Source: United States Senator for Oklahoma James Lankford
02.04.22
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) received the Lawmaker of the Month award from 60 Plus, the American Association of Senior Citizens, which is a nonpartisan organization working for the benefit of Senior Adults by supporting the repeal of the death tax, saving Social Security and Medicare, affordable prescription drugs, lowering energy costs, and other issues for seniors including less government, fewer taxes, and strict adherence to the Constitution.
“I am grateful our nation’s seniors have groups like 60 Plus looking out for what’s in their best interest and tracking issues that matter to them,” said Lankford. “Our seniors are active and essential in our communities, but they also face unique financial and health challenges. I have worked for the past two years to protect seniors from the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, but I have worked for years to help senior adults by addressing the lagging service by the Social Security Administration and the Office of Personnel Management for those nearing retirement. I continue to work to address skyrocketing drug prices, rising inflation that hits those on a fixed income hardest, and increasing energy costs that make it hard to plan for the future. Our seniors are also watching what we do about China, protecting our military, protecting freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and so much more. We absolutely cannot forget about our nation’s seniors, and I will continue to do everything I can for them to ensure we faithfully serve them.”
Presenting the award on Capitol Hill, 60 Plus Founder and Chairman Jim Martin called Lankford “a tireless worker for the elderly who can be counted on to protect Social Security and Medicare.”
“Senator Lankford fights to protect the pocketbooks of seniors and to end wasteful spending of our tax dollars. He agrees with 60 Plus that seniors have to live within their means and so should our government.” Martin said.
“The Senator is a legislator who reveres our Constitution and he’s a strong supporter of our military men and women in uniform as well as our policemen and women who protect us here at home.” Martin stressed that in his opinion seniors have no finer friend on Capitol Hill than US Senator James Lankford.
In January, Lankford, a member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee with jurisdiction over the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), celebrated a huge win for Oklahoma seniors and local pharmacies as Medicare officials announced a proposal for sweeping changes to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans for seniors.
To help seniors safely reunite with their families as the COVID-19 restrictions started to lift, last March Lankford asked a panel of health experts to provide guidance on how and when vaccinated senior adults could receive visitors safely. He noted that Oklahoma and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) have issued some, sometimes unaligned, guidance which resulted in many seniors staying unnecessarily isolated. Lankford joined more than half the Senate to introduce the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, to expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare, make permanent COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities, improve health outcomes, and make it easier for patients to safely connect with their doctors.
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