Dear John,

Middle-class families feel the crunch of having to find a way to provide long-term care for an elderly relative, be it a parent, aunt or uncle, or grandparent. Medicare does not currently cover it, and costs run about $100,000 per year, which -- if they can afford it at all -- will run through most families’ savings very quickly.

Medicaid covers long-term care, but it is means tested based on income, and the threshold is set so low that most Americans don’t qualify.

This is why Kamala Harris wants to expand Medicare to include home-based, long-term care for all Medicare recipients and fund it with the major savings found by negotiating drug prices with Big Pharma. This expansion would be enormously helpful to Americans in later life, resolving a major point of stress and worry for many older people and their families.

Many families would love to be able to afford to care for an elderly parent at home. With Kamala Harris’ Medicare at Home, they will be able to! Show your support for millions of older Americans by signing the petition now!

Currently, to qualify for long-term coverage, an elderly person may have to spend down all of their assets to be considered impoverished enough. And even if it can be afforded without assistance, paying out of pocket often has the same effect.

In some cases, the finances have been so dire that some elderly couples have had to file for divorce in spite of their love for each other, just to be able to afford needed medical and daily care. Then, even after such massive family sacrifices, the prize is to live out one’s life in a corporate-run nursing home that puts profits over patients and far too many people in poverty, with nothing left to pass along to one’s children and grandchildren.

Medicare at Home would enable families to access the necessary equipment, medications, treatments, and other supports, to actually care for an elderly parent at home, enhancing the quality of family life.

Kamala Harris’ plan draws inspiration from FDR’s Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, the nation’s first female cabinet member, and a major advocate of the New Deal. It will move us into a future where Medicare meets the wide range of health care needs for the elderly, enabling people to stay in their own homes, comfortable in familiar surroundings, with loved ones nearby.

We owe it to our loved ones, and we will benefit from it ourselves when we need it too.

Let’s show our support for Vice President Harris’ plan to make Medicare at Home a high priority after she is elected. Add your name to show your support now!

Thank you for striving to fill our health care system’s biggest gaps!

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action