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U.S. Sen. Larry Craig Responds to
SeniorJournal.com Opinion Critical of Republican Record on Senior
Citizen Issues
Defending the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging
and the Republican Commitment to America's Seniors
By
U.S. Senator Larry Craig,
Chairman of
the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging
As I read the recent editorial written by Tucker
Sutherland titled, "Opinion: Placing Special Interest Above Senior
Consumers -- Senate Aging Committee Continues Republican Assault on
Senior Citizens' Rights," I was reminded of something a reporter for the
Associated Press was quoted as saying in the mid-1990's. She said that
reporters get the news right about 72.3% of the time. It appears that
the same percentage is true for some editorials, and I appreciate the
opportunity provided by the Senior Journal to set the record straight.
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To read the original opinion
article by the editor of SeniorJournal.com -Senate Aging Committee Continues Republican
Assault on Senior Citizens' Rights
- Click Here. |
In my capacity as Chairman of the Special Committee
on Aging and immediate past chairman of the U.S. Senate's Republican
Policy Committee, I am or have been:
> A current co-sponsor of the Elder Justice Act -
designed to protect seniors from abuse from wherever it occurs
> The author of the Family Caregiver legislation
> The leader of the Attacking Senior Fraud
Initiative in the Senate
> An
original co-sponsor of the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act
> A promoter
of the Social Security Protection Act Signed into law in December
> The sponsor of the Long-Term Care Partnership
Program Act of 2004
> The sponsor of the Senior Eldercare Relief and
Empowerment (SECURE) Act a bill to provide tax relief for those who
pay for care for older loved ones
> The sponsor of the Simple Tax for Seniors Act
which will enable seniors to fill out an easier, shorter tax form
similar to the 1040EZ.
> And I now am currently awaiting a GAO report on
abusive guardianships of the elderly - a report I requested and which
will be released just next week.
With those bone fides, I think it is clear that
neither I nor my fellow committee members - both Democrats and
Republicans - are interested in "assaulting" America's seniors. Indeed,
we are all committed to protecting older Americans.
As for the hearing the Senior Journal attacked
("Medical Liability in Long-Term Care: Is Escalating Litigation a Threat
to Quality and Access?"), it hasn't yet taken place - so the preemptive
rebuke on the hearing came as an unpleasant surprise.
The purpose of the hearing is to protect Americas
seniors. What is happening now is that many doctors are leaving nursing
homes because their insurance premiums are skyrocketing. Congress needs
to understand why that is and what we can do to ensure that seniors are
protected by having access to a doctor.
Let me be clear those people who abuse, or
neglect, or intentionally cause harm to seniors must be held accountable
and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Period.
Thursday's hearing will include representatives who
share that opinion and who share the Senior Journals concern about tort
reform. One of the witnesses will be Marshall Kapp, a distinguished law
professor who has written extensively on the effects of litigation on
the provision of quality of care. His articles indicate that lawsuits
have an appropriate place in the process of ensuring quality care,
within reason. Dr. David Stevenson from Harvard has written that
traditional remedies in tort reform may not work in long-term care. I
look forward to hearing both their testimonies at tomorrow's hearing.
As for the Senior Journal's attack overall on
Republicans, I think it is worth noting that under President Bush and
the Republican led Congress, funding for senior citizens programs have
increased by hundreds of billions of dollars.
> The new Medicare prescription drug benefit, which
is in its infancy today, and which will begin full force in 2006,
increases spending on America's Medicare program by over $400 billion
over ten years. That increase is the largest expansion of federal
benefits for America's seniors in nearly forty years.
> The new drug benefit begins with $1,200 for each
low-income senior to help them purchase their prescription medications
during the next eighteen months.
> When the full drug benefit begins in 2006,
approximately one-third of Americas Medicare beneficiaries will qualify
for income-based assistance for prescription medications under the new
Medicare program. Those who qualify will have vastly discounted or
nonexistent premiums and deductibles, and millions of American seniors
will pay just $1 to $3 per prescription.
> Under President Bush and the Republican
leadership in Congress, funding for other senior programs, such as home
delivered meals, has increased $140,000,000 ($140 million) since 2001.
> Under President Bush and the Republican
leadership in Congress, funding for other senior programs, such as home
delivered meals, has increased $140,000,000 ($140 million) since 2001.
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