Kamala Harris to pledge US social safety net expansion in appeal to older voters

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Kamala Harris is set to propose an expansion of the US’s social safety net to include home care services for seniors, as she steps up her efforts to outflank her opponent Donald Trump on economic and healthcare policies.

A senior Harris campaign official said the vice-president would announce the new proposal on Tuesday during an appearance on daytime talk show The View — part of a blitz of television interviews this week, less than a month before November’s presidential election.

The plan is intended to appeal to 105mn Americans who, according to a campaign official, are caring for both children and ageing parents. It comes as Harris and her Republican rival Trump are locked in a fierce battle to win the backing of middle-aged and older undecided voters.

In the 2020 election, Trump narrowly defeated Joe Biden with voters over 45, according to CNN exit polls, but this year the picture is different. An NPR/Marist poll released this month found Harris was narrowly beating Trump with “baby boomers” — born roughly between 1946 and 1964 — and older voters, but is trailing with Gen X voters born between 1965 and 1980.

Harris’s proposal is the latest move by the Democratic candidate to erase Trump’s advantage on the economy.

Under the plan, Medicare — the government health plan for seniors — would cover the cost of a home health aide, making it easier for people to retire at home without paying big out-of-pocket expenses or going to a nursing home.

At present, long-term healthcare needs for seniors are often covered through costly private insurance schemes.

In recent years, healthcare has been a winning issue for Democrats as they have fought Republican efforts to undo then-president Barack Obama’s expansion of affordable healthcare coverage, and enacted measures to limit the cost of certain drugs such as insulin.

The senior Harris campaign adviser did not say how much the new home care benefit would be worth but added that the cost would be covered by savings resulting from government deals with pharmaceutical companies to reduce drug prices.