Michigan United States House of Representatives, District 9

Candidates:

Joe Knollenberg, Republican
Nancy Skinner, Democrat

Questions - SOCIAL SECURITY HEALTH CARE REFORM MEDICARE LONG-TERM CARE RETIREMENT SECURITY

Social Security

A balanced Social Security plan for guaranteed benefits
	Supports	Opposes
AARP
Joe Knollenberg, Republican
Nancy Skinner, Democrat
Using Social Security taxes for private accounts
	Supports	Opposes
AARP
Joe Knollenberg, Republican
Nancy Skinner, Democrat

* If there is no check mark, the candidate was either undecided or chose not to check a box.

Question
Will you support or oppose a balanced Social Security plan to continue the program's guaranteed benefits for future generations? Will you support or oppose using Social Security taxes to fund private accounts?

AARP Response
For 70 years, America's families have relied on the values embodied in Social Security. The program's guaranteed, risk-free benefit protects people from outliving their savings or the loss of a spouse or parent. We all benefit from the shared responsibility of providing for today's beneficiaries, with the knowledge that that same responsibility will be met by future generations for us.

AARP believes that a bipartisan plan that balances additional contributions from higher income workers with modest adjustments in future benefits can maintain guaranteed Social Security benefits for future generations. Private accounts that drain money out of the Social Security Trust Fund would make it harder to strengthen the program and create a mountain of new federal debt for our children and grandchildren.

Candidate Response: Joe Knollenberg, Republican

We must reform Social Security to ensure that the program remains solvent for current and future retirees. With 77 million baby boomers nearing retirement, the current structure of the program is not sustainable. I am opposed to raising the payroll tax or cutting benefits. I believe we can preserve, protect, and strengthen Social Security for generations to come by allowing younger workers to begin investing a portion of their payroll taxes into a private, 401K-style savings plan that they would own and control. But I would oppose any reform effort that cuts benefits for those currently receiving Social Security.

Candidate Response: Nancy Skinner, Democrat

Social Security is an insurance program, not an investment scheme. I strongly support a balanced Social Security plan that will provide a long-term safeguard for this vital program. A July 14th Detroit Free Press editorial says “Knollenberg thinks the only real way to put a dent in the budget would be to cut the major federal entitlement programs -- Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security” I disagree. Since the creation of Social Security in the 1930s, Americans have trusted that their own contributions to the Social Security system would ensure them a retirement worthy of their efforts. This trust should not and can not be broken because of ineffectual management on the part of the federal government. Fiscal irresponsibility is what can’t be maintained.

Health Care Reform

A shared approach to providing health care coverage
	Supports	Opposes
AARP
Joe Knollenberg, Republican
Nancy Skinner, Democrat

* If there is no check mark, the candidate was either undecided or chose not to check a box.

Question
Will you support or oppose a shared approach involving government, employers and individuals, to providing health care coverage for everyone?

AARP Response
In the absence of universal coverage, AARP supports specific reforms that increase the number of people with health care coverage, either through public or private insurance.

More and more Americans, including a growing number of workers, find themselves without health insurance. Increasing health care costs strain businesses large and small, leading them to either stop offering health care coverage all together or raise employee premiums and co-pays. Shifting an ever-larger share of health care costs to individuals does not address the problem of the high cost of health care and threatens the health and financial security of American families.

AARP believes that government, employers and individuals should share the responsibility for paying for health care coverage.

Candidate Response: Joe Knollenberg, Republican

Rising healthcare costs are placing an enormous burden on families and employers in the United States. As a first step, I believe we need to pass comprehensive medical liability reform to end the frivolous lawsuits that are forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine. I also support allowing small businesses to band together to negotiate lower insurance rates for their employees. And I favor expanding medical savings accounts to give the American people more control over the spending of their health care dollars. I am also intrigued by the individual mandate that was the centerpiece of Governor Romney’s universal health care plan in Massachusetts. I believe we can achieve the goal of universal health coverage through market-based reforms, but I am opposed to government-run health care.

Candidate Response: Nancy Skinner, Democrat

Healthcare has become a moral crisis in America for a long time and now it’s causing a crisis in our economic competitiveness. As a Michigan resident, I have seen first-hand the effects of rising health care costs on the automotive industry and seen those consequences played out through layoffs and cutbacks. I offer a new solution to the uninsured. I believe we should allow the government to compete with private health insurers to offer affordable healthcare to America’s uninsured through Medicare. I call it U.S. Choice for Healthcare. It would be completely voluntary, and would allow our government to use its market size to negotiate better prices for drugs and services.

Medicare

Medicare negotiating to lower drug prices
	Supports	Opposes
AARP
Joe Knollenberg, Republican
Nancy Skinner, Democrat
An annual limit on federal Medicare spending
	Supports	Opposes
AARP
Joe Knollenberg, Republican
Nancy Skinner, Democrat

* If there is no check mark, the candidate was either undecided or chose not to check a box.

Question
Will you support or oppose allowing Medicare to use its bargaining power to negotiate lower prices for needed prescription drugs? Will you support or oppose imposing an annual limit on federal Medicare spending?

AARP Response
Medicare Part D is now helping millions of people in Medicare save money on their prescription drugs. But while those with Part D coverage are saving, the actual cost of prescription drugs continues to increase at a rate greater than general inflation. AARP believes that more must be done to bring down soaring drug costs and supports allowing Medicare to use its bargaining power to negotiate lower prescription drugs.

