Seniors

Ron began his career as co-founder of Oregon’s Gray Panthers and organizing legal services for the elderly, and has never let up in the fight to protect seniors and promote policies that help seniors live fulfilling, healthy, independent lives.

Medicare

From defending the Medicare guarantee to enacting the “Independence at Home” program to fighting for affordable prescription drugs, Ron is always on the front lines in the fight for our seniors. He led a bipartisan initiative in the Senate to update Medicare so that it can better address chronic conditions like diabetes and Alzheimer’s while providing better care and improving the security of the program.

Under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Ron secured changes to give Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors in Medicare. His legislation will also cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors in Medicare at $2000 a month, and hold Big Pharma accountable for price-gouging seniors at the pharmacy counter.

Social Security

Social Security is the most successful government program in our country’s history and keeps millions of our most vulnerable members of society out of poverty every year. That’s why Ron has spent his career fighting efforts to privatize or dismantle Social Security and is committed to strengthening and protecting the program for future generations.

Because women earn only 78 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earn and they are more likely to be out of the workforce or to have breaks in employment, their savings often lag behind, making Social Security all the more critical. Ron is currently exploring proposals to close the gender gap in retirement income.