April 28, 2020
The Honorable Senator Casey
393 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Debbie Dingell
116 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Senator Casey and Representative Dingell:
On behalf of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare’s millions of members and supporters, I write to endorse your legislation S. 3544 and H.R. 6305, the Coronavirus Relief for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act.
Congress has taken important steps to bolster the health care delivery system and provide economic relief in its first three coronavirus relief packages. While we applaud Congress for its efforts, more still needs to be done.
During the pandemic, it is vitally important that seniors stay safe in their homes. This requires a robust home care workforce to provide services to seniors at home. Your bill addresses this priority by significantly bolstering funding for home and community-based services including improving rates for homecare workers and funding sick leave. In addition, S. 3544 and H.R. 6305 would streamline processes so that more low-income beneficiaries would get assistance with their Medicare premiums and cost sharing through the Medicare Savings Program.
At a time when seniors are cut off from many community services, they must be supported economically so they are able to meet their needs while homebound. For these reasons, the National Committee strongly endorses S. 3544 and H.R. 6305. Thank you for your leadership on these important issues.
Sincerely,
Max Richtman
President and CEO