SEIU’s Verrett: Vice President Harris’s home care plan is a game-changer for working families

WASHINGTON, DC - Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President April Verrett released the following statement after Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a policy proposal to improve access to home care:

"Vice President Harris's plan to provide a home care benefit through Medicare is a game-changer for working families who have been demanding a solution to the nation's care crisis. It would provide tremendous relief to millions of families struggling to pay for care for aging seniors, giving them the peace of mind that their loved ones are safe and well attended in a setting that makes them the most comfortable.

Vice President Harris has shared her own experience caring for her aging mother at the end of her life in her home, and understands that many families have not been able to do the same due to the high cost of home care. Her plan would particularly benefit those of us in the 'sandwich generation,' who are raising children and helping care for their parents. Currently millions of Americans must leave their jobs to provide care to their loved ones. Without wages and benefits, these families are constantly pushed to the breaking point. Expanding Medicare is the bold solution we need to bring safe, reliable home care to all families who need it. Along with her proposals to invest in child care, in paid leave and to make Medicaid investments in home care, as well as lower costs for working families and raising wages for care workers, Kamala Harris is showing that she's been listening to working families. As America's population ages, rapidly outpacing the growth in our care workforce, the crisis could not be more urgent.

In this presidential election, we have the choice between a candidate who has a plan for working families and one who has only offered "concepts of a plan," including gutting the Affordable Care Act and the nonsensical idea of paying for child care through tariffs, which would actually raise prices. Care workers rallied to elect President Biden and Vice President Harris, and this administration has demonstrated again and again that they stand with us, recognizing care workers with two Executive Orders, the Home and Community-Based Services Access Rule, issuing safer staffing standards for nursing homes, and supporting all workers' rights to join a union. Now we need to finish the job with Kamala Harris as President, making home care accessible to all and delivering the historic investment in care that our nation desperately needs."