Democratic lawmaker cautions about impending ‘gray tsunami’ that would affect Medicare benefits

In a Tuesday morning event, Representative Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) addressed the issue of the aging population in the United States and its potential impact on Medicare. Sánchez referred to the increasing number of Americans over 65 years old as a “gray tsunami” during The Hill’s event on Alzheimer’s care, sponsored by Otsuka. The Hill’s editor in chief, Bob Cusack, moderated the event.

Medicare, despite accounting for just under 16% of the federal budget, is at risk of destabilization due to the aging demographic in the country. Sánchez emphasized the need for bipartisan support to ensure the continuation of these programs for the next century. “We have to find bipartisan support for tough decisions on how do we ensure that these programs that have existed for 50 years continue to exist for the next 100 years,” said Sánchez.

Having witnessed both her parents affected by Alzheimer’s, Sánchez has a heightened awareness of the growing population of elderly individuals and the subsequent increase in Alzheimer’s diagnoses. This will place additional strain on resources like Medicare. To address this, Sánchez has introduced the CHANGE Act, which aims to modify Medicare requirements for Alzheimer’s care, enabling patients to receive earlier diagnosis and treatment. The bill is scheduled for reintroduction on Wednesday.

Furthermore, Sánchez emphasized that the “gray tsunami” presents another issue. The United States’ birth rate is not reaching replacement levels, meaning there aren’t enough births to replace the aging workforce. To mitigate this, she proposed immigration policy reform as a potential solution. “We’re going to need workers, and our birth rate doesn’t support that. It’s going to have to be immigration,” said Sánchez. She also highlighted the youthfulness of the U.S. Latino population as a valuable resource in addressing the workforce shortage.

Representative Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) presented a different approach to preserving Medicare by advocating for limiting federal spending. Buchanan has consistently aimed to balance the federal budget and has proposed a constitutional amendment in multiple Congresses since 2007, which restricts federal expenditures exceeding the fiscal year’s receipts unless approved by Congress. When asked how Congress can help solve the impending Medicare issue, Buchanan replied, “Without dealing with entitlements on a bipartisan basis, I don’t know where this goes, but it’s not going to end well.”

Entitlement programs, accounting for nearly half of the federal budget, have become a contentious topic between Democrats and Republicans amidst the recent debt ceiling controversy. Buchanan’s remarks on entitlement programs coincide with some GOP members of Congress threatening to withhold support for appropriation bills containing federal spending provisions that mirror the debt ceiling agreement.

Sánchez briefly mentioned this year’s appropriations bills and expressed her anticipation for finding ways to incorporate funding for the CHANGE Act into Congress’s federal spending plan. “We’ll look at any potential vehicle,” Sánchez said. “The goal is to get it into something that can move.”

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