Proposals have been made in Congress to put an annual limit on how much money the federal government spends on the Medicare program. AARP opposes arbitrary limits on Medicare funding.

Candidate Response: Joe Knollenberg, Republican

I am opposed to government initiated price controls that would hinder the ability of the pharmaceutical industry to invest in the research and development of new lifesaving medicines. I voted for the new Medicare prescription drug plan that is reducing the average senior’s prescription drug expenses by nearly 50 percent. This new benefit is helping to ensure that seniors have access to the medicines they need to improve the quality of their lives. I also support reforms to allow lower cost generic drugs to reach the marketplace earlier, but I am opposed to instituting an arbitrary annual limit on federal Medicare spending.

Candidate Response: Nancy Skinner, Democrat

I believe strongly that Medicare should use the power and size of the federal government to help negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs. The current prescription drug program specifically forbids the use of bargaining power. The sad truth is that pharmaceutical companies contributed millions of dollars to the campaign coffers of congressional Republicans and got what they paid for: a boon for drug companies and a boondoggle for seniors. President Bush said the program would cost $400 billion over 10 years when he sought its passage. Shortly after its passage, they changed that estimate to $534 billion and the Medicare Chief, Mark B. McClellan, admitted to the Washington Post on February 9th, 2005 that the plan will actually cost $1.2 trillion in the coming decade.

Long-Term Care

A combined approach to covering long-term care
	Supports	Opposes
AARP
Joe Knollenberg, Republican
Nancy Skinner, Democrat
Requiring individuals to purchase private long-term care insurance
	Supports	Opposes
AARP
Joe Knollenberg, Republican
Nancy Skinner, Democrat

* If there is no check mark, the candidate was either undecided or chose not to check a box.

Question
Will you support or oppose a combined approach that involves government and individuals covering long-term care? Will you support or oppose requiring individuals to buy private long-term care insurance?

AARP Response
Long-term care can be costly for people who do not have family caregivers or need more care than family and friends can provide. Qualifying for Medicaid-the primary public funding source for long-term care-requires either very low assets and income, or depleting almost all assets and income to pay for care. Currently private insurance is either too expensive or unavailable for many people. Approaches that give people cash payments to choose, buy and manage their care, along with counseling to help them make and manage care choices, help maintain dignity and maximize independence.

AARP supports a publicly funded, long-term care cash benefit program-paid for through a combination of government and individual contributions-to give people more control over their own care. AARP opposes requiring individuals to buy private long-term care insurance.

Candidate Response: Joe Knollenberg, Republican

I believe we need to ensure that seniors who need long-term care have access to it without being forced into personal bankruptcy. I am a strong proponent of tax credits to make the purchase of long-term care insurance more affordable. And I have also voted to provide tax credits to individuals who are helping to pay for the long-term care expenses of their elderly parents.

Candidate Response: Nancy Skinner, Democrat

America is aging – and the retirement of the baby boomers presents a major challenge for which we are not prepared. When it comes to long-term care, Americans without family or other means of care should not have to worry about where they can turn for help. The federal government must begin working with states and individuals to developing long-tem care solution. A comprehensive undertaking must begin to ensure that the health and welfare of our seniors is anticipated and accommodated – including a major effort to recruit nurses who are in critically short supply and shrinking as a professional choice for so many. The average age of a nurse is now 50. Planning a national commitment for the care of seniors must be a priority.

Retirement Security

Automatic payroll deduction for IRAs
	Supports	Opposes
AARP
Joe Knollenberg, Republican
Nancy Skinner, Democrat

* If there is no check mark, the candidate was either undecided or chose not to check a box.

Question
Do you support or oppose requiring employers to give workers access to automatic payroll deductions to fund their personal IRAs?

AARP Response
Social Security was never intended to be a worker's only source of retirement income. Even though people know Social Security will not be enough to live on, many find it difficult to save for the future. AARP supports creating and expanding supplemental retirement accounts that enable workers to accumulate retirement savings in addition to Social Security's guaranteed benefits.

AARP supports making saving for retirement simpler and fairer by requiring that employers give workers access to voluntary, automatic payroll deductions to their own IRAs if their employers do not already give them access to a pension or 401(k) plan.

Candidate Response: Joe Knollenberg, Republican

I believe it is imperative that we encourage the American people to set aside more of their money for retirement. I have consistently voted to increase the amount of pre-tax money individuals can invest into their 401Ks and IRAs. While I have some concerns about the costs associated with requiring small businesses to provide an automatic payroll deduction system for IRAs, I believe the importance of increasing our personal savings rate and ensuring that individuals have adequate retirement savings requires the consideration of new ideas.

Candidate Response: Nancy Skinner, Democrat

According to a recent survey, Americans are tied with the Portuguese as the world’s most cash-strapped people, with 22 percent reporting that they have no money left for savings after paying their bills and spending their discretionary dollars. While that number is an improvement from an earlier report, it still shows the difficulty many Americans have in putting aside money for their futures. Any program, especially one as painless as payroll deduction, that makes it easier for individuals to save would be positive. Social security is the safety net for millions of seniors, but the federal government should be helping all Americans to supplement social security by saving for their own retirement.