Sen. Bill Nelson announced today that he will be voting against the nomination of Rep. Tom Price to head the Dept. of Health and Human Services.
“Seniors can’t take a chance on Congressman Price as their HHS secretary by virtue of what he’s already said and what his record is in the Congress,” Nelson said on the Senate floor this afternoon. “His plan would give seniors a fixed dollar amount – that’s the voucher – to buy insurance. That, most every economist would tell you, would mean higher monthly premiums. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, turning Medicare into a voucher program would cause seniors to pay 11% more out of their pocket. Is that what you want to do to our senior citizens? I don’t think so …
“The congressman also supports – get this – raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67 forcing seniors to wait for benefits they earned during their working years …
“Our country deserves an HHS secretary who will uphold those promises, not inflict deep cuts that alter the financial security Medicare provides Americans in their later years. And so for these reasons and others, sometime in this next 11 and a half hours when we vote, I’m going to vote no on this nominee. There’s too much at stake for our seniors to give this nominee the control over these programs.”
Here’s a link to watch the above excerpts of Nelson’s remarks: https://youtu.be/urgyVhug90w