Neal Dunn: “the average woman spends 11 years out of the workforce to raise children, and it is often very tough for her to…”

“the average woman spends 11 years out of the workforce to raise children, and it is often very tough for her to accumulate enough retirement savings to make a difference. We believe this is unfair. I will tell you what is in this bill. This bill allows women over the age of 50 to contribute up to 50 percent more to their retirement plan in order to make up for those years out of the workforce. This will make it possible for a working mother to build a nurturing relationship with her child and achieve financial independence in retirement. Part of financial security in retirement means having health care that is affordable and dependable. Unfortunately, the funding for Medicare+Choice has made it tough to offer coverage in certain regions of the country. In my State, nearly 30,000 seniors were sent letters by their health plans alerting them to the fact that insufficient reimbursements for Medicare+Choice is forcing them out of the State. The President is not helping our seniors by attacking managed care plans. In Washington State, tens of thousands of seniors enjoy the benefits of their health care plans and are worried about losing this option. We help in this bill. I urge my colleagues to boost retirement savings for women and protect health care choices for seniors.”