Nevada 2024 Senate Race: Rosen, Brown Talk Social Security, Medicare and More

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, voters will choose between Sen. Jacky Rosen (D) and Republican challenger Sam Brown in a race that could decide control of the U.S. Senate.

Rosen is seeking a second term after winning in 2018 by unseating a Republican incumbent. Brown, a medically retired Army veteran, launched a business to help veterans get emergency access to medications.

AARP asked candidates about issues important to older voters. Both candidates participated in phone interviews during the summer. Interviews have been edited for clarity and space.

On Caregiving

AARP studies show 48 million family caregivers provide $600 billion in unpaid care a year, many helping their older loved ones continue to live independently. If elected (or reelected), how would you support family caregivers, many of whom are juggling work and family?

BROWN: We need to make caregiving easier for people to be able to do, and one of the things that we can do is to ensure that we’re giving people tax credits on costs that they have in terms of their caregiver costs and the costs for long-term expenses. We can create those tax credits, but ... we’ve got to make it easier for people to be able to access these programs.... Another thing we can do is look at allowing caregivers to be able to use their own health savings accounts to cover medical expenses for family members that they’re taking care of.

ROSEN: I stepped away from my career in order to take care of my parents and in-laws.... So I understand firsthand what it’s like to take care of a family member.... It’s one of the reasons why I started the Comprehensive Care Caucus when I came to the Senate, so we could talk about palliative care — the kind of care that people need when they’re aging or have chronic or terminal disease.... One of the biggest challenges people have, really, is the high cost.... And so we [introduced] that Lowering Costs for Caregivers Act [of 2023]. That’s one way we can allow individuals to use their health savings accounts.

On Social Security

Social Security is expected to see a shortfall in approximately 10 years. If Congress doesn’t act, millions of Americans who are counting on Social Security may see cuts to the money they’ve earned. If elected (or reelected), how would you protect Social Security benefits for the future?

ROSEN: It’s a vital program for our seniors. Allowing it to go insolvent is absolutely unacceptable.... This is a promise that we made to you as you paid into that, and it’s critical that we keep our promise to return those benefits that you have earned. One big way that we can start solving the problem is really making the ultra-wealthy and those giant corporations pay their fair share. That is what will go a long way to helping close that shortfall.... I’m going to continue to find every way we can to deliver on the promise.

BROWN: Cuts to Social Security benefits are unacceptable, and I would not do anything to eliminate people’s Social Security benefits. I believe that we need to strengthen Social Security benefits, and one of the ways that we can do that is making sure that people are not paying a tax on their Social Security.... It’s already been taxed. It should not be taxed again.... The way that we ultimately protect the overall program is by ensuring that our economy is strong.... Our government’s tax revenues will increase ... and shore up the projected shortfall that we have in the next decade.

On Medicare

Medicare provides critical health coverage for older Americans. If elected (or reelected), how will you protect Medicare from benefit cuts, and how can the program be improved?

BROWN: Medicare doesn’t just protect older Americans. I have actually been the recipient of Medicare health benefits as well.... It is something that I care a great deal about and want to ensure that in the same way Medicare was there for me, it continues to be there for those who’ve earned those health care coverage benefits, and that it’s not weakened. Let me just be clear: I won’t do anything to eliminate people’s access to Medicare.

ROSEN: We need to be sure that our seniors have good health coverage and that the program remains protected, and it has to be strengthened.... We need to be sure that we invest in our health care workforce so we have the people to take care of our seniors, and we need to be sure that we continue to work on negotiating those prices for lifesaving medications and reducing them.

On Retirement Savings

Millions of American workers have no way to save for retirement through their employers. If elected (or reelected), what steps would you take to help American workers save for their retirement?

ROSEN: One of the things we can do is we can work on legislation, like the legislation I’ve introduced — it’s bipartisan — to help small businesses offer more comprehensive retirement packages to their employees, making sure that we re-incentivize that.... We can talk about our veterans — making our military retirement pay tax free.... Our seniors, they’ve just worked their whole lives, took care of us. We need to be sure that they live comfortably long after they retire. So we’re going to continue to look at more programs that we can do like this, make sure ... people will have a retirement. No one falls through the cracks. 

BROWN: There’s a couple of things that really hurt people, and they frankly hurt some of the businesses ... and that’s regulations and taxes. If we pursue a policy of reducing unnecessary regulations and we extend the tax cuts that President Trump introduced that are set to expire in 2025, that will allow employers — and also just individual kind of contractors, people who work on 1099s — to be able to save more. We shouldn’t be putting a limit on what people save if they’re having a good year or a good season in life and they want to put more into their IRAs.... We can also incentivize employers to encourage preferred savings plans.

—Interviews by Julie Rasicot

Candidate information at rosenfornevada.com and captainsambrown.com.

As a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, AARP does not endorse candidates or make political donations.

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