Kamala Harris Will Propose Adding Home Care Benefit To Medicare

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Tuesday will propose a major new initiative: expanding Medicare to cover the cost of long-term care at home.

Such a plan could mean the option of staying at home, rather than in a nursing facility, for the millions of seniors and people with disabilities who need help with the daily tasks of life.

It could also mean physical and financial relief ― and new opportunities for school or work outside the home ― for the millions of working-age Americans who today provide so much of that care on their own without much in the way of outside assistance.

If the proposed legislation is enacted, such a program would represent a substantial boost in federal support for caregiving and, by any measure, one of the largest one-time increases in American history.

Harris will make her announcement during an appearance on “The View,” the nation’s top-rated daytime talk show, according to campaign officials who spoke with reporters on Monday.

During that interview, Harris will present the home care initiative as part of her efforts to address the needs of the “sandwich generation,” the working adults who have aging parents while still caring for children. Roughly a quarter of the American population falls into that category, according to Pew Research .

“The significance of access to home care is something that we hear about constantly,” Nicole Jorwic , chief of advocacy and campaigns at Caring Across Generations and a longtime advocate on disability issues, told HuffPost. “It’s an issue for the aging or disabled person themselves. It’s an issue for family caregivers. It’s an issue for the economy.”

Harris will pledge to finance the home care initiative fully, in part by tapping the