CRIST ACTION PLAN FOR FLORIDA SENIORS

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Charlie Crist believes seniors play an essential role in communities throughout Florida and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Charlie is committed to fighting for affordable health care; lowering the costs of prescription drugs; safe, comfortable, and accessible housing; preserving Social Security and Medicare; and expanding opportunities for seniors to remain active in their communities.

As governor, Charlie will continue to fight for seniors like he has his entire career. The Crist Administration will be ready on day one to:

• Expand Medicaid
• Lower prescription drugs costs
• Support safe and comfortable living
• Support Floridians with disabilities
• Make sure Florida state employees get the retirement they earned
• Roll back Tallahassee’s misguided voter suppression law and make it easier to vote

Charlie’s commitment to supporting Florida’s seniors runs deep. As governor, he created the ‘’Florida Discount Drug Card’’ that helped thousands of Floridians save upwards of $6 million at thousands of pharmacies across the state. In Congress, Charlie has continued to work for seniors. He’s fought to give Medicare the authority to negotiate cheaper prices with drug companies, and for lowering the price of insulin to $10 a month.

Charlie has blocked proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and made sure seniors were included in stimulus payments. Charlie has fought to help seniors remain in their homes safely and is leading the charge to protect seniors and persons with disabilities from guardianship fraud and abuse. Charlie has called for inspections for aging condo buildings and continues to work to provide affordable options for costly condo special assessments for seniors on fixed incomes.

As our next governor, Charlie will honor the “Golden Rule,” and fight for what’s right for Florida’s seniors. He’s done it before, and he’ll do it again.

POLICY PROPOSALS

Expand Medicaid

• Charlie will fight for Medicaid expansion because Floridians shouldn’t have to worry about going bankrupt when they’re sick. He knows that expansion will save lives, keep tax dollars at home, create jobs, grow the economy, keep rural hospitals open, help more Floridians get the care they need, and enable the state to clear the waiting lists for home and community-based care.
• As governor, Charlie will veto any budget that does not expand Medicaid.
• The Crist Administration will use the additional Medicaid expansion dollars to fully fund senior services, including home care and Meals on Wheels.

Lower Prescription Drug Costs

• Charlie will take on the big pharmaceutical companies gouging Floridians. In Congress, Charlie is fighting to allow Medicare to negotiate for cheaper prescription drugs, and he’ll take that fight to the Governor’s office on behalf of Floridians.
• Charlie will fight for an independent prescription drug affordability board that will work to improve public health, reduce the price of health expenditures while ensuring care is not compromised, better the patient experience, recruit and retain quality health-care professionals, and set target and maximum prices for prescription drugs. This board would be able to request information from drug manufacturers justifying their prices, review medication costs, and set ceilings for costs.
• As governor, Charlie would provide Medicaid insulin pricing for every Floridian who needs insulin. Taxpayers won’t pay a dime. Drug companies will.
• Charlie will ensure Floridians can finally import cheaper prescription medicines from Canada.
• Charlie will work toward the creation of an online tool for consumers to compare prices of similar drugs.

Empower Seniors to Live Safely and Comfortably

• Charlie supports expanding opportunities for seniors who wish to live in their own homes safely, independently, and comfortably. As governor, Charlie will allow Florida’s Medicaid program to pay for home renovations like wheelchair ramps or lifts, grab bars, wider doorways, and no-step bathing that will keep low-income seniors safe and out of the hospital or nursing home unnecessarily. This will make homes safer and save taxpayer dollars.
• As governor, Charlie will restore his “Operation Spot Check” to ensure that all nursing home regulations are being enforced, including COVID-19 protocols and requirements for post-hurricane power supplies. He will hold nursing home owners accountable for having all staff up to date on COVID vaccines and push to get all residents boosted.
• Charlie will roll back Tallahassee’s misguided voter suppression law and make it easier to vote by mail. He’ll make sure all legal votes are counted and will give voters the ability to fix ballots that have been rejected for issues such as signature match and change of address.
• In Congress, Charlie wrote a new law, the Building Age-Friendly Communities Act, to shine a light on what seniors need to enjoy growing older in their own homes and the importance of social interactions and getting out in the community.
• He also wrote the Senior Accessible Housing Act, which would cover the cost of senior home modifications up to $30,000 over a lifetime.
• Charlie will fight to make critical safety assessments more affordable for seniors in aging condo buildings and will support construction of affordable senior housing units.

Support Seniors With Disabilities

• As governor, Charlie will increase inclusion, accessibility and individual approaches. Charlie will include people with disabilities in development of disability policy and will enforce our civil rights laws. He’ll work to increase pay for care workers and require paid sick leave.
• Charlie will deliver needed home-based services and long-term support. Charlie will expand access to assistive technologies and adapted housing and transportation. Charlie will crack down on abusive and unnecessary guardianships in favor of an informed decision-making model.

Support Care Workers

• When care workers have to come in sick because they can’t afford to take time off, it endangers themselves, their colleagues and the seniors they are caring for every day. Charlie will propose paid sick days for care workers. If your job is caring for seniors, you shouldn’t come to work sick.
• Charlie voted for billions of dollars in the Build Back Better Act to raise wages for workers who care for seniors under Medicaid.
• In a Florida for All, Charlie believes that every elderly Floridian and their family should be able to get the home care they need at a price they can afford. Charlie will allow Medicaid to pay for home modifications that keep low-income seniors safe and out of the hospital or nursing home.

Ensuring State Employees Get The Retirement They Earned

• Florida seniors represent 30% of the state’s population, and many of them have earned their monthly check from the Florida Retirement System. After years of hard work and service to our state, they deserve to be treated fairly.
• At a time when prices are up, it’s not fair to let inflation continuously eat up the hard-earned retirement benefits for firefighters, teachers, or police officers who spent their career serving our state. As governor, Charlie will restore cost-of-living adjustments for retired state workers.
• Charlie will improve the retiree health subsidy, so the benefits that retirees earned will keep up with rising costs. With Medicare premiums going up $22 per month in 2022 alone, the Health Insurance Subsidy should keep pace.