Harris proposes Medicare pay for home health care for first time

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday proposed broadening Medicare benefits to cover home health care for the first time, as she seeks to appeal to Americans caring for both children and aging parents.

“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 on ABC’s “The View,” part of a media blitz this week that’s putting her in front of friendlier interviewers with more targeted audiences.

Harris, who has promised on the campaign trail to improve long-term care, said the proposal will allow aging Americans to keep their dignity and help families with the emotional, financial and physical burdens of caring for their elders.

Nearly one-quarter of American adults are in the “sandwich generation,” which contains many remaining undecided voters, according to Harris campaign data. More than 105 million Americans are acting as caregivers, according to the campaign.

“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 said Tuesday.

The plan calls for Medicare enrollees to be independently evaluated to determine whether they cannot handle activities of daily living, such as bathing, eating or going to the bathroom, according to a fact sheet issued by the campaign. The vast majority of seniors could continue living at home with an average of 20 hours or less a week of care provided by an aide, the fact sheet said.

Medicare would provide coverage for those with modest incomes, while seniors with higher incomes would share in the cost, according to the campaign.

Covering home health care, however, could be very expensive. One recent estimate from the Brookings Institution for a “very-conservatively designed” program, which would cover those unable to perform two activities of daily living and would require enrollees to share part of the cost, would have a price tag of about $40 billion a year.

The Harris campaign cited the Brookings research as a building block for the vice president’s proposal.

To cover the cost, Harris said she would expand Medicare drug price negotiations. Increasing drug discounts from manufacturers, implementing international tax reform and other measures would also help pay for the program.

In addition, Harris is proposing that Medicare cover hearing aids and exams, eye exams, and new glasses and lenses. She also wants to stop states from seizing seniors’ homes to recover Medicaid funds spent on long-term care services.

Costly long-term care

The proposal aims to address the long-term care needs of senior citizens and people with disabilities, helping them stay at home instead of moving to a nursing home, which can cost thousands of dollars a month. Medicare does not cover home health care except in very narrow circumstances. So most senior citizens have to pay for the services out of pocket or through Medicaid, if they are eligible.

On average, an American turning 65 in 2022 would incur an estimated $120,900 in future long-term services and supports, with families footing one-third of the bill themselves, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

A home health aide costs nearly $69,000 a year for 40 hours of weekly care and more than $288,000 for round-the-clock services, while nursing home stays can total between $104,000 and nearly $117,000 a year, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research organization. The typical Medicare beneficiary’s income is $36,000 a year.

In her caregiving push to voters, Harris has previously leaned into her experience of taking care of her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who died of colon cancer in 2009. She mentioned it again Tuesday, relaying the stress of taking care of a sick parent.

“That means trying to cook what they want to eat, what they can eat,” she said. “It means picking out clothes for them that [are] soft enough that it doesn’t irritate their skin, right? It means trying to think of something funny to make them laugh or smile.”

Some two-thirds of caregivers reporting having difficulty balancing their career and care responsibilities, according to a survey conducted in 2023 by AARP and S&P Global.

Just over a quarter of working caregivers have had to shift from full-time to part-time positions or have reduced hours, the survey found. About 1 in 6 stopped working for a period of time.

“Family caregivers are the backbone of a broken long-term care system, providing $600 billion in unpaid labor each year and saving taxpayers billions,” Nancy LeaMond, AARP’s chief public policy and engagement officer, said in a statement. “It is long past time for lawmakers to enact commonsense solutions that support family caregivers and help older Americans live independently in their homes, where they want to be.”

On the heels of Harris’ announcement, Care in Action PAC — the political arm of an organization advocating for care workers and care givers — announced a multimillion-dollar additional investment across battleground states and praised Harris’ longtime commitment to working adults who care for both their aging parents and their children.

“This is the financial relief that families are screaming for,” said the group’s executive director Hillary Holley. The money will in part support a new digital ad featuring a woman talking about her mother brushing her hair as a child and how she now has the responsibility of doing the same for her mother and daughter.

Harris’ appearance on “The View” comes as both she and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are appearing in a handful of interviews with traditional and new media figures after Republicans have criticized the pair for weeks for avoiding taking questions from the media.

Later Tuesday, the vice president is appearing on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” after an interview with “The Howard Stern Show.” Earlier this week, she spoke on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast and appeared on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” in a segment that also featured Walz. The Minnesota governor has sat down for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Fox News Sunday.”