(Bloomberg) -- Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a new plan to cover in-home health care for seniors, a proposal she said would ease the burden on working adults responsible for aging parents and raising children.
“It’s just almost impossible to do it all. Especially if they work — we’re finding that so many are then having to leave their job,” Harris said on ABC’s The View, during one of three major interviews set for Tuesday.
Harris’ proposal would expand Medicare — health care for elderly Americans — to cover expenses related to an in-home health aide, which is not currently covered. She said the cost of the additional coverage could be offset by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, which would save the government money when purchasing drugs.
Harris on Tuesday focused on what she has called the “sandwich generation,” people who are raising children and caring for elderly parents. More than 105 million Americans are currently caring for relatives, according to her campaign.
The appearance on The View, a daytime talk show with a large audience of middle-age and older women, is part of Harris’ effort to reach out to voters who aren’t plugged into the daily political news cycle.
Widespread shortages in home-care attendants and nurses could make implementation of Harris’ plan difficult. Demand for home care is already expected to create more than a million new positions by 2030, more than any other profession, according to the Bureau for Labor Statistics.
President Joe Biden has also proposed increased pay for these typically low-wage workers, as well as free community college, but Republicans rejected those pieces of his economic agenda.
Though Harris is promising voters a new approach, the Democratic presidential nominee has struggled to differentiate her plans and governing style from Biden’s. She suggested she would prioritize issues important in her life and career, including promoting small businesses and combating violence against women and children.
“The influence of a personal experience will have its impact on the presidency,” she said.
Harris gave fodder to Republicans, though, when asked a follow-up question about which of Biden’s decisions she would change.
“There is not a thing that comes to mind,” she said. “I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.”
Later in the interview, she added that, unlike Biden, she intends to have a Republican in her cabinet.
Media Blitz
The interview is just one of several slated for Tuesday. Harris is set to sit down with The Howard Stern Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, following a 60 Minutes interview that aired Monday. The flurry of appearances marks a shift for Harris, who has done only a handful of national news interviews.
Meanwhile, Republican nominee Donald Trump — who has repeatedly accused Harris of avoiding the press — stakes a different path. Trump declined an interview with 60 Minutes, one the show said he’d initially agreed to but that the campaign said was never finalized, and has refused Harris’ call for another debate. Trump has favored rallies, occasional press conferences and interviews with Fox News and other conservative-leaning outlets.
Moments before Harris’ interview, Trump’s campaign issued a statement saying that the Republican ticket would also prioritize “shifting resources back to at-home senior care, overturning disincentives that lead to care worker shortages, and supporting unpaid family caregivers through tax credits.”
Polls have continued to show a razor-thin margin between the two candidates ahead of the election next month and with voting already underway in some states.
Harris has also ramped up interviews with local outlets in battleground states, as well as podcast interviews. She’s also set to do a Univision town-hall Thursday in Nevada as the sides jockey to win the support of Latino voters.
--With assistance from Jennifer Epstein and Michelle Jamrisko.
(Updates with additional Harris remarks in paragraphs 8-12)
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