This four-part sequence examines the candidates’ positions and coverage proposals in an effort to chop by means of the noise and spotlight the place Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on vital points going through People on this election. Info is sourced from marketing campaign web sites and what the candidates have stated on the path and in interviews.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have starkly completely different positions on well being care and reproductive rights—maybe most evident of their method to abortion.
Bettering well being take care of People has been a urgent concern for many years, with the pandemic shining a lightweight on the dysfunction and inefficiencies of an antiquated system the place a few third of all prices stem from bureaucratic and administrative bills.
The U.S. spends twice as a lot on well being care per capita in comparison with different rich nations, however ranks among the many lowest in lots of vital well being indicators.
The Inexpensive Care Act was a noble effort to deal with a few of these lingering issues and increase entry to well being care. The Committee to Defend Well being Care PAC launched a letter signed by 1,500 docs calling on Trump, who pledged throughout his first run for the White Home to “repeal and replace” the measure, to clarify his well being care plan and inform voters what he intends to do with the ACA if elected. As for Harris, she stated through the presidential debate on Sept. 10 that she intends to strengthen the ACA.
Kamala Harris’ Well being Care Plan
Harris’ well being care proposals include way more specifics than Trump’s, with a give attention to increasing entry and bringing down prices. The vice chairman has additionally made reproductive rights a core tenet of her marketing campaign. She goals to revive entry to abortion and set up protections for ladies throughout the nation.
Set up paid household and medical depart
Harris pledges to revitalize Congress’ Household and Medical Depart Act (FMLA), which presently affords People 12 weeks off—unpaid. Harris has additionally spoken about the necessity to enact paid household depart and different types of help. “Every worker should be able to take time off to care for themselves or for the people they love,” she stated.
Spend money on inexpensive little one care
The vice chairman would restrict the quantity working households pay for little one care to 7% of their earnings.
Develop Medicare to cowl in-home take care of the aged and disabled
Harris states on her marketing campaign web site that she’ll “fight to lower care costs for American families, including by expanding high-quality home care services for seniors and people with disabilities.” Asserting her proposal throughout an look on “The View,” Harris stated the measure is supposed to assist the so-called “sandwich generation”—these with youngsters and fogeys to maintain on the similar time. The coverage goals to unencumber funds and time for caregivers who’ve traditionally needed to depart their employers and lose earnings to take care of aged mother and father or disabled family members.
Signal nationwide abortion safety into regulation
Harris pledges to signal a regulation reinstating Roe v. Wade and the federal proper to abortion if Congress passes it. This is able to exceed any state regulation that bans or enormously restricts abortion entry.
Decrease prescription drug prices
She proposes decreasing prescription drug prices by putting in a $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket drug prices for these with personal insurance coverage.
Defend and increase the ACA
Harris advocates for holding the ACA intact and increasing it. She has emphasised the significance of preserving the ACA by recalling Trump’s efforts to repeal it. The coverