Cory Gardner on Social Security

Social Security one of the most important social safety nets

Gardner: I'm going to continue to protect Social Security. It's one of the most important social safety nets that we have as a country. Medicare and Social Security are two of the key things that we have for generations of Americans who have paid into them. We have to make sure that they are safeguarded so they can continue to pay out to those people who have invested all of their lives into these programs. We need to make sure that people stop borrowing against the Social Security trust fund.

Q: Your senior healthcare policy?

Gardner: I've worked hard to promote $10 billion for nursing homes, with additional dollars going toward their relief during COVID-19 so that they will be in place long-term. I've also worked hard to fight for reimbursement for telemedicine, telehealth visits through Medicare and other programs. Seniors who are able to receive care at home without having to go to the doctor will result in better care.

Rated 3% by ARA, indicating a pro-privatization stance.

Scoring system for 2014: Ranges from 0% (supports privatization and other market-based reforms) to 100% (supports keeping federal control over Trust Fund and Social Security system).

About ARA (from their website, www.RetiredAmericans.org):

The Alliance for Retired Americans is a nationwide organization, founded in May 2001, with now over 4.2 million members working together to make their voices heard in the laws, policies, politics, and institutions that shape our lives. The mission of the Alliance for Retired Americans is to ensure social and economic justice and full civil rights for all citizens so that they may enjoy lives of dignity, personal and family fulfillment and security.

• Alliance members visit the polls in record numbers. We use the power of our membership and our Congressional Voting Record to educate and mobilize seniors to elect leaders committed to improving the lives of retirees and older Americans.
• We are effectively warding off cuts to our most important social programs like Social Security and Medicare. Our Human Chain Against the Chained CPI events in the summer of 2013 took place in more than 50 cities and mobilized support for stopping this cut to earned Social Security benefits.
• We blocked the privatization of Social Security with our Social Security "Truth Truck" delivering 2.1 million petitions to Members of Congress and other tactics.
• The Alliance makes its voice heard on the issues that matter not just to current retirees, but to all Americans who hope to retire one day. We were a leading voice in recent debates considering changes to Medicare, like replacing guaranteed benefits with a voucher system, and remain so in 2014.