(States Newsroom) — Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a plan Tuesday that would strengthen Medicare coverage to include long-term care for seniors in their homes, tackling one of the biggest challenges in U.S. health care.
The Democratic presidential nominee revealed the proposal while on “The View” — one of several high-profile media appearances this week as she and the GOP presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, sprint to the November finish line.
“There are so many people in our country who are right in the middle: They’re taking care of their kids and they’re taking care of their aging parents, and it’s just almost impossible to do it all, especially if they work,” Harris said during the live interview. “We’re finding that so many are then having to leave their job, which means losing a source of income, not to mention the emotional stress.”
Harris is focusing on the “sandwich generation,” which refers to Americans who are caring for their children while also caring for aging parents.
Under the plan, Medicare — the nation’s health insurance program for people 65 and older and some under 65 with certain disabilities or conditions — would cover an at-home health benefit for those enrolled in the program, as well as hearing and vision benefits, according to her campaign in a Tuesday fact sheet.
Medicare, for the most part, now does not cover long-term care services like home health aides.
The benefits would be funded by “expanding Medicare drug price negotiations, increasing the discounts drug manufacturers cover for certain brand-name drugs in Medicare, and addressing Medicare fraud,” per her campaign.
Harris also plans to “crack down on pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) to increase transparency, disclose more information on costs, and regulate other practices that raise prices,” according to her campaign, which said she will also “implement international tax reform.”
The campaign did not cite a price tag but noted similar plans have been estimated to cost $40 billion annually “before considering savings from avoiding hospitalizations and more expensive institutional care, or the additional revenues that would generate from more unpaid family caregivers going back to work if they need to.”
The proposal comes along with the nominee’s sweeping economic plan, part of which involves cutting taxes for more than 100 million Americans, including $6,000 in tax relief for new parents in the first year of their child’s life.
Trump responds
In response to the proposal, the Trump campaign said the former president “will always fight for America’s senior citizens — who have been left behind by Kamala Harris,” per a Tuesday news release.
The campaign also cited Medicare Advantage policies extended by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Trump’s first term.
The campaign reiterated the 2024 GOP platform’s chapter on protecting seniors, saying Trump will “prioritize home care benefits by shifting resources back to at-home senior care, overturning disincentives that lead to care worker shortages, and supporting unpaid family caregivers through tax credits and reduced red tape.”
Harris and Howard Stern
While appearing live on “The Howard Stern Show” on Tuesday shortly after “The View,” Harris dubbed Trump an “unserious man,” saying the consequences of him serving another term are “brutally serious.”
She also again criticized Trump for nominating three of the five members to the U.S. Supreme Court who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022 — a reversal that ended nearly half a century of the constitutional right to abortion.
“And it’s not about abortion; you have basically now a system that says you as an individual do not have the right to make a decision about your own body. The government has the right to make that decision for you,” she said.
Harris, who said she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet if elected, was asked whether she would choose former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.
Cheney was the vice chair of the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee tasked with investigating the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Harris did not disclose a preference but said Cheney is “smart,” “remarkable,” and a “dedicated public servant.”
Cheney is among some prominent Republicans to endorse Harris. She campaigned with the veep in Ripon, Wisconsin — the birthplace of the Republican Party — just last week.
Trump talks with Ben Shapiro
Meanwhile, Trump said Harris is “grossly incompetent” during an interview that aired Tuesday on “The Ben Shapiro Show.”
“Biden was incompetent, she is equally incompetent, and in a certain way, she’s more incompetent,” Trump told Shapiro, a conservative political commentator and co-founder of The Daily Wire, referring to President Joe Biden.
Trump also criticized Harris’ Monday interview on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” saying the veep “answers questions like a child.”
“She’s answering questions in the most basic way and getting killed over it,” Trump added.
Look ahead for Harris, Trump campaigns
Harris was also set to also appear on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Tuesday night. She will also appear at a Univision town hall in Las Vegas, Nevada, that airs Thursday.
Trump was slated to participate in a roundtable with Latino leaders and a Univision town hall on Tuesday in Miami, but both events were postponed due to Hurricane Milton.
Trump is set to give remarks Wednesday in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Later that day, he will continue campaigning in the Keystone State with a rally in Reading.
