Social Security, Medicare, &
Veterans Benefits

Beginning in the 1930’s and continuing into recent years, the People of the United States created a social safety net, financed by working people and for the benefit of working people, so that they would be financially protected when they needed these benefits most. 

Social Security is an old-age pension system that benefits every working American and their families. This benefit includes disability income for injured workers and their surviving children and spouses.

Medicare and Veteran’s Benefits also provide financial benefits to qualified Americans, allowing them to live in dignity when they are either retired or no longer able to work.  Similarly, Medicaid and related nutritional support programs provide necessary prenatal, maternal and child health benefits to poor women and their children.

For many years, Republican extremists including Rick Scott have targeted Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Benefits and Child Health and Nutrition programs.  Recently, Rick Scott has proposed “sunsetting” Social Security and Medicare, so that these programs can be significantly reduced or eliminated, apparently to provide larger tax cuts to rich corporations and wealthy billionaires like Rick Scott.

Almost 20 years ago, Rick Scott was President and the largest individual shareholder of Columbia/Hospital Corporation of America when Rick Scott’s company pled guilty to defrauding Medicare of billions of dollars and was fined almost 1.7 billion dollars, which was the largest fine ever levied for Medicare fraud at the time.  Columbia/HCA then fired Rick Scott and paid him a billion dollars in present value 2024 dollars.

For more than 30 years, Brian Rush has stood up and fought the Republican extremists in Florida.  In the early 1990’s, when Brian Rush was Chairman of the Hillsborough Legislative Delegation, Brian Rush and many other citizens successfully defeated Rick Scott’s crooked scheme to buy Tampa General Hospital for only One Dollar. 

Brian Rush will continue to fight the Republican extremists to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Veteran’s Benefits, because hard working Americans have paid for these programs for more than 50 years.