As your Representative in Congress, Lisa will work to:

Establish a cost effective prescription drug and long term care program

Because Medicare provides very little coverage for prescription drugs or long-term custodial care, seniors must either pay these expenses out of pocket or purchase a supplemental insurance plan. While large numbers of Medicare recipients have some kind of additional insurance coverage to help fill the gaps in Medicare, that coverage is typically expensive and requires substantial out of pocket payments. In fact, seniors with supplemental coverage still pay more than forty percent of their prescription costs out of pocket, while two-thirds of all non-government long-term care payments are paid directly by patients and their families. Considering the impending retirements of the "baby boomers," the need for some kind of additional coverage in these areas will only grow.

Most people want to be self-sufficient and not rely upon family or welfare to sustain them in retirement. But unless we do something, even those who carefully planned for retirement could be wiped out financially or pushed below the poverty line by a single illness. We must improve Medicare with a prescription drug benefit that is available to all, but 100% voluntary to preserve the right of those who want to keep whatever coverage they already have. We also need to create better long-term and in-home care choices by developing new private/public partnerships to fund long-term care services, expand tax benefits to encourage people to buy and employers to offer long-term care insurance, and new tax credits for those with long-term care needs or caring for family members with such needs.

Download the entire Why Vote for Lisa Atkins document.

<<< Back