MANCHESTER, N.H. – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and other local activists at the Cashin Senior Center on Monday; expressing her desire to continue protecting Medicare and Social Security if re-elected as well as attacking her Republican opponent on that subject.
Hassan emphasized opposition from pharmaceutical lobbyists in her efforts to protect and strengthen the two programs used by millions of American senior citizens, asserting that portions of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act will save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.
“The law we passed will not only put money back in the pockets of seniors, but will also help bring down drug prices for all Americans across the board,” said Hassan.
Craig praised Hassan for her efforts on that bill and others, focusing on Hassan’s reputation for bipartisanship.
“(Hassan) knows how to bring leaders from both parties together to get results and ensure that seniors have the care and support that they need,” said Craig.
The mayor also attacked Republican U.S. Senate nominee Don Bolduc for his comments regarding the privatization of Medicare and dissolution of social security, stating that it would harm the 15,000 Manchester residents who rely on social security.
Hassan also attacked Bolduc, building on recent comments attributed to Bolduc that his efforts to reform both programs would ultimately destroy them, leaving 300,000 elderly Granite Staters with difficult choices regarding health insurance and economic security. She also attacked Bolduc on efforts to walk back such comments now that he has won the Republican nomination.
“Let’s be clear, people work their entire lives for their social security, they pay into it with every paycheck, they depend on it to retire with security,” said Hassan. “That money is not Don Bolduc’s to take, that money was earned by every Granite Stater who spent their lives working hard and paying into it. If Don Bolduc had his way, our country would be a place where seniors are left to fend for themselves and where our parents and grandparents don’t get the care that they need.”
While Hassan expressed satisfaction with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, she said more work needs to be done, stating that she would pursue an insulin price cap for private insurance plans comparable to the one put in place for Medicare recipients that was put within the Inflation Reduction Act as one example.