Florida: U.S. House of Representatives, 17th District

Candidates

Kendrick Meek, Democrat

Issues: Prescription Drugs | Social Security | Health Care |

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Question

Many people with Medicare lack adequate coverage for prescription drugs and face skyrocketing costs. What solution do you support to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for their drugs?

AARP Response

AARP believes an acceptable Medicare drug benefit needs to meet the following tests:

First, the benefit must offer real value at an affordable price. The monthly premium should be less than $35. The beneficiary’s deductible and co-payments should be reasonable and affordable, (e.g. a deductible no greater than $250). There should be no gaps in coverage, leaving persons to pay 100% of high out-of-pocket costs.

Second, the benefit should be available to all Medicare beneficiaries on a voluntary basis. No one should be forced into the program. But no one should also be denied access to a Medicare drug benefit because of where they live, how sick they might be, or how much or how little income they have.

Third, the plan must help bring down soaring drug costs.

Fourth, the plan must include additional help for low-income persons.

Issue	Yes	No	Unclear
Creates an affordable monthly premium
Supports a fair deductible and co-payment
Provides no gaps in coverage

Candidate Response: Kendrick Meek

The need today for prescription drug benefits is every bit as great as the original need for Medicare that led to its creation in 1965.I believed at the time of its passage that President Bush’s $1.3 trillion tax cut was terribly unwise, and it has proven to be even more ill-advised with time. It did nothing to stimulate the faltering economy and severely limited our options provide comprehensive prescription drug benefits under Medicare and to pay down the national debt.It is unclear as of this date whether or not some sort of limited prescription drug plan can still be enacted by Congress this year. If I am elected, I will use all the tools of my office working for the fairest and most comprehensive plan possible.

Question

Do you support or oppose replacing part of Social Security with individual accounts?

AARP Response

AARP strongly opposes replacing ANY part of Social Security with individual accounts. Social Security is not in crisis. Without any changes in current law, Social Security can pay 100% of benefits until 2041. But individual accounts funded with Social Security dollars mean Social Security would face financial problems sooner.

"Personal control" sounds appealing. But substituting private accounts, even for part of Social Security, drains money from Social Security, which means less money to pay guaranteed benefits.

Creating these private accounts requires trading today’s inflation-protected lifetime guaranteed benefit for an account subject to market risk and not guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Inflation, market turns, or sudden loss of employment can also mean that your private account may not have enough money to provide an adequate benefit. AARP supports options that help Americans save for their retirement through individual accounts on top of Social Security; but opposes replacing any part of Social Security’s guaranteed benefit.

Issue	Yes	No	Unclear
Creates individual accounts out of Social Security
Position means less money for guaranteed benefits
Position guarantees benefits for your lifetime

Candidate Response: Kendrick Meek

While I strongly support Individual Retirement Accounts, 401-k’s and other tax provisions to help people prepare for comfortable and secure retirements, I oppose converting all or part of Social Security to individual accounts.Social Security was designed as a collective, societal compact between workers and dependents, employers and the government to provide a basic level of retirement income to virtually all of the nation’s retirees. The system has performed this function well over the years, and we should preserve its basic structure as the baby boomers retire.The recent crash in the stock market demonstrates the great risk of President Bush’s proposals to allow the purchase of stocks with Social Security Funds and underscores the great importance of a retirement income source upon which every American can depend.

Question

In the face of escalating costs, how would you reform the health care system to make it available, affordable and accessible for every American?

AARP Response

AARP supports measures to achieve access to affordable health care coverage for all individuals, an approach that would address the needs of those without public or private insurance or those at risk of losing coverage.

In the absence of universal coverage, AARP supports incremental reforms specifically targeted to particular populations that significantly improve coverage options for those without public or private insurance or those at risk for losing coverage.

These reforms include:

• Opening existing public programs (e.g. Medicaid) to new categories of people who are uninsured;
  
  
• Inducing employers to offer coverage;
  
  
• Subsidizing the cost of private coverage for those who are uninsured, underinsured, or at risk of losing coverage;
  
  
• Expanding the continuation of group health care coverage at group rates to persons whose access is ending (e.g. expanding COBRA coverage).
  
  

Issue	Yes	No	Unclear
Supports health care for all Americans
Proposes steps to cover more people

Candidate Response: Kendrick Meek

An estimated 38 million Americans-primarily children and low-income households- have no health care coverage whatsoever. Some focus on what it will cost to provide this coverage; I look instead at what it costs our nation because we don’t have universal health care.America works best when we all work together to achieve our goals. In the past, some segments of our society have joined to defeat proposals to expand the accessibility of basic, quality health care to the poor. I am hopeful that we can get beyond this parochialism and expand community health centers, preventive medicine, Medicaid and private health insurance options so that no person will have to bear pain or ignore symptoms because that is the only option available to them.