Do Health Care Costs Burden Seniors?

Medicare Part D, introduced in 2006 to cover prescription drugs, helped reduce seniors’ out-of-pocket costs. The majority of older adults devoted less than one-eighth of their incomes to health care in 2006. However, nearly half of low-income seniors spent more than 20 percent of their 2006 incomes on health care. Read more

Boosting Social Security for Low-Income Beneficiaries

Senior researcher Melissa Favreault argued before the Senate Special Committee on Aging that Congress should increase benefits for long-term, low-wage workers. She also points out what can be learned from past efforts to address Social Security’s long-term financing problems.