Democratic lawmaker warns of ‘gray tsunami’ coming for Medicare benefits 

Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) discussed the U.S.’s rapidly aging population and its potential strain on Medicare during a Tuesday morning event.  

Sánchez referred to the growing population of Americans more than 65 years old as a “gray tsunami” during The Hill’s More than Memory Loss: Caring for those with Alzheimer’s event, sponsored by Otsuka. Bob Cusack, The Hill’s editor in chief, moderated the event. 

Despite Medicare making up just under 16% of the federal budget, the maturing demographic of the U.S. population threatens to destabilize the program.  

“We have to find bipartisan support for tough decisions on how do we ensure that these programs that have existed for 50 years continue to exist for the next 100 years,” Sánchez said.  

With two parents affected by Alzheimer’s, Sánchez was more aware of the expanding population of aging people and how it would mean a greater number of people will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. They’ll require resources like Medicare, which will put a growing strain on the system. 

The CHANGE Act, sponsored by Sánchez, aims to modify Medicare requirements for Alzheimer’s care in the hope that patients can receive their diagnosis and treatment sooner. The bill is set to be reintroduced Wednesday.  

The "gray tsunami" poses another issue, Sánchez said. The U.S.’s birth rate does not reach replacement rate, meaning there isn’t a high enough birth rate to replace the older generations in the workforce.  

One solution she proposed was immigration policy reform.  

“We’re going to need workers, and our birth rate doesn’t support that,” Sanchez said. “It’s going to have to be immigration.”  

The California Democrat also noted how the U.S.’s Latino population is quite young in comparison to other demographics, which could help with the growing workforce shortage.  

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) proposed a different solution to preserving Medicare when he spoke, drawing back on his aim to prioritize limiting federal spending.  

Buchanan has had a longstanding goal to balance the federal budget. In every Congress since 2007, he has proposed a constitutional amendment that limits federal expenditures exceeding the fiscal year’s receipts unless approved by Congress.  

“Without dealing with entitlements on a bipartisan basis, I don’t know where this goes, but it’s not going to end good,” Buchanan replied, when Cusack asked him how Congress could help solve the impending Medicare issue. 

Entitlement programs, which make up almost half of the federal budget, have become a battleground topic between Democrats and Republicans amid the recent debt ceiling controversy.

Buchanan’s comment about entitlement programs comes as some GOP Congress members threaten to withhold their support of appropriation bills with federal spending provisions that mirror the debt ceiling agreement.  

Sánchez also spoke briefly about this year’s appropriations bills as she looks ahead toward how to get the CHANGE Act through both chambers. 

“We’ll look at any potential vehicle,” Sánchez said about incorporating funding for her bill into Congress’s federal spending plan. “The goal is to get it into something that can move.”