Vice President Kamala Harris will propose the first expansion of Medicare to help Americans known as the so-called ‘sandwich generation’ who face the staggering burden of caring for children and aging parents at the same time.
It is the latest in a series of economic proposals from the Democratic presidential candidate in her bid to reach the White House in an extremely close race with former President Donald Trump.
The vice president is making her pitch to the “sandwich generation” during an appearance Tuesday on The View, a show with an audience made up primarily of middle-aged and older women.
The proposal includes the first expansion of Medicare to include home care benefits to help address long-term care of seniors.
The vice president wants to cover home care services, such as home aides, so seniors don’t have to choose between going to a facility for care as they age or being a burden on their families.
Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to New York on October 7. Harris is set to propose the first expansion of Medicare to cover home care benefits in a speech aimed at the so-called “sandwich generation,” who care for parents and older children at the same time, as well as seniors
The campaign believes the measure would make care more affordable while easing the financial and emotional toll on families tasked with caring for their loved ones as the number of seniors in the United States increases.
Currently, Medicare does not cover long-term assistance, such as in-home aides, except in limited circumstances. Staggering out-of-pocket costs make such options nearly impossible for many Medicare beneficiaries, leaving them with few options outside of family or significant financial burdens.
The vice president will call for the benefit to be paid for by expanding negotiations on Medicare drug prices, cracking down on hidden Pharmacy Benefit Manager costs, as well as other measures, according to the campaign.
About forty-seven percent of adults ages 40 to 50 have a parent over the age of sixty-five and are also raising or supporting an adult child. One in seven adults provides financial support to both children and aging parents.
Vice President Harris will call for expanding Medicare to cover home care services. The proposal would be funded by a series of measures, including expanding Medicare drug price negotiations.
The latest proposal comes after Harris already proposed expanding the Child Tax Credit in an effort to help alleviate child care costs for families, as well as providing parents with a $6,000 credit for the first year of a child’s life. a new baby.
But the vice president’s proposals would face significant challenges to passing in a divided Congress. Changes to Medicare have met with fierce opposition for years.
The Biden administration’s efforts to extend the Child Tax Credit beyond one year in the American Rescue Plan passed in 2021 were blocked even though Democrats at the time controlled both chambers of Congress.
If Republicans manage to flip the Senate in November and keep the House, passing their legislative agenda could become nearly impossible even if Harris were to win the presidency while Congress controls the budget.
Harris has faced criticism for how she would pay for a series of economic proposals ranging from expanding tax deductions for small businesses to providing $25,000 in down payments for first-time homebuyers.
When asked about paying for her proposals on 60 Minutes on Monday, Harris talked about the rich paying their fair share.
‘I’m going to make sure that the richest among us who can afford it pay their fair share in taxes. It’s not right that teachers, nurses, and firefighters pay a higher tax rate than billionaires and the largest corporations. And I plan to make that fair,” he said.
“But we’re dealing with the real world here,” correspondent Bill Whitaker responded, asking how he would get it passed by Congress.
‘You know, when you talk quietly to a lot of people in Congress, they know exactly what I’m talking about, because their constituents know exactly what I’m talking about. Their constituents are firefighters, teachers and nurses,” Harris responds.
To cover the costs, the vice president has proposed a series of tax changes targeting large corporations and the wealthiest Americans, arguing that they should pay their “fair share.”