Henry Cuellar for Congress | Proven Leadership for Texas

Supporting Seniors, Protecting Medicare

For more than 40 years, Medicare has offered critical health care and financial stability for our nation’s seniors. Over 45 million seniors received Medicare coverage in 2009 and the health care reform passed by Congress and signed into law this year will safeguard, strengthen and improve Medicare. Most importantly, health care reform ensures long-term sustainability for the nation's Medicare system and stability for those millions of seniors who rely on the critical health care services it provides. 

Safeguarding Social Security 

Congressman Cuellar believes Congress has a critical responsibility to safeguard and protect the Social Security system. This program provides critical financial assistance to our nation's seniors and Congressman Cuellar believes in sustaining and strengthening this program to ensure our nation's younger generations can rely on the promise that Social Security today provides for millions of the nation's seniors. Retirement security is one of Congressman Cuellar's top priorities in Congress and by bring fiscal reform to the federal government we can ensure the long term sustainability of Social Security. Congressman Cuellar will continue to protect the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund. 

Strengthening Medicare 

Health Care Reform strengthens and protects Medicare for the future by making one of the single most largest investments in Medicare's future. This year, Congress made a critical investment in the future of Medicare by extending its solvency by nine years to 2026. By passing these meaningful reforms, Congressman Cuellar helped ensure millions of seniors and early retirees can rely on Medicare in the future. 

Congressman Cuellar supported health care reform because it improves Medicare for seniors by providing free preventive and wellness care, closed the Medicare Part D "donut hole" for our nations seniors by 2020, requires drug manufacturers to provide a 50 percent discount on brand name prescription drugs, eliminates out of pocket expenses for preventive care in Medicare, requires Medicare Advantage plans spend 85 percent of revenue on providing health care and improves low-income Medicare programs by eliminating many cost-sharing elements for seniors enrolled in these programs. 

State Action to Support Seniors

When Congressman Cuellar was a State Representative and Texas Secretary of State, he took bold action to support Texas' seniors by delivering the largest back-to-back tax cuts in the history of Texas, providing a new Texas Taxpayer’s Appraisal Bill of Rights that limited appraisal tax increases and simplified tax appeals, reformed mass appraisals and provided portability of senior tax freezes, established a Patient’s Bill of Rights to allow patients to obtain the appropriate and medically necessary health care raised the Medicaid income eligibility cap for nursing home services, streamlined the state’s programs for long-term care to better serve the needs of the elderly who depend on these programs, required state agencies that serve the needs of the elderly to inform their clients about other community services that might be of assistance to them, supported more funding to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) to help seniors with affordable housing programs such as the Home Investment Partnership Program, Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, the House Payment Assistance Program and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help seniors buy, weatherize and provide assistance with high energy costs and co-sponsored legislation to cut the sales tax on over-the-counter medicines to help seniors afford medicines.

Endorsements from Senior Groups 

Henry Cuellar’s advocacy for senior citizens in providing funding and legislation has been recognized by the Texas Association of Community Health Centers as “State Legislator of the Year,” the Living Nursing Centers of America for “Outstanding Contributions and Efforts,” the Association of American Retired Persons (AARP) for “Dedication and Commitment to Seniors” Award, Retama South Nursing Center for “Commitment to Long-Term Care” Award, the Retama West Nursing Center’s “Recognition of Service to Nursing Homes,” the Texas Public Accountability Coalition, “Grade A for Legislative work on Important Issues affecting the Elderly,” the ARA Living Center’s several awards for “Outstanding Volunteer Service for Seniors,” and the Young Lawyers Association-“Recognition for providing Legal Services to Senior Citizens.”