Medicaid and Medicare are the nation’s largest healthcare care programs, covering around 140 million people–that’s over one third of the nation’s population including seniors, people with disabilities, children, pregnant women and millions of low-income workers. Many improvements have been made to both over the years but there’s still much more to do to guarantee that these programs will continue to thrive and provide millions of people with the healthcare they need. Medicaid must be expanded in the 11 states that have refused to implement coverage under the ACA for low income people. Lawmakers must protect and expand Medicaid funding for behavioral health and addiction services, for home based care, and for improved outcomes on maternal and child health. In Medicare, we must ensure prescription drug negotiations are implemented, expand coverage for services like dental, vision, and hearing, and continue to lower out-of-pocket costs for seniors and people with disabilities.
Medicaid and Medicare, along with Social Security benefits, are the pillars of healthcare and economic security for hundreds of millions of Americans and the basis for building increased prosperity and opportunity for the future. Social Security benefits can be expanded by making wealthy people pay their fair share into the system just like working and middle class people already do.
