Vice President Harris unveiled a novel plan Tuesday to expand Medicare benefits so the program covers long-term home care costs for older Americans.
The plan, officially announced on ABC’s “The View,” aims to help the “sandwich generation” care for their aging parents. According to Pew Research, almost a quarter of all American adults fall into this category—they must care for their parents while raising their own children.
“There are so many people in our country who are in the middle of it. They take care of their children, and they take care of their aging parents, and it’s just almost impossible to do everything,” Harris said. “Especially if they work. We find that so many then have to leave their jobs, which means the loss of a source of income, not to mention the emotional strain.”
Under the plan, for the first time, Medicare will cover home care for all seniors and people with disabilities in our country who receive and need Medicare, in addition to vision and hearing services, to help seniors live independently longer.
Enacting it would require congressional action and the chances of it becoming law are likely high since Republicans have control of Congress.
But such a plan could bring significant financial relief to families. It’s part of a series of Harris health care proposals, such as eliminating medical debt and capping prescription drug costs, that are broadly popular and basic for voters to understand.
The Harris campaign views care as a mobilizing issue for female voters, particularly older women concerned about their own financial security, a senior campaign official told reporters ahead of the announcement.
According to AARP data, 34 percent of older women in Michigan identify as family caregivers, compared to 30 percent of older voters overall. In Georgia, 37 percent of older women identify as family caregivers, compared to 34 percent of older voters overall.
Seventy-six percent of likely voters over 50 in Pennsylvania said they would be more likely to support a candidate who supports family caregivers who help their loved ones live independently in their homes.
Millions of Americans struggle to find affordable home care for themselves or their family members, and many end up taking on the responsibility themselves.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 14 percent of the adult population provides some form of unpaid elder care. About 59 percent of these caregivers are women.
Medicare does not cover long-term services and assistance such as home health care unless there are very narrow circumstances, such as when a person is recovering from an acute illness. Private insurance does not cover these services either, so families have to pay for them out of their own pockets.
The Harris campaign noted that the average cost of a full-time home health aide is nearly twice the income of a typical Medicare recipient, and that the problem will only get worse as our population ages.
The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that the average American turning 65 will incur $120,900 in future long-term costs for services and supports, with families having to cover more than a third of that themselves.
According to the nonpartisan health research group KFF, a professional, 24-hour home health aide can cost more than $288,000 per year.
Medicaid is the largest payer of long-term services, but it is only an option for low-income people. Even for qualified beneficiaries, there is often an extremely long waiting list for home care providers.
The lack of options often leaves people with no choice but to rely on a family member.
Harris has spoken about being a caregiver during the final years of her mother Shyamala’s life following a cancer diagnosis. She brought up the experience again on “The View.”
“It’s just a matter of helping an aging parent or elderly person prepare a meal and put on a sweater. And it’s about the dignity of that individual, it’s about the independence of that individual,” she said. “People’s abilities are diminishing to a certain extent, but their dignity and pride have not diminished.”
Harris’ campaign did not release a detailed breakdown of spending, but an estimate from the Brookings Institute, a centrist think tank, estimated a similar plan would cost $40 billion a year.
Democrats tried to create a novel home care program as part of the “Build Back Better” domestic legislation that became the Inflation Reduction Act, but it was cut due to spending concerns.
Harris said her plan would be paid for by using savings from Medicare drug price negotiations.
“We’re going to save Medicare money because we’re not going to pay these high prices,” she said. “These resources are best used to help a family.”
