Delgado Successfully Amends SHIELD Act to Combat Foreign Efforts to Suppress Rural Voter Turnout

Thank you, Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of seniors in upstate New York. This August, I joined a forum with AARP in New Paltz on the need to address the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs in our communities. I heard harrowing stories from seniors, many of whom are on fixed income who have seen the medication they rely on triple in price. The system is working against our seniors. Right now, qualified covered retirement accounts are included in determining income and eligibility under the Medicare Part D Low-income Subsidy program, and this means seniors must choose between saving for retirement and life-saving medication. Saving for retirement shouldn't jeopardize how low-income subsidies for Medicare Part D beneficiaries are distributed. That's why I joined my colleagues introducing HR 4655, the Enhancing Retirement Security for Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2019 to remove retirement accounts from that determination and lower out-of-pocket cost for our seniors, I urge my colleagues to support HR 4655.