Dear [salutation],
Our communities have always been at their strongest when everyone has access to the tools they need to be healthy. For the past 56 years, Medicare has been among the most effective and popular of those tools.
Medicare has been a critical lifeline for millions of Americans—putting essential coverage and care within reach at an important time in life. But while Medicare has helped us make major strides in the number of Americans who have health coverage, we still have more work ahead of us to make this program as effective and inclusive as possible. While we continue that fight for a Medicare for All system, we also need to expand the care Medicare provides to include key benefits, like dental, hearing, and vision—each of which are crucial to seniors’ independence, overall health, and quality of life.
Right now, astronomical costs and a lack of Medicare coverage of these health care fundamentals mean 75 percent of seniors who suffer from hearing loss do not have a hearing aid, and 65 percent of seniors have no dental insurance. And those unacceptable realities are impacting people of color and low-income Americans the hardest.
That’s why my colleagues and I on the Ways and Means Committee have worked this month to advance legislation to add these essential services to Medicare—and why I’m going to keep fighting to get this essential Medicare expansion across the finish line.
This work couldn’t come at a more important time, as we continue to recover from the economic fallout of a pandemic that cost over one million Medicare-eligible Americans their jobs, many of which provided them with care. So let’s strengthen a proven program that can provide better, more affordable care for all people, and make strides toward a healthier future. Being able to see, hear, and be free from dental pain is key to the physical and mental health of our seniors.
