2020 presidential campaign

Biden Proposed Raising Social Security Payroll Taxes By $740 Billion…And Still Got Elected President

An amazing thing happened in this year’s presidential election. A major party candidate proposed raising Social Security payroll taxes. And won.  More than that, it was never even an issue. What ever happened to Social Security being the third rail of American politics? The candidate, of course, was Joe Biden. He proposed a quite detailed plan for reforming Social Security [...]

By |2020-11-17T11:45:41-05:00November 17th, 2020|Social Security|0 Comments

What Will Biden Do For Seniors?

In his campaign, President-elect Joe Biden promised a wide range of policy changes aimed at supporting older adults, including paid leave and tax credits for families caring for older adults, significantly more funding for Medicaid community-based long-term services and supports, and significant reforms to Social Security The question will be how much can he get done, given other priorities and [...]

By |2020-11-10T11:06:46-05:00November 10th, 2020|Joe Biden|0 Comments

What Biden And Trump Would Mean For Older Voters

As with so many issues, there is a major gulf between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden when it comes to issues that directly affect older adults. Biden has proposed a long list of specific proposals. Trump has said remarkably little about what he’d do in a second term, and that silence extends to programs that affect seniors. [...]

By |2020-10-26T13:54:56-04:00October 26th, 2020|campaign 2020|0 Comments

Joe Biden Is Slowly Acknowledging The Nation’s Need To Reform Long-Term Care

Likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is, very slowly and cautiously, acknowledging the need to reform the way we support frail older adults and younger people with disabilities. In recent days, a task force created by his campaign made several proposals to expand home and community based care under Medicaid and support both family and paid caregivers. Since covid-19 has killed more [...]

By |2020-07-19T14:31:28-04:00July 19th, 2020|long term care reform|2 Comments

Are Tax Credits The Best Way To Subsidize Long-Term Care Costs?

Most major Democratic presidential hopefuls have proposed new government assistance for those receiving long-term supports and services and their families. Mayor Pete Buttigieg has proposed public catastrophic long-term care insurance. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders would make home-based care a Medicare for All benefit. And former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar would create new tax credits [...]

By |2020-02-03T09:12:03-05:00February 3rd, 2020|long term care reform|0 Comments

A Closer Look At The Democratic Presidential Candidates’ Long-Term Care Plans

Most of the major Democratic presidential hopefuls have proposed ways for government to support frail older adults and their families. But they have chosen three very different models: tax credits; universal government-funded benefits; and public long-term care insurance. Which design makes the most sense? Here’s a first look. Tax credits: Former vice president Joe Biden’s plan includes a $5,000 non-refundable tax [...]

By |2020-01-27T14:42:41-05:00January 27th, 2020|long term care reform|0 Comments

Buttigieg Proposes An Ambitious—And Much Needed— Long-Term Care Reform Plan

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has proposed an ambitious plan to reform long-term care finance and delivery in the US. It includes a public catastrophic long-term care benefit, enhancements to the private long-term care insurance market, reform to Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS), and higher wages and benefits for direct care workers. Buttigieg, who says he learned about the [...]

By |2019-11-25T15:14:02-05:00November 25th, 2019|long term care reform|0 Comments

Policymakers Still Are Not Paying Attention To The Needs Of Frail Elders And Their Families

Nearly all of the Democratic presidential hopefuls have proposed or supported plans to create a federal family leave program that would include those who are caring for frail parents or other relatives. That’s gratifying. It’s too bad that in this week’s debate, all but Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) appear to have forgotten the fact. They were happy to chime in [...]

By |2019-11-22T11:10:22-05:00November 22nd, 2019|family caregivers|0 Comments

Interest Grows In Social Insurance For Long-Term Care. But What Should It Look Like?

Federal and state policymakers increasingly are interested in creating a public social insurance program for long-term care in the US. Even some Democratic presidential hopefuls have raised the issue, though still only in general terms. That growing interest is great news, and long past due. But what should such a model look like? Designers face a handful of critical high-level [...]

By |2019-09-04T13:27:55-04:00September 4th, 2019|long-term care financing, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Medicare For All Has Nothing To Do With Medicare. Call It Something Else  

This week’s second round of debates among Democratic presidential hopefuls is producing a (mostly healthy) conversation about health insurance. But for normal people, much of the argument is enormously confusing. What are these candidates talking about? And how are their plans different from today’s Medicare and from one another? One way to make this debate more comprehensible is to drop [...]

By |2019-07-31T15:26:44-04:00July 31st, 2019|Medicare|0 Comments