Seniors have paid into Social Security and Medicare throughout their lives, and they should be able to count on these programs for health care and income security in retirement. Medicaid provides vital health care benefits for low-income families and persons with disabilities. In Massachusetts alone, there are 1.1 million Social Security beneficiaries, 1.1 million seniors who receive Medicare benefits, and 1.6 million recipients of MassHealth, the Medicaid program in the Commonwealth. Senator Markey has fought to protect Social Security and has consistently advocated for necessary cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and the repeal of both the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, which currently limit the benefits for surviving spouses of military or civilian government employees. has also vocally opposed any attempt to privatize Social Security.
To read more about what Senator Markey has done to recently to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid click here.
To read more about Senator Markey's fight to protect Social Security, click here.
Senator Markey believes Social Security is the promise we make to our seniors who have made our country so great, that after a lifetime of hard work, they can retire with dignity and security. He has fought to protect Social Security and has consistently advocated for necessary cost-of-living adjustments (COLA). He has also vocally opposed any attempt to privatize Social Security, as well as the proposal called “Chained CPI”, which would unfairly reduce income for seniors, for the disabled and for veterans.
Senator Markey is dedicated to ensuring that elderly Americans who wish to age at home have the opportunity to do so. To help, he created Independence at Home, a program that provides seniors the option of receiving primary care services in the comfort of their own home. Each senior has a team of health care providers that is responsible for coordinating their care, helping them avoid trips to the emergency room, avoidable hospitalizations, and fragmented or confusing treatment. The Independence at Home program began in 2012 and is now available to seniors nationwide.
Senator Markey is a leader in the fight to find a cure to Alzheimer’s disease. In the House of Representatives, Markey co-authored the National Alzheimer’s Project Act, which mandated the development of a first-ever comprehensive National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease. The plan includes the bold national goal of preventing or treating Alzheimer’s disease by 2025 and represents an historic commitment by the federal government to tackling the disease. Markey also introduced the bipartisan Spending Reductions Through Innovations in Therapies (SPRINT) Act, which would spur innovation in research and drug development for high-cost, chronic health conditions such as Alzheimer’s, as well as the Health Outcomes, Planning and Education (H.O.P.E.) Act to encourage early Alzheimer’s diagnoses and connect caregivers to information and resources. Markey also introduced the Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act, which would require the National Institutes of Health to create a strategic plan to expedite therapeutic outcomes for those with or at risk of Alzheimer’s disease and coordinate Alzheimer’s research within federal agencies. In 1999 in the House of Representatives, Markey founded the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s and currently serves as co-Chair in the Senate.
