U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday was expected to announce a plan to expand healthcare benefits to cover at-home senior care, the latest policy proposal in her effort to boost the "care economy" and lower healthcare costs, according to a senior campaign official.
Harris was set to announce the policy in an interview with ABC's "The View," the first in a series of media interviews in New York on Tuesday as she and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump race to energize voters before the Nov. 5 election, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The ABC show's viewership is largely comprised of middle-aged and older women, the target audience for Harris' promise to ease the burden of caring for children and aging parents at the same time, sometimes referred to as the "sandwich generation." Many policies echo President Joe Biden's "Care Economy" proposals trimmed from big spending bills passed in Congress.
Harris' policy would expand Medicare, the federal insurance plan for elderly and disabled people, to cover long-term care for seniors at home for the first time, including services like in-home health aides, in hopes of saving American families the often high cost of nursing homes for aging family members. It would be funded by money saved from the new drug-price negotiation plan Biden introduced and by cracking down on hidden drug costs.
More than a quarter of Americans age 50 and older are caring for at least one family member or friend who has a disability or health problem, according to an August poll from the University of Michigan. More than three-fourths of women aged 50 and older feel that people who care for aging loved ones are hurting in today's economy, according to a September poll from the American Association of Retired Persons. Harris has already said she would offer a child tax credit of $6,000 as part of her overall economic platform, which seeks to financially aid Americans who are charged with the unpaid labor of caring for loved ones. Harris' lead over Trump has narrowed to 46% for the vice president vs. 43% for Trump, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling completed on Monday.
