Health Care

I was raised by my elders, my grandmother, my mother, and aunts for a good portion of my life, viewing their hard work firsthand. Our seniors have paved the way for us and have worked hard to ensure that our economy is strong; although we’ve let them down with how our economy is today. We need to ensure that they are taken care of and enjoy the fruits of their past labor. I have always worked at the local level to improve benefits for seniors, which included presenting a Senior Homestead Exemption. The initiative was passed in 1998, but in 2007, a community of leaders and I provided senior citizens with an additional $50,000 exemption if they earn less than $30,000 a year. Moreover, as we continued to advocate for seniors, we secured an additional $25,000 exemption if a senior citizen has lived in their home for more than 25 years.

Congress has however adjusted this initiative due to recent increases in type B Medicare and Medicaid premiums. This significant move has so far affected “more than 12 million Americans who depend on dual Medicaid and Medicare service”, according to Medicaid.gov. Moreover, Medicaid.gov also adds that of that number, 7.2 million are low-income seniors, while 4.8 million are disabled Medicare beneficiaries. Florida’s population has a ratio of 1 in 5 Floridians being aged 65+. The new congressional reductions in Medicare and Medicaid will have a significant impact on this state and our hard fought seniors.

The Dale Holness Healthcare plan will seek to amend the new Medicare and Medicaid provisions recently created under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”. These provisions have made it exceptionally more difficult for those who need these services. More specifically, the Medicaid provisions that will be amended within this new bill includes:

• Removing the extensive work requirement that includes beneficiaries needing
  to work 80 hrs.
• Returning renewal schedule of benefits, currently from six months to a full
  year.
• Returning the Reduced Retroactive coverage back from 30 days to 90 days.
• Using the Holness Immigration Modernization Plan.
• Helping with Medicaid financing.

Whereas, the Big Beautiful bill includes harmful initiatives and Medicare provisions which include:

• A 2.5% increase in Medicare Physician Coverage.
• A portion of non-citizens, for instance; some refugees and asylum recipients, will have their Medicare eligibility removed after a transition period.
• Drug negotiations exclusions.

These aspects of the bill surrounding social security premiums are not what our community needs. As your Congressman, I’ll put in place suggestive legislation that allows our social security system to make sense. Equal opportunity healthcare access for all.