Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced a new plan for Medicare called “Medicare at Home,” which would cover the costs of in-home care for seniors who are unable to perform daily activities independently. The estimated cost of this program is $40 billion, but experts believe that it will be much more expensive than projected. The proposal mentions that the costs will be covered by negotiating lower prescription drug prices, cracking down on pharmaceutical benefit managers, addressing Medicare fraud, and implementing international tax reform. This plan is aimed at helping seniors prepare meals, get dressed, bathe, and more without having to move to a residential care facility.
Experts, such as Mark Warshawsky from the American Enterprise Institute, have expressed concerns about the high cost of the Medicare at Home initiative. Warshawsky believes that the costs being proposed were already covered by a combination of private and public spending as well as Medicaid. He suggested that Medicaid currently covers almost half of long-term care costs in the country and that efforts should be made to reduce these costs due to the significant government deficit and debt. Additionally, the plan has been criticized by Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute, who called it irresponsible, corrupt, and insane, accusing Harris of trying to buy votes in an election year.
There are also concerns about how the expanded benefit would rely heavily on immigrants as in-home health aides. This could potentially lead to an increase in immigration to accommodate the expansion in demand for these services. The campaign’s claim that the government would save money by providing home care instead of nursing home care has been called misleading by experts. Enormous amounts of unpaid care provided by family members of seniors with health needs have also been highlighted, adding an additional $600 billion in costs, according to an AARP report.
Previous attempts to expand in-home care coverage were made by President Biden as part of the American Jobs Plan, but were unsuccessful. Experts warn that the Harris plan could further increase federal spending and entitlements during a time of heightened inflation and rising prices. With the federal budget deficit already at $1.9 trillion, experts believe that the focus should be on reducing barriers for home health workers and helping seniors save more for retirement by cutting taxes. The proposal has been criticized for contributing to America’s entitlement spending problem rather than addressing it.
Vice President Harris’ proposal for expanding Medicare comes after distancing herself from previous support for Medicare for All and eliminating private health insurance. While the campaign cites potential health benefits and cost offsets associated with the plan, experts and think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and National Taxpayers Union believe that it will only worsen America’s entitlement spending problem. They argue that efforts should be focused on streamlining Medicare and other entitlement programs, rather than making them bigger. Critics believe that this proposal is a classic case of a politician using entitlements to attract votes, which they deem irresponsible as public policy.
