Earlier this year, we lost my dad.

After he became ill and before we knew how much more time he would have with us, my mother and I sat down with a social worker at the hospital to discuss long-term care options. He explained that our best option to cover Dad’s care might be for our family to spend everything until my parents became asset-poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. I remember thinking, “Is that how this works in America?” 

Americans are working longer than they ever have because they can’t afford to retire. For the first time in our nation’s history, there will be more older adults than children. In 2020, half of adults who reach 65 will require long-term care at some point in their lives. By 2026, we will require 7.8 million new care jobs. At the same time, more and more Americans are becoming eligible for Social Security—even as the Trump Administration has attempted to undermine Americans’ retirement by cutting billions of dollars from Social Security over the next decade. 

Politicians in Washington have known this problem was intensifying for years. And for years, they have failed to address it. It is time for a new approach. Here’s what I’ll do as president: 

1. Make long-term care more affordable 
2. Fully support care workers and unpaid family caregivers
3. Expand access to long-term care at home and in communities
4. Improve quality of life for people in long-term care   
5. Preserve seniors’ choice in Medicare options, including Medicare Advantage
6. Protect Social Security for the next generation without cutting benefits
7. Institute a portable public option 401(k)

I am determined to usher in a new era for older Americans, one that empowers them to age and retire with dignity. One that equips them and their families with a sense of security over their futures, allowing them to see it as a time filled with possibility. 

In this new era, we will uphold that unshakable promise that every American should be able to maintain a decent standard of living when they retire. We will honor and support our nation’s caregivers—primarily women and disproportionately Black, Latino, and immigrant—and treat them with the respect they deserve. In a historic effort, we will fundamentally transform our long-term care system by establishing a new, universal long-term care insurance program.

Under my administration, we will meet that moral test and ensure every American has respect, dignity, and a sense of belonging in retirement and health security at home.

To read my plan for long term care in detail, please click here.

Thank you,
Pete