Kamala Harris’ Medicare at Home Plan Could Change My Mother’s Life

(Todd A. Smith)

Vice President Kamala Harris’ plans for Medicare and home health would change my life for the better.

Harris already has my vote because I disagree with almost everything that former President Donald Trump stands for, which includes ending American democracy.

But unlike Trump, Harris has actual policy initiatives like Medicare at home that will truly save and extend lives, while also giving caretakers some sense of normalcy.

Alexander Tin and Aaron Navarro of CBS News reported, “Vice President Kamala Harris is proposing an expansion of Medicare to cover the costs of an in-home aide for many seniors, a direct pitch to the ‘sandwich generation’ of adults caring for aging parents in addition to their own children.

“The plan, dubbed ‘Medicare at Home,’ focuses on having Medicare cover costs of home care services and nurses as a way for families to avoid costs of nursing homes. Harris is pairing it with a plan she’s already announced that would expand the child care tax credit to up to $3,600, and $6,000 for parents with newborns.”

Unfortunately, my mother began getting sick towards the end of 2022.

Doctors could not figure out her condition and she slowly began to deteriorate into 2023.

By the end of last year, she could not take care of herself at all.

Family members and friends must feed her.

They must brush her teeth.

They must brush her hair.

They must clean her.

They must turn her every two hours.

They must be present to let the physical and occupational therapists in the house.

They can never leave her alone.

While no one complains about taking care of her, it does present a challenge to all of us.

We have hired people to come in and relieve us of our duties.

However, it is never enough.

What happens when one of us has a late meeting?

What happens when one of us have weekend obligations that they cannot get out of?

What happens when someone wants to socialize outside of the home just to maintain their sanity?

Unfortunately, even if someone needs to do something or must do s0mething they cannot because it is all hands-on deck, and my priorities might have to take a backseat if another family member has more pressing needs and vice versa.

More importantly, what happens when my father gets sick or hurt and he too needs medical attention?

What happens when both of my elderly parents are in the hospital at the same time?

What happens when my father is in the hospital and I need to be there for him, but my mother is homebound and cannot be left alone at any time?

When that happens, I am just thankful when other relatives can come from out of town to help relieve me of some of my duties?

With Harris’ plan, that relief would become more commonplace.

In America we are taught to go to school, hold down a job and get medical insurance to take care of any unforeseen medical problems.

But it seems that the middle class is in a catch-22 constantly because they make too much money for Medicaid, which provides home health, and not enough to hire more private help.

People in my situation often are told to send their loved-ones to a home so that they can get 24-hour care since Medicare and private insurance does not pay for regular home health.

But if anyone has ever had to put a loved-one in a home, for even a short stay, they can attest to the fact that although there is 24-hour nursing in those facilities, there is not always 24-hour care.

Many medical professionals are only in the profession for a check.

And sometimes, your loved-one could get less care in a facility when one would think they would receive the best care.

While at a rehabilitation hospital, my mother came down with a “raging” urinary tract infection that put her in an actual hospital for almost two weeks.

That episode has created a negative ripple effect in my mother’s health that we are still dealing with over one year later.

Furthermore, putting a loved-one in a facility might even put more burden on a family if they are anything like the Smith family because even when my mother stayed at a nursing home in Houston’s Galleria area for two weeks after recovering from the urinary tract infection, my family still visited her every day.

Dealing with Houston traffic every day did not free us up.

It put an unnecessary burden on us.

Moreover, when a family member goes to a nursing home, it does not mean that there needs will be taken care of.

There were many times when my mother’s food at the facility went untouched until one of us got there to feed her.

Since she cannot feed herself, if a nurse or nursing aid does not feed her, she will not be able to eat.

If a staff member does not change the television so that she can watch her favorite shows, news or church service, she will not get to see them.

And most importantly, if my mother does not see her family on an everyday basis, she might falsely believe that she is all alone in her struggle and give up on life.

Trust me when I tell you that some people drop their mothers and grandmothers off at nursing homes with no clothes or support and leave them there to fend for themselves.

Just ask my mother’s former nursing home roommate.

Therefore, when people criticize Harris for not having policies, tell them to read my firsthand account on how her Medicare home health policy will actually save my family members’ lives or at least give us more life.

Todd A. Smith
Follow Todd
Latest posts by Todd A. Smith (see all)

    Related Posts

    Scroll to Top