Vice President Kamala Harris called on Medicare to provide for home health care, aside from its myriad services, to meet the ballooning needs of geriatric citizens. Speaking during a healthcare summit in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, the VP pointed toward the realization of giving seniors more flexible care options than ever before as Americans get older by the day.
“Home health care is no luxury, but a necessity for millions of Americans,” Harris said. “Bringing Medicare to cover these services will not only enable seniors to remain in their homes receiving the care they need to live there with dignity, but it will also help alleviate some of the burdens families and caregivers feel each day,”
The proposal aligns well with the increasing need for home health care. By 2030, the U.S. Census Bureau states that all the baby boomers will be above 65, and long-term care needs are likely to shoot up enormously. Currently, Medicare covers some home health services, but nearly all seniors still cover the pocket for greater services.
Politicians, health workers, and patients have all been battling over the Harris proposal. Proponents argue that the expansion of Medicare would reduce hospital readmissions and improve the general wellbeing of the older population. They also postulate that sometimes in-home care is more cost-effective than long-term hospitalization or extended stays at nursing homes.
However, the fiscal implications have been attacked so far. The pot of money needs to add Medicare so that comprehensive home care is added to Medicare, thereby raising taxes or causing a federal budget imbalance. Policymakers have also assailed the infrastructural capacity for accommodating such a drastic paradigm shift toward home care.
But she is optimistic about the future of Medicare with all this. “Our healthcare system needs to change with the facts of aging,” she says. “We owe it to our seniors to provide care that honors their independence and dignity and meets their needs.”
As the US continues wrestling with health reform issues, Harris’s expansion of Medicare coverage will most likely become a central issue for the formation of future policy.
