violent felons spend time behind bars. He has fought to protect family farms, increased the number of women and minorities in judgeships and other prominent positions, cracked down on domestic violence, and put Vermont in the forefront for child support collections.
Introduction I am committed to a presidency that will benefit all of America’s seniors. As a medical doctor, I have a special understanding of seniors’ concerns about their health and welfare. And as a former governor, I know what it is like to make the hard, executive decisions to run state and federal programs that assist seniors. My administration will reverse the fiscal disasters of the Bush Administration. Under President Bush, the federal government has been running huge deficits, making it difficult to address the critically important challenges facing an aging nation. I will reverse this trend, ensuring that there are adequate finances for critical programs on which seniors depend such as Social Security and Medicare by balancing the budget, strengthening the economy, rolling back irresponsible tax cuts, and investing in job creation. I am pleased to have this opportunity to respond to your survey. Also, my detailed Seniors Agenda is laid out on my website at www.deanforamerica.com. HEALTH / Medicaid What do you think should be done to ensure the sustainability of the Medicaid program and to improve it? Prior to full meaningful reform, would you support the continuation of a temporary increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP)? I am opposed to the President’s proposal to block grant Medicaid which will only exacerbate the challenges in meeting the social service needs of low-income seniors. The aged, blind and disabled account for approximately 30 percent of the Medicaid population, but they represent approximately 70 percent of the program’s cost. As the baby boom generation ages, we will continue to see significant growth in these categories of the Medicaid program. There must be a positive and constructive partnership between the federal government and the states in meeting the challenges posed by Medicaid. As president, I will work closely with our nation’s governors and the Congress to develop proposals which strengthen Medicaid over the long-term and do not unfairly burden the states. I supported the temporary increase in the federal Medicaid match rate, which this administration opposed, to allow states to weather the storm caused by the weak economy. I will continue to support policies which assist states in meeting the challenges of providing health care coverage to low-income individuals during these difficult economic times. HEALTH / Medicare Prescription Drugs Do you support a prescription drug benefit, and if so, will you commit financial resources in your fiscal year 2006 budget submission to address the serious deficiencies in the reported conference agreement and work to fix serious structural deficiencies? Will you commit resources to eliminate each of those problems? What are your positions on these five issues? (pertaining to the prescription drug legislation)
I am opposed to Republican efforts to dismantle Medicare in the name of reform. The drug “benefit” recently passed by Congress was a bad deal. The benefit does not give enough help to seniors, while the so-called “reforms” amount to nothing more than give-aways to HMO’s and the drug industry. They have capped spending on the benefit to limit its size, leaving a gaping hole in coverage, imposing high premiums and co-pays for little added value. Furthermore, it does virtually nothing to control drug prices. It pays for less than a quarter of the drug costs for America’s seniors. It also makes it a federal crime to import safe, affordable drugs from Canada. That is wrong. The White House has put the interests of the drug industry and the HMO’s ahead of the best interests of older Americans. As President, my priority will be to deliver a prescription drug benefit for all of America’s seniors that is generous, affordable and federally administered, using the government’s buying power on behalf of 40 million seniors to negotiate and drive down prices. There are serious deficiencies in this new law. We can do better, and it will be my priority to fix these deficiencies. HEALTH / Medicare What are your specific plans to help ensure the financial future of the Medicare program? I am firmly committed to the long-term solvency of the Medicare program. As a medical doctor, I have a special understanding of Medicare's critical importance to seniors. Medicare is a part of the foundation of our social contract with our seniors. We met the challenges facing the looming insolvency of the Medicare program in the late 1990's through a strong economy and because of the political leadership of President Clinton who focused on the interests of our seniors and not the interests of the HMO and Drug Industry. As a result, Medicare today has sufficient funding to pay full benefits through 2026. The first and most important thing we must do to ensure the financial future of Medicare is to reverse the fiscal disasters of the Bush Administration and to develop an economic policy that invests in job creation and strengthens our economy. A strong economy is fundamental to addressing the challenges facing Social Security and Medicare. As president, I will do all in my power to ensure that the long-term health of Medicare is protected for my generation and for future generations to come, and will oppose any efforts to dismantle it in the name of modernization and reform INCOME SECURITY / Social Security We would appreciate your views on Social Security’s future. Do you favor or oppose the following changes to Social Security?
