5 Surprising Ways Retiring Could Be Easier Financially Under Harris
Written by
Stacy Sare Cohen
Edited by
Ashley Barnett
Commitment to Our Readers
GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.
20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
If you’re over 65, you might wonder what’s in store for you if Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris becomes the next president of the U.S.
Vice President Harris’ position on the economy aligns closely with that of President Biden when it comes to Social Security and Medicare. However, while she’s trying to get the vote, she hasn’t laid out her hand as to a specific plan for retirees.
One can predict that Harris’ track record as vice president, senator of California and Attorney General would give a good indication of where she stands on policy issues for seniors.
Some of her past initiatives affecting retirees include lowering the price of prescription drugs, expanding Medicare, and providing additional funding for Medicaid and long-term care.
If Harris continues her policies in the same vein, here are six surprising ways retiring could be easier on your finances (and lives) if she wins the White House.
1. Lower the Price of Prescription Drugs
So far, the Democrats under the Biden Administration have successfully negotiated the costs of 20 prescription drugs to go into effect from 2026 to 2029. However, there is still a long way to go in Harris’ mind.
She promises to speed up that timeline and increase the number of drug negotiations to 15 drugs that fall under Medicare Part D in 2025, 15 Part B and Part D drugs in 2026 and up to 20 every year moving forward, according to her vice president statement announcement from the White House released on August 15, 2024.
However, Harris has not endorsed the Democratic platform’s goal of increasing drug price negotiations to 500 by 2030.
Find Out: 5 Things That Could Happen to Medicare If Vice President Harris Wins
2. Expand Medicare Benefits to Include Vision, Hearing, and Dental
Vice President Harris has pledged to expand Medicare Benefits to include vision, hearing, and dental coverage. This could provide a ray of hope for retirees frustrated with their existing healthcare plans, offering them more comprehensive and inclusive coverage.
3. Use the Social Security Expansion Act to Fund Social Security
Without significant changes to the Social Security Trust Fund, the program would become bankrupt in a decade, said Howard Gleckman, an affiliate of the Tax Policy Center and the Retirement Policy Program.
According to Gleckmman, this would result in a median annual benefit cut of $5,900 and could throw millions of retirees into poverty.
While Harris promises to protect Social Security and Medicare she hasn’t announced exactly how she would achieve this. However, she might propose ideas from the Social Security Expansion Act, a bill she co-sponsored with Bernie Sanders, which was introduced into the Senate on February 13, 2023 with the following benefit and tax changes.
- Increase primary insurance for some recipients.
- Amend the method of determining cost of living adjustment (COLA).
- Establish a new minimum benefit for low-income beneficiaries.
- Allow some children of retirees, disabled, and retired workers to receive benefits up to age 22 if they attend school full time.
- Combine the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund with the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund into one Social Security fund.
- Increase Social Security Tax to those earning over $250,000 and expand the tax to also include income earned from investments.
4. Lowering the Cost of Living a Priority
Inflation and price gouging have impacted many Americans in the past few years, especially retirees living on a fixed income. Harris has said lowering the cost of living and gas prices is her main priority, which are also Americans’ biggest pain points. The real question is whether she’s making it her highest priority to “get the vote” or has a strategy in place.
5. Increase Funding for Medicaid Long-Term Home Care
Harris has been instrumental as vice president in providing federal funding and support for older Americans in nursing homes and Medicaid home care programs and has focused on the following changes.
- Hardened nursing home staff ratio requirements to better serve patients.
- Enforced safety compliance regulations.
- Expanded federal funding for Medicaid-funded long-term care programs such as managed long-term care (MLTCs).
- Increased wages for in-home healthcare workers, including home attendants and certified nursing assistants.
- Supported Biden’s 2025 budget plan to increase federal funding for Medicaid home care by $150 billion by 2035.
While Harris hasn’t talked much about her initiatives for retired Americans, she has spoken about the significance of creating a “caring economy for eldercare as well as families.”
One can only wonder where Harris’s plans for retirees stand on the priority list of other pressing issues, including COLA, price gouging, reproductive rights, family paid leave, energy efficiency, and millions of housing units for families.
Editor’s note on election coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
More From GOBankingRates
