National Committee Urges Four GOP Senators to Serve As Firewall Against Medicare Cuts

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 -- The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare issued the following news release:

As one of the nation's leading advocates for seniors, The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare has called upon four Republican Senators to serve as a "firewall" against harmful changes to Medicare. National Committee President and CEO Max Richtman sent letters on Tuesday to Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Charles Grassley (R-IA), and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), urging them to vote against proposals to privatize Medicare, raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67, and repeal provisions in the Affordable Care Act that improved Medicare.

"If Senate Democrats stand strong, we only need a handful of Republicans to protect the commitment to Medicare," says Richtman. "We hope Senators McCain, Collins, Grassley, and Alexander to do the right thing for seniors in their states - and across America."

Richtman explains that the letters are part of the National Committee's pro-active campaign to protect the commitment to Medicare that nearly 60 million Americans depend on. The letters quantify the economic impact that proposed Medicare cuts would have on seniors in the four Senators' states: Arizona (with 1.3 million beneficiaries), Maine (306,000 beneficiaries), Iowa (nearly 572,000 beneficiaries), and Tennessee (1.2 million beneficiaries).

"We know that these four Republican Senators have the wisdom and judgment to protect seniors in their states from legislation that would impose painful Medicare cuts," says Richtman. "It's time to slam the brakes on any attempts to pass harmful legislation."

Copies of Richtman's letters to the Senators are available at: http://www.ncpssm.org/PublicPolicy/LettersTestimony/Documents/ArticleID/1635/Letter-on-GOP-Opposition-to-Medicare-Cuts

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