You are absolutely correct that Social Security is the cornerstone of the nation’s income security system and has been since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed it into law in 1935. Social Security accounts for the majority of most seniors’ income. Social Security has evolved over time, adding, for example, important disability and survivor protections. Since its inception, however, it has always maintained the original values of a universal and guaranteed social insurance program. I am opposed to President Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security. I do not believe it is necessary to raise the retirement age in order to put Social Security on sound financial footing for the long term, but I am committed to taking the steps necessary to ensure Social Security will be there for the next generation just as it has been for us and for our parents. At the same time, we must be aware of the growing numbers of those over 85 years of age, the fastest growing segment in our population, paying particular attention to proposals that protect income security for poor elderly women through the Social Security and SSI programs. We can strengthen Social Security for generations to come. We just have to make the right choices. President Bush has chosen to give trillions in tax breaks to the wealthy. My administration will choose to help seniors and ordinary Americans. INCOME SECURITY / Pensions Do you favor establishing a system of federally-sponsored universal retirement savings accounts in addition to Social Security, financed with new dollars, rather than with funds diverted from Social Security? What are some of your recommendations for helping to protect workers currently covered by defined benefit pensions and workplace savings plans? Our private pension system must be strengthened, but not at the expense of Social Security. Private pensions should be portable, they should be invested prudently, and there should be proper safeguards in place to protect one’s retirement savings. It is clear that Americans do not save enough to prepare for their retirement. As president, I am committed to examining how we improve retirement savings in this country, including whether this nation should establish federally-sponsored universal savings accounts in addition to Social Security. I am also committed to examining how we improve and build upon our current private retirement savings vehicles. We need to protect the American worker, and that will be my focus when it comes to strengthening America’s pension system. LONG-TERM CARE Do you agree that federal and state policies should allow people who need long-term care to receive the services and supports in the least restrictive setting possible, including the home and community? Our leaders can no longer afford to ignore America’s aging population. In 25 years, nearly one in five Americans will be over 65 years of age. In 8 years the first boomers turn 65. Nowhere is this challenge more evident than in the area of long-term care. It is a challenge we are ill-prepared to meet. Our current long-term care system spends nearly three out of four dollars on nursing home care. It is a care setting few families would choose. President Bush’s plan would cap federal assistance to states already struggling to cope with the demands of long-term care and he proposes to give more tax breaks for long-term care insurance without requiring policies to meet adequate minimum standards. Apparently, President Bush’s solution to every problem is to give a tax cut to those who need it least. How would your administration support and enhance current state efforts to move people from institutions to the community and to prevent premature or inappropriate nursing home placement? What, if anything, will you do to streamline or eliminate the home and community-based waiver process for states under Medicaid? In addition, how would your administration support unpaid or family caregivers who provide the majority of long-term care to older people with disabilities? States need flexibility to offer alternatives to nursing home care. The Medicaid home and community-based waiver program should be streamlined. The federal government should not condition dollars for homecare on withdrawing support for nursing home care. We need to invest modest new federal resources in home and community based care. American families have been, and will continue to be, the backbone of our nation’s long-term care system. I will propose a more favorableMedicaidfederal match rate to provide respite care and training for spouses and other family caregivers who bear the brunt of caring for a loved one at home. Would your administration support, enhance or replace the current federal/state/local infrastructure to provide home and community-based services for older people (i.e. Older Americans Act program and the aging network, SSBG, senior transportation programs, elderly housing programs, etc.) and how would your administration do this? The federal and state governments, together with individuals and families, all bear some financial responsibility for long-term care. How should these responsibilities ideally be distributed? Do you support the federal government bearing an increased burden? If so, how? We also need more reliable and less expensive private, long-term care polices. Since 2002, federal employees and retirees have had the option to buy long-term care insurance that provides group discounts and standard policies meeting federal guidelines. I would extend that option through a parallel program to all American families. We also need to provide more information to consumers on nursing home care, and a national registry of long-term care workers with a history of patient abuse. As governor, I significantly increased long-term care options for seniors and people with disabilities while holding down costs and improving quality. As president, I will continue those efforts to help transform our long-term care system. COMMUNITY SERVICES / Older Americans Act What initiatives would you advance to support and augment the Older Americans Act and the vital services it provides to millions of older adults? Support of home and community based senior services must continue to grow as America ages in the 21st Century. This is especially true for the Older Americans Act, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2005. It provides support for senior centers, adult day care, nutrition programs, legal assistance, family caregiver support, elder abuse prevention, transportation and community-service employment for low-income seniors. The Older Americans Act is cost effective, as it keeps at-risk seniors at home or in the community rather than in nursing homes. Yet its funding has not even kept pace with inflation these past 10 years. We need to reverse that trend. As president, it will be my priority to strengthen this critically important program as part of meeting the challenges of an aging nation. COMMUNITY SERVICES / Social Services Block Grants Would you support the restoration of the Social Services Block Grant authorization level to at least its pre-welfare reform level of $2.8 billion and restore the ability of states to transfer 10% of TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to SSBG? Similarly we need a new commitment to the Social Services Block Grant which provides important community services to seniors as part of some 14 million individuals and families that it serves. Social Service Block Grant Funding is the largest source of funding for adult protective services. It is also a critical component of intergenerational support for those in need in this country. It is a program that clearly needs our support. Yet, we have seen