By Greg Farrar. Janice Amato (left), a Garden House memory care resident, receives a handshake from U.S. House Rep. Dave Reichert as he arrives to a welcoming group of residents at the beginning of his tour August 7 of the Spiritwood at Pine Lake assisted living facility. Looking on after their greetings are resident Karen Cook, Spiritwood executive director Michelle Strazis and Village Concepts director of corporate development Tracy Willis.
By Greg Farrar. Janice Amato (left), a Garden House memory care resident, receives a handshake from U.S. House Rep. Dave Reichert as he arrives to a welcoming group of residents at the beginning of his tour August 7 of the Spiritwood at Pine Lake assisted living facility. Looking on after their greetings are resident Karen Cook, Spiritwood executive director Michelle Strazis and Village Concepts director of corporate development Tracy Willis.

Medicaid and Medicare, along with veterans’ rights.

Those seemed to be the main topics of the day as U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert spent about an hour or so Aug. 7 at the Spiritwood at Pine Lake assisted living facility on 228th Avenue Southeast, near the Issaquah and Sammamish borders.

After a short tour of the facility, the GOP congressman met with seniors in the facility’s main dining room.

A veteran of the Army Air Corps, resident Herb Kaiser said he arrived at Spiritwood following a major medical development at his former home in Arizona. He said finances are concerns for a lot of seniors, but especially veterans.

“Whatever you can do for us, we would surely appreciate it,” Kaiser told Reichert.

For his part, Reichert thanked Kaiser for his service. He had earlier told the gathered seniors that veterans’ problems were a hot topic in Washington D.C. right now. Reichert added he had brought in a veteran of the conflicts in the Middle East to aid those who called his offices looking for help with veterans’ rights or related problems.

Spiritwood resident Kay Dickey spoke briefly about problems many seniors go through trying to obtain Medicaid or Medicare. Reichert mentioned possible changes and improvements to the programs.

Reichert’s tour of Spiritwood came about because the congressman wished to learn more about assisted living and memory care, said Sherrie Reed, Spiritwood community relations director.

In his talk to seniors, Reichert spoke about his work on the House Ways and Means Committee. He seemed proud to serve on one of the most influential committees in Congress and as chairman of a taxing subcommittee.

According to Reichert, the subcommittee’s goal presently is corporate tax reform, though he didn’t go into any details.

Following the coming presidential elections, Reichert vowed his committee would be ready to tackle personal tax reforms.

The goal is, he claimed, to implement a tax code simple enough that more than 90 percent of the American public could do their federal taxes themselves, with no help from tax preparers or accountants.