Our nation’s seniors have made and continue to make enormous contributions to our civic life and to the success and prosperity of our nation. Every day, they deploy their talent and experience through service and volunteerism. We owe it to them to keep Medicare premiums affordable and Social Security on pace with the cost of living. Congressman Sarbanes is a cosponsor of the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act, which would “scrap the cap” on wages that are subject to the Social Security payroll tax and thereby extend the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund by decades. It would also establish a new formula for computing the Cost of Living Adjustment for seniors so that it more fairly reflects their daily expenses. Congressman Sarbanes has also voted for legislation to provide greater flexibility in retirement options, safeguard retirees who unknowingly receive plan overpayments and eliminate provisions that unfairly reduce the Social Security benefits of millions of Americans who have devoted much of their careers to public service.
To strengthen health care benefits while lowering costs for seniors, Congressman Sarbanes has voted for legislation to preserve seniors’ access to their doctors, increase access to telehealth and home- and community-based health services and better support caregivers. He has also cosponsored H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, to lower the costs of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices for its beneficiaries, cap out-of-pocket expenses for seniors and restrict the pharmaceutical companies’ excessive price increases.
In addition to these efforts, Congressman Sarbanes is a champion of the Experience Corps Program - a partnership of the AARP Foundation and the Americorps Program - that nationally deploys 3000 senior volunteers into elementary schools to tutor reading. Baltimore boasts one of the largest chapters of Experience Corps in the nation. He has further supported legislation to increase federal nutrition services for seniors - including home-delivered meals, as well as voted for the emergency rental and mortgage relief and historic investments in safe, accessible and affordable housing options provided by the American Rescue Plan and the recently-passed bipartisan federal budget bill.
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Congressman John Sarbanes has a lifetime score of 100% from the Alliance for Retired Americans.