Health Care

Strengthening Medicare and Medicaid

More than forty years ago, Congress took action to provide a healthcare safety net for one of our most vulnerable populations, our seniors, by creating Medicare. Since coming to the U.S. Senate, Jay Rockefeller has fought to ensure that the Medicare Trust Fund continues to have the money it needs to meet that promise of health care for our seniors. He's led the charge against misguided attempts to raise Medicare Part B premiums so that seniors don't have to choose between prescription drugs, food, and housing.

And long before it was enacted into law, Senator Rockefeller supported the creation of a Medicare prescription drug benefit. While he's been critical of the troubled law that finally established this benefit, he's working to make sure life-saving medications are more affordable by supporting legislation that would give the government authority to negotiate deep discounts on prescription drugs for seniors, similar to what the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is able to do with our nation's veterans. Rockefeller has also authored legislation that would make it easier for generic prescription drugs to enter the market, providing greater access to lower-cost medications. And, Rockefeller has supported efforts to eliminate the so-called "doughnut hole" gap in coverage that forces seniors to pay full price for their medications for several months. He has also advocated for the importation of safe, cheaper drugs from Canada and other countries.

Along with preserving Medicare, Senator Rockefeller has demonstrated national leadership on Medicaid. He put together a bipartisan coalition that was successful in getting billions of dollars to cash-strapped states to continue providing Medicaid coverage. Recently, when some suggested reducing federal funding for Medicaid, threatening the health care of more than 392,000 West Virginians, Senator Rockefeller succeeded in restoring most of the funding for the program.