Harris proposes a new Medicare benefit to cover home care costs : NPR

Vice President Harris talks to hosts of ABC’s The View during a commercial break on Oct. 8.

Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

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Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

Vice President Harris on Tuesday laid out a proposal to expand Medicare coverage to help cover the costs of home health care aides for seniors.

Harris announced the plan — squarely aimed at “sandwich generation” women who take care of aging parents as well as their own kids — on ABC’s The View, a daytime television talk show popular with middle-aged and older women.

“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.

Internal campaign data shows this demographic, comprising nearly a quarter of Americans, has a relatively large percentage of undecided voters, a senior campaign official told reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of the public release of the plan.

In its current form, Medicare doesn’t widely cover assistance like home health aides for seniors.

“They want to 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,” Harris said.

She said she would cover the cost of the new benefit by expanding Medicare drug price negotiations. “We are going to save Medicare the money, because we’re not going to be paying these high prices,” she said, allowing the program room to expand benefits.

Harris’ appearance on The View is part of a barrage of media appearances this week. Harris was also set to appear on The Howard Stern Show on Tuesday, as well as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. On Wednesday, she is set to do a Univision town hall from Las Vegas.

On Monday night, CBS 60 Minutes aired a sit-down interview with the vice president. She appeared on Call Her Daddy, a podcast popular with young women, on Sunday, and last week she was on All the Smoke, a podcast hosted by two former NBA stars.