FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 8, 2024
CONTACT: Daniela Perez, [email protected]
Care Can’t Wait Action On Vice President Harris’s Historic Long Term Care Proposal: “A Big, Big Deal”
Today, Care Can’t Wait Action leaders issued the following statement on Vice President Harris’s historic announcement of a new plan to cover long term care at home for millions of seniors and people with disabilities through Medicare. According to Pew Research, one in four Americans has both a parent age 65 or older and are raising children.
“Today’s announcement from Vice President Harris is a big, big deal. So many of us assume Medicare covers long-term care, only to find out it does not. We find ourselves unable to afford care for older and disabled loved ones who want to stay at home, often while raising young children and trying to support our families. And because care is so unaffordable, we rely on 105.6 million overstretched family caregivers and nine million underpaid care workers to care for us.
“This plan would take a huge financial and emotional burden off of workers and families, and along with making paid family and medical leave a reality and lowering the cost of child care, would finally make it possible for workers to find and afford the care options that are right for them and their families.
“Vice President Harris understands what so many people across our country feel today: it just shouldn’t be this hard to take care of your family and earn a living. With Vice President Harris – who knows personally that care is about dignity, independence, and our economy – in the White House, it won’t be. Workers, seniors, and families all just got another huge reason why Vice President Harris is the right choice this November.”
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About Care Can’t Wait Action:
Care Can’t Wait Action launched in 2023 to mobilize tens of millions of Americans centering care as a winning issue for policymakers, representing one of the largest coalitions of labor unions, advocacy organizations, and grassroots groups focused on care in history. With Americans supporting new investments in care by a wide margin, the coalition has pledged a $50 million investment to mobilize tens of millions of Americans this year.
The Care Can’t Wait Action Coalition includes: ❖ AFL-CIO ❖ AFSCME ❖ American Federation of Teachers ❖ Be A Hero ❖ Care in Action ❖ Child Care for Every Family Action ❖ Community Change Action ❖ Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy ❖ Family Values @ Work Action ❖ MomsRising Together ❖ National Partnership for Women & Families Action Fund ❖ National Women’s Law Center Action Fund ❖ Oxfam America Action Fund ❖ Priorities USA Action ❖ Paid Leave for All Action ❖ Service Employees International Union ❖ Supermajority ❖ United Domestic Workers