Harris proposes that Medicare cover long-term care at home
Vice President Kamala Harris chats with the hosts of “The View” on Tuesday during a commercial break. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
Harris’s plan, which would face an uphill battle to become law, aims to help Americans caring for elderly parents.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced a plan for Medicare to cover long-term-care services at home, a significant expansion of the program that would be aimed at helping tens of millions of Americans who are caring for aging parents.
Harris’s announcement was designed to address the growing number of elderly Americans with serious medical needs who hope to stay in their own homes, as well as the children and other relatives who tend to them with little financial help.
The problem has grown increasingly acute in recent years as the baby-boomer generation ages, studies suggest. Medicare offers coverage for at-home services only under narrow circumstances and on a short-term basis, and most private insurance plans do not cover long-term, at-home care.
That leaves many Americans placing their elderly parents in nursing homes, which can cost thousands of dollars a year, if not more.
Harris, in an appearance on ABC’s “The View,” a daytime show hosted by a panel of women, said she wanted to help the “sandwich generation” in particular — people who are caring for their children and aging parents at the same time. She said the issue resonated for her because she cared for her mother while she was dying of cancer.
“It is a personal experience for me, as well as something I care deeply about,” Harris said. “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.”
The proposal, however, would face serious challenges in becoming law, since many Republicans would probably oppose such a costly expansion of Medicare. But it could prove popular with elderly and working-class voters, and is part of a suite of proposals Harris has offered aimed at families’ economic needs, from medical debt relief to a cap on prescription drugs to a $6,000 child tax credit.
As Americans are living longer but often with challenging medical conditions, millions of Americans who must care for elderly parents have few options to help cover the sometimes exorbitant cost.
Medicaid offers a long-term-care benefit, but only those with lower incomes qualify for that government-run health program. The majority of elderly Americans are on Medicare, which provides few, if any, options for long-term, at-home care.
Under Harris’s plan, Medicare would cover services such as in-home aides so seniors could stay in their homes rather than move to nursing homes or long-term-care facilities. One goal, Harris said, is to make it easier for caregivers to continue working, as taking care of aging parents with growing limitations can become all-consuming. Elderly adults often need help with basic day-to-day functions such as eating and showering and may need other services, such as speech or physical therapy, experts say.
“People are of declining skills to some extent, but their dignity and their pride has not declined,” Harris said. “They want to stay in their home. They don’t want to go somewhere else. Plus, for the family to send them to a residential care facility, to hire somebody, is so expensive.”