"As chairman, my overall goal is to help alleviate some of the anxiety older Americans feel about their security and quality of life. Under my leadership, this committee will focus on the problems facing seniors and will consider positive solutions to help improve the lives of our older citizens," Grassley said.
Specifically, Grassley said he intends to pursue improved access to health care in rural areas, review long-term care insurance and work aggressively to curb health care fraud. He said he plans to encourage private savings for retirement and provide fair treatment across geographic areas, including Iowa, with the Medicare reimbursement rate. He also will conduct oversight of the Social Security Administration.
Looking ahead, Grassley intends to examine the managed care programs made available to Medicare recipients. On behalf of older Americans, he wants to ensure all relevant information about managed care programs is available to beneficiaries and that Medicare benefit packages are fair and equal for older Americans regardless of where they live. Grassley said he will work to save and strengthen Medicare for those who depend upon the program today, as well as for those who will need it in the near future. He said he will review the problems for public retirement programs posed by the impending Baby Boomer retirement beginning in 2010.
In 1986, Grassley won passage of qui tam amendments to the False Claims Act to combat contracting fraud against taxpayers. In 10 years, the law has recovered $1.13 billion for taxpayers. An effective weapon against defense fraud in the 1980s, the law is fast-becoming a powerful weapon against health care fraud. In 1992, one of America's largest medical companies agreed to pay the government $110 million to settle a lawsuit for unnecessary medical tests billed to Medicaid and Medicare. The law enables private citizens to come forward and work with the government to expose federally-funded contract fraud.
The Aging Committee does not have legislative authority or jurisdiction. However, Grassley said that as Aging Committee Chairman, he can champion the concerns of the elderly in a legislative capacity through his senior position on the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana, who will serve as the senior Democratic senator on the Aging Committee, also holds a Finance Committee seat.
Grassley was a charter member of the Aging Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served from 1975-1981. He has participated as an active member of the Senate Aging Committee since 1981.
In Iowa, the number of elderly citizens is 425,000, or about 15 percent of the total population. That's the third highest concentration of the elderly in the nation. Iowa also is home to the greatest percentage nationwide of citizens aged 85 or older.