Safeguarding Social Security and Medicare
“Seniors deserve a high quality of life with access to the full benefits and resources that they have earned throughout their years of contributing to the economy and their communities. Social Security and Medicare are essential to ensuring that older Granite Staters and Americans have the support that they need to continue leading active and fulfilling lives. I will keep fighting to protect and strengthen the long-term viability of Social Security and Medicare, while also championing efforts to better support seniors in every aspect of their lives.” – Senator Hassan
Senator Hassan strongly opposes any attempt to privatize Medicare, turn Medicare into a voucher program, or increase the Medicare eligibility age. The Senator will also continue standing up against attempts to privatize or cut Social Security or raise the retirement age.
As part of her efforts to strengthen Medicare and lower prescription drug costs, Senator Hassan supports allowing Medicare to negotiate the best possible price for prescription drugs to cut costs for the nearly 43 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D.
The Senator is also focused on additional efforts to address older Americans’ varied health care needs. She successfully worked to pass a measure, which is now law, to increase access to hearing aids by making hearing aids available over the counter for those with mild to moderate hearing loss. She also cosponsored legislation, which is now law, to establish centers of excellence to help support caregivers and inform the public about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, which will improve early detection, treatment, and care.
When a loved one becomes ill, it usually falls to a family member or close friend to exit the workforce to take over as caregiver - and as result, caregivers can lose years of retirement savings and Social Security contributions. To ensure that these caregivers can still have a secure retirement, Senator Hassan supports creating a Social Security Caregiver credit and providing modest retirement compensation to individuals who leave the workforce or reduce their hours to care for a loved one. She also supports making it easier for small businesses to offer retirement plans and for employees to save for retirement.
Senator Hassan strongly opposes efforts to undermine the Medicaid program – in part because of the devastating impact it would have on seniors – and supports efforts to protect Medicaid and Medicare by requiring a supermajority in Congress (60 votes) to make major changes to these critical health care programs.
Additionally, Senator Hassan fought against the Trump Administration’s efforts to change Medicaid into a per capita system, which would massively cut the Medicaid programs that millions of seniors across the country depend on to stay in nursing homes and to receive in-home care. She also opposed President Trump’s attempts to implement an “age tax” that would allow health insurance plans to charge older adults up to five times more than younger people.
To protect seniors who are vulnerable to financial exploitation and fraud, Senator Hassan also introduced bipartisan legislation to encourage banks and legal organizations to better identify - and prevent - the financial exploitation of older citizens.
Senator Hassan will continue fighting to ensure that older Granite Staters and Americans have the support and resources that they need to remain active participants in our economic and civic life.
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June 03, 2021
Senator Hassan Cosponsors Sweeping Bipartisan Bill to Strengthen Retirement Security
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, cosponsored comprehensive, bipartisan legislation to strengthen retirement security for Granite Staters and Americans. The bipartisan Retirement Security & Savings Act includes measures championed by Senator Hassan to help more Americans save for retirement, including her bipartisan bill with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to expand retirement savings for military spouses, as well as legislation she previously cosponsored to allow employers to match student loan payments with employee retirement contributions.
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May 14, 2021
Senator Hassan Emphasizes Keeping Retirement Savings Safe from Cyber Threats During Committee Hearing
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan discussed the need to keep Americans’ retirement savings safe from cyber threats during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing yesterday. The Senator also raised concerns about how COVID-19 has exacerbated the retirement savings gap for women and what Congress can do to address this disparity.
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March 16, 2021
Murray, Scott, Hassan Release GAO Report On Retirement Cybersecurity Which Recommends Department of Labor Issue Guidance
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Congressman Bobby Scott, Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) released a report from the Government Accountability Office looking at the risk cybersecurity threats pose to retirement plans that serve over 100 million people. GAO conducted its investigation in response to an inquiry the Members sent in 2019.Read More -
March 06, 2021
Senator Hassan Votes to Pass Comprehensive COVID-19 Relief Package
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) voted today to pass the American Rescue Plan, a comprehensive COVID-19 relief package that supports public health and provides critical assistance to Granite Staters and small businesses. The package includes Senator Hassan’s bipartisan bill to support new businesses that are currently left out of most relief programs and Senator Hassan’s amendment that passed on a bipartisan basis to require schools receiving relief funds to develop and make publicly available plans to return to in-person learning.
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December 27, 2020
COVID-19 Relief, Government Funding Bill Becomes Law with Key Priorities Secured by Senator Hassan
WASHINGTON - President Trump today signed into law a year-end government funding package with substantial COVID-19 relief for Granite Staters based on a bipartisan compromise that Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) helped negotiate. The package also includes a number of other priorities that Senator Hassan fought for, including provisions to help end surprise medical billing, which Senator Hassan has led bipartisan efforts on for the past two years.
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December 15, 2020
Senator Hassan Holds Virtual Roundtable on Challenges Facing Long-Term Care Facilities in New Hampshire Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
WASHINGTON - In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan yesterday held a virtual roundtable on the challenges facing long-term care facilities in New Hampshire as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a heavy toll on residents and staff at these facilities. The Senator was joined by leaders from the VA Medical Center, AARP-NH, Senior Helpers of Southern New Hampshire, and administrators at long-term care facilities in Portsmouth, Manchester, and West Stewartstown.
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October 16, 2020
Hassan, Colleagues Urge Trump Administration to Better Track COVID-19 in Congregate Care Facilities to Protect People with Disabilities and Older Adults
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined Senators Patty Murray (D-WI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in urging Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma to protect people with disabilities and older adults and finally expand data collection and reporting on COVID-19 cases in congregate care facilities-including assisted living facilities, institutions for people with disabilities, and mental health facilities. Despite the importance of data collection for identifying and responding to COVID-19 outbreaks, current gaps in CMS guidance are leaving many people with disabilities and older Americans at risk.
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