WEST ALLIS, WISCONSIN: Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks to ... [ ] supporters during a campaign rally in Wisconsin. Harris has proposed expanding Medicare to include home health aide services in addition to vision and dental benefits.(Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Tuesday proposed an expansion of the Medicare program to help cover the costs of home health aide care for seniors and disabled people. She also called for adding vision, hearing and dental benefits to Medicare. These are popular provisions among constituents, including Medicare beneficiaries and their families, and would help alleviate financial and other burdens, particularly for those struggling to find affordable in-home care for themselves or aging or disabled relatives.

Nevertheless, if elected president, Harris would likely encounter major hurdles in Congress, both with securing approval to expand the Medicare program and the main proposed funding route for the plan to include in-home care.

Home health encompasses a wide range of healthcare services that a person can get in their home for an illness, injury, incapacitation or simply inability to fully take care of oneself. Harris’ “Medicare at Home” initiative would pay for health aides to assist seniors and disabled people who “are unable to independently perform activities of daily living like bathing, eating, and going to the bathroom and/or face serious cognitive impairment,” according to a Harris........

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