Monday, July 31, 2023 – Today, Rocky Mountain Values and partners took action across Congressional District 3 - the Colorado district with the highest number of seniors in the state - sending Representative Boebert a clear message: Stop supporting plans to gut Medicare.
Yesterday was the the 58th anniversary of Medicare.
Today, Coloradans in Pueblo, Durango and Grand Junction showed up at every one of Rep. Boebert's district offices to hand deliver this letter.
Residents and organizations representing the voices of hundreds of thousands of Coloradans issued this strong letter detailing Boebert's continuous support for plans to gut Medicare and called on her to stop weakening the program that supports nearly 1 million Coloradans.
Here is what the letter says:
Representative Lauren Boebert,
Since it was signed into law 58 years ago, Medicare has revolutionized healthcare for America’s seniors. It has cut the number of uninsured older Americans to near zero. It has lowered costs, improved the quality of care, and increased life expectancy.
Medicare wasn’t, and isn’t, perfect. Its journey includes reforms made under Democratic and Republican presidents, President Bush, President Obama – and President Biden just last year – to continue to strengthen coverage and lower costs.
As a result, Medicare is a resounding, bipartisan success with nearly 1 million Coloradans enrolled into Medicare today. So why do you, Representative Boebert, support a plan to cut Medicare?
Last year, you supported the Republican Study Committee’s budget to gut Medicare. It may have boosted your political celebrity with the far-right and generated headlines but did nothing to make headway on the critical need to lower healthcare costs for Coloradans in your district.
As leaders and organizations that advocate for older Coloradans, we are asking you to listen to your constituents in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional district – the Colorado district with the highest number of
seniors in the state.
The plan you support to gut Medicare is a disaster. It creates more bureaucracy by turning Medicare into a means-tested voucher program, which would make it harder for seniors to access their benefits. The plan also increases the age of eligibility for Medicare, which would put healthcare coverage out of reach for millions of seniors.
Unfortunately, your harmful record on Medicare doesn’t stop there. You also voted against lowering the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare through the Inflation Reduction Act and falsely claimed this legislation would raise costs. In reality, Coloradans are already seeing lower out-of-pocket costs on dozens of drugs.
Your position was aligned with the biggest drug companies who are now fighting tooth and nail to eliminate this new power for Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, so they are free to raise prices and pass on the cost to Colorado seniors.
The last, and most outrageous, example is your efforts this spring to push the United States towards the first ever default on the national debt and use the threat of economic crisis as a bargaining chip to force harmful cuts to Medicare and other critical programs.
Representative Boebert, you have frittered away your responsibility to protect the healthcare and retirement security that older Coloradans have worked for, earned, and deserve. On the 58th anniversary of Medicare, we call on you to do better for Colorado seniors.
Respectfully submitted,
Coloradans in CD-03 Enrolled in Medicare
AFSCME Retirees Chapter 76
Alliance for Retired Americans Colorado Chapter
Colorado WINS
Laura Packard, cancer survivor and healthcare advocate
Rocky Mountain Values
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