Michael Eggman: How we keep Medicare solvent without hurting seniors

As I’ve spent nearly two years traveling from Tracy to Turlock and everywhere in between campaigning for Congress, I’ve talked with voters of both political parties about all types of issues. From jobs to water to education, I’ve spoken about how we can work toward common-sense solutions to improve our San Joaquin Valley.

One consistent question I hear from senior citizens and those nearing retirement is their concern for what the future holds for the safety and security of Medicare.

Many are worried about the cuts to Medicare supported by politicians such as Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock. Denham tells us that the program is headed for bankruptcy, so seniors must accept his plan to replace Medicare with a voucher system that would leave Valley seniors paying an average of $2,000 more for health care in retirement.

Seniors shouldn’t fall for this line of reasoning – we can keep Medicare solvent without penalizing our seniors.

The solution is two-fold: first we must shrewdly address the ever-rising cost-curve of health care at large by looking at things like the way we reimburse doctors – for quantity of services rendered, not for quality of care. And second, we must make smart changes, not cuts, to Medicare itself.

Let’s cut the waste, fraud and abuse from the system – something the Washington politicians haven’t shown the courage to do.

Even more importantly, let’s allow Medicare to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for prescription drug prices. Nearly every country around the world has been doing this for years. I’ve spoken to seniors who have traveled to Canada or south of our border to Mexico to purchase cheaper drugs. It shouldn’t be this way. With good negotiations we can lower prescription prices here at home – delivering cost savings to our seniors and saving Medicare hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.

While Jeff Denham would rather ask seniors to accept harsh health care cuts than risk upsetting the large insurance companies and special interests that fund his campaign, my plan for keeping Medicare solvent calls for the insurance and drug companies to make sacrifices, so our seniors don’t have to.

Protecting Medicare shouldn’t be a question of right or left, it should be a question of right or wrong. And it’s wrong for politicians to keep playing games with our senior’s social safety net. If elected to Congress I will pledge to vote against any budget – from either party – that makes cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Michael Eggman: How we keep Medicare solvent without hurting seniors."