Issue Position: Seniors

Issue Position

Seniors in the Fifth Congressional District benefit greatly from Social Security and Medicare, so Congressman Hoyer is a strong supporter of these important programs and has opposed efforts to privatize them. He has been an advocate for ensuring their strength and long-term solvency and has fought to restore fiscal discipline to the federal government to ensure that these programs may be available for future generations.

Congressman Hoyer has worked to improve and modernize the Social Security program by voting for investment in technology to enable the Social Security Administration to more efficiently process the increasing number of retirees and claims. He supported efforts to increase funding at Social Security to reduce the hearings backlog, prevent a backlog recurrence, and improve the speed and quality of services for retirees.

Congressman Hoyer has also worked hard to strengthen the Medicare program and help ensure seniors can see their doctors. The newly enacted health insurance reform law extends the fiscal solvency of the Medicare program, while improving Medicare benefits and chronic disease coverage and reining in waste, fraud and abuse. The new law also lowers prescription drug costs for seniors by closing the Medicare Prescription Drug "Donut Hole" over the next few years.

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