its funding reduced by some $1 billion over the past several years. Again, it is time to reverse that trend. We need to begin to chart a course which restores that funding to ensure the needs of America’s seniors are met in the years ahead. COMMUNITY SERVICES / Senior Employment & Volunteer Programs Would you support a ten percent increase in SCSEP, which would provide over 6,000 additional jobs for low-income Americans age 55 and older? What plans do you have to support and, further, what other plans would you implement to make the best use of seniors as a resource in service to their communities and, specifically, would you support a goal of doubling the number of senior volunteers sponsored through the National Senior Service Corps over the next five years? I am a strong supporter of senior employment and volunteer programs. Anyone who has traveled the country, or been active in their state or local community, knows that seniors want to remain active in their community whether through work or volunteer activities. We need to continue to strengthen programs that take advantage of the great experience of our seniors. I believe we need to continue to invest in the Senior Community Employment Program which is targeted to low-income seniors and supports seniors working on behalf of other seniors in their communities. The benefits this program provides, for both individuals and their communities, is a critical piece of our nation’s senior agenda and one that is worthy of our continued and increasing support. Similarly, we need to strengthen the National Senior Service Corps to build upon the successes of the many fabulous senior volunteer programs throughout our nation today. As president, I will carefully consider what should be an appropriate increase in funding for these critically important programs. COMMUNITY SERVICES / Housing How important will it be to your administration to maintain and increase the supply of low-income senior housing we have in this country and what would you do to make sure health and housing services fit together for these people? Just as it is for most Americans, housing for seniors is the largest cost in their own personal budgets. Too many seniors who live on fixed incomes are unable to find adequate housing or are squeezed by ever rising rents. We must continue to develop policies that provide for adequate housing and affordable rents. The supply of adequate low-income housing must be increased in the years ahead. I also agree that greater coordination needs to occur between housing and service providers to ensure we meet the challenges of living independently and with dignity for all of America’s seniors. COMMUNITY SERVICES / Transportation Please describe your plan to promote senior transportation as a priority within your Administration, and specifically do you support substantial increases in funding for the Federal Transportation Administration’s Section 5310 Program, the major transportation program for the elderly which is currently funded at $90 million? We need to ensure that our transportation policies are designed to assist seniors in leading independent lives, even when driving is no longer an option, through safe, accessible and reliable local transportation systems. Input by seniors should be a must for all transportation initiatives, including reauthorization of SAFETEA Act, which is currently up for reauthorization for the six year period 2004-2009. In addition, we need to increase funding for transportation programs that serve seniors in this country, including the Section 5310 program. Federal funding should also be made available for operating funds as part of the reauthorization of our nation’s transportation program. FEDERAL RIGHTS What will your administration do to ensure full protection for the rights and welfare of our nation’s seniors? I support full protections for the rights of our seniors and will work to ensure that the laws designed to protect these rights are fully enforced. I am running to restore America’s sense of community and to ensure that not one American is left behind or discriminated against—by race, gender, region or age. I am deeply committed to upholding and enforcing the rights of all citizens—and specifically those of senior citizens—as they have been laid down in law to protect the rights and welfare of our seniors. My Justice Department and all agencies of our government will share a deep commitment to enforcing these rights and these laws. What steps will your administration take to address staffing problems in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities? Hard working, dedicated home care workers must make decent wages, have health care coverage of their own and be adequately trained. In California and New York, when America’s largest health care union, SEIU, came together with providers, consumers and state governments, they created systems to do just that. As a result, the lives of long term care clients have improved. Registries of qualified workers are established and standards are set which protect workers and their clients and encourage more workers to take on these important jobs. The federal government should encourage more states to follow this collaborative model. If we could eliminate the need for nursing homes, we would. But we cannot ignore that there will always be a percentage of folks who will require institutional care. We must make sure that care is not second class. Nursing home funding must ensure safe staffing and staffing standards. Nursing home workers have one of the most dangerous jobs in America with the highest injury rates, which cost patients good care and employers excessive workers compensation. When George Bush rescinded ergonomics rules, he hurt patients and workers. We need to reverse that. We need to ensure that good workers have good working conditions and we need to protect patients against those workers who have a history of abuse. We need a national registry of long-term care workers. TAXES A series of tax cuts have been passed over the past three years, which have been criticized as contributing to these large deficit projections. Would you support modifications of any of these tax cuts, and if so, which ones in particular? This administration has pursued a misguided economic policy by mortgaging our economic future for a set of tax cuts that provides, at best, minimal help to the average American working family. We have gone from federal budget surpluses when this president took office to $500 billion annual budget deficits, and there are no signs that this administration intends to change its fiscally reckless course. As I have said throughout this campaign, I will rollback these irresponsible tax cuts and move to put America’s fiscal house back in order and address the challenges facing this nation that put the average American first. Conclusion Let me conclude by saying the Older Americans Act requires a White House Conference on Aging to be held no later than December 31, 2005. This conference should provide an important opportunity to gain wide input into the direction of this nation as we confront the opportunities and challenges of an aging America, and shape our policies together for the coming years. As President, I will make sure this conference is held, as it is a priority to me. As I have said a number of times, White House conferences send a message of presidential priorities and galvanize action. A Dean Administration will take this conference seriously and provide leadership and direction to shape a national aging policy that can benefit all generations. I hope I can count on your support.
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Leadership Council of Aging Organizations. All Rights Reserved. |
