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During the past few years, the urgency of saving Medicare has really hit home for me. My 81-year old mother has had to cope with several strokes. She’s relied on Medicare to pay for doctor visits, hospital stays and medicines.
 
Similarly, my father relied on Medicare. When he was diagnosed with lung cancer, access to care through Medicare not only prolonged his life, it also allowed him to live his final months with dignity.
 
Medicare is a program we should all be proud of. America needs it to continue without any benefit reductions for those, like my mother, who are currently in the system and for those about to enter it. But we need it to survive for my generation and my children’s generation, too.
 
As Vice President Joe Biden visits South Florida today to campaign on Medicare, all Floridians — including the 3.3 million seniors in our state who rely on it — should challenge him and President Obama to become part of the solution to save it.
 
So far, the president has yet to put forth a serious plan to save Medicare for future generations. Unless we reform it, Medicare is headed for dramatic cuts, diminished care and ultimately will go broke. This is leadership failure at its worst. And, in fact, it violates laws requiring the administration to present a plan to restore the program’s solvency.
 
Saving Medicare should be guided by three key principles. First, it cannot consist of any changes to current retirees like my mother who can’t find new jobs to pay for their care, or to those around the age of 55 and older approaching retirement. Second, it must actually save Medicare, not simply postpone the date and time when it will go broke. And third, it cannot harm economic growth by raising taxes that will hurt job creation and increase our debt problem.
 
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