I am working hard to strengthen Medicare, protect Social Security, and advocate for other critical resources like nutrition assistance for seniors in Northwest Washington and across the country.
Accomplishments & Priorities
Strengthening Social Security
Washington state seniors have spent a lifetime contributing to Social Security and are entitled to the benefits they have earned.
- I support extending the long-term solvency of Social Security by increasing the amount wealthy individuals contribute to the system and oppose efforts to privatize the program.
- I also support proposals that make the benefit formula more generous, use cost-of-living formulas that consider the expenses of seniors’ purchases, and preserve Social Security for the future by scrapping the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes.
- I consistently request the highest possible funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA), ensuring it will have the staffing levels and resources necessary to reduce delays and serve Social Security beneficiaries.
- I voted for and supported the Social Security Fairness Act (signed into law January 5, 2025), which eliminated provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for people who work in public sector jobs, including teachers, law enforcement officers, and firefighters.
Medicare
Tens of thousands of seniors in Northwest Washington depend on Medicare as their only source of health coverage. I believe Medicare beneficiaries deserve the best treatments possible. To that end, I supported measures in the Affordable Care Ac (ACA) to strengthen Medicare and improve its long-term viability. I also support cracking down on Medicare fraud, which helps keep Medicare sustainable and returns taxpayer dollars to their rightful purpose.
- I voted for the Inflation Reduction Act (signed into law August 16, 2022) which allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the first time in the nation’s history. The bill also capped annual out-of-pocket costs at $2000, capped the monthly cost of insulin at $35 and expanded access to cost-free vaccinations.
- I supported legislation to expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing services.
- I cosponsored legislation to permanently expand Medicare’s telehealth services.
- I cosponsored Rep. Suzan DelBene’s Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act to streamline Medicare Advantage’s prior authorization process.
Fighting Back Against the Trump Administration
President Trump and Republicans in Congress have created a health care crisis with the Big Ugly Law (BUL). I voted NO on the BUL, which cuts roughly $1.1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA – $911 billion of which is from Medicaid – all to pay for a tax break for the richest Americans and biggest corporations. The BUL has sent health care costs skyrocketing and will rip health care away from tens of thousands of people in Northwest Washington in the coming years.
- I am cosponsoring legislation to reverse all the health care cuts in the Republicans’ Big Ugly Law – the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act.
- I introduced legislation to repeal one of the five biggest Medicaid cuts in Big Ugly Law – the Patients Over Paperwork Act.
- I support legislation to block individuals like Elon Musk from accessing the Social Security beneficiary system to obtain personally identifiable information – the Protecting Americans’ Social Security Data Act.
- I support legislation to impose a moratorium on office closures for the remainder of Trump’s term in office – the Support the Keeping Our Field Offices Open Act.
- I introduced legislation with Rep. Suzan DelBene to protect seniors from new red tape the Trump administration is implementing in traditional Medicare.
Nutrition for Seniors
- I consistently request robust funding for Meals on Wheels, which serves millions of home-delivered meals to seniors across Washington state.
- I consistently advocate for increased funding for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which provides free monthly food packages to low-income adults that are 60 years or older.
