Exclusive: Bernie Sanders details plan to support American seniors ahead of Iowa appearance

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders detailed his plan to aid American seniors Friday, arguing that expanding Social Security and enacting his signature "Medicare for All" health care proposal are critical to providing necessary services.

"We have got to recognize that, as a nation, millions of senior citizens in this country are hurting," Sanders told the Des Moines Register in an interview. "We are the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and millions of older people should not have to struggle every single day to take care of their basic needs."

The senator from Vermont and 2020 presidential candidate shared details of his plan with the Register ahead of his scheduled appearance at a Saturday afternoon forum sponsored by the Register and the AARP in Council Bluffs. It is the last of five such forums attended by 17 Democrats running for president.

Sanders' Medicare for All plan would be phased in over four years to cover all Americans, and it would eliminate private health insurance.

Sanders said his Medicare for All proposal would lower the price of prescription drugs by requiring the federal program to negotiate drug prices and allowing patients, pharmacists and wholesalers to purchase lower-cost drugs from Canada and other countries. After that, the plan would cap out-of-pocket drug costs for consumers at $200 annually.

The expanded Medicare program also would add coverage for things such as dental care, hearing aids, vision exams and podiatry as well as home and community-based long-term care services.

Former Vice President Joe Biden spoke at one of the AARP forums earlier in the week and argued that Medicare for All would weaken the current health care program upon which millions of seniors depend.

Sanders said that was "just not accurate" and hoped to use Saturday's AARP/Register forum to make his case.

"I want Iowans and especially seniors to understand that under our proposal, we expand Social Security benefits in areas that they desperately need," he said.

To pay for an expansion of those Social Security benefits, Sanders supports lifting the payroll tax cap.

Currently, American workers pay a tax on wages up to $132,900 a year, and those taxes fund the Social Security program. That means someone earning millions of dollars a year in wages pays the same amount of money into the program as someone who makes far less, Sanders said. Sanders said the tax should be collected on all income over $250,000.

With that money, Sanders said he would support a benefit increase of $1,300 a year to seniors with incomes of $16,000 a year or less. He also called for increasing benefits paid to low-income workers when they retire and establishing a "Consumer Price Index for the Elderly" to ensure cost-of-living increases that keep pace with the products seniors use most.

He said he would "make no apology" for raising taxes if it means expanding Social Security benefits.

“We live in a society where the very rich are doing phenomenally well," he said. "Trump, despite that reality, has given over a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the top one percent and to large profitable corporations. ... Instead of giving huge tax breaks to billionaires, we demand that they start paying their fair share of taxes."

Sanders' plan also calls for:

• Quadrupling funding for the Older Americans Act, which supports services such as home-delivered meals, and creating a new office within the Administration for Community Living to address social isolation among seniors
• Signing an executive order to put a moratorium on future pension cuts and reverse cuts that have already been made
• Expanding heating and cooling assistance through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
• Expanding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, as well as the Meals on Wheels program
• Cracking down on scams and predatory financial practices that target seniors

In addition to attending the AARP/Register forum, Sanders plans to attend a senior issues roundtable in Council Bluffs on Saturday and have coffee with union workers and retirees in Ottumwa on Sunday.