Issue Position: America's Seniors

Issue Position

Florida is home to the highest percentage of senior citizens in the country. Unfortunately, decades of government mismanagement and a lack of political courage from politicians in both parties threaten the promises we have made to current and future seniors. Marco believes that the failure to reform Medicare and Social Security for the 21st century is unacceptable to those who have paid into the programs for decades. Marco supports reasonable reforms to strengthen Medicare and Social Security, provide financial and retirement security for our seniors, and get our country's finances on the right track.

Save Medicare from Bankruptcy. Over 4 million Floridians benefit from Medicare, but the program is careening toward bankruptcy. To save Medicare, Marco supports reasonable reforms to the program without making any changes for those in retirement (like his mother), or those nearing retirement, including:

Repealing Obamacare and its massive cuts to Medicare Advantage, a program that provides Florida seniors with real choices in health care;
Ending Obamacare's Independent Payment Advisory Board, a panel of unelected bureaucrats whose ultimate goal is to ration care for the elderly;
Enacting a premium-support system, giving seniors a generous amount with which to purchase health care, either from Medicare or a private provider of their choice.

Keep the Promise of Social Security for Our Seniors. Like Medicare, millions of Floridians receive Social Security benefits, but the program is also deeply in the red, threatening the ability of the program to pay Floridians the benefits they deserve. To keep the promise of Social Security, Marco supports gradual reforms without making any changes for those in or near retirement, including:

Gradually increasing the retirement age to keep up with changes in life expectancy;
Reforming the method for calculating benefits, while strengthening the program for low-income seniors;
Abolishing the "Retirement Earnings Test," a government mandate that hurts employment among retirees;
Exempting seniors who wish to remain in the workforce from paying the Federal payroll tax, helping seniors' bottom lines and growing the economy.
Stop Unfairly Taxing Savings and Investment.
Many Florida seniors rely on investment income to make ends meet, but the federal government taxes responsible savers not once, but twice. Marco's tax plan will eliminate this punitive double taxation of commonly-held dividends, capital gains, and interest, a reform which will cut taxes for our seniors and grow the economy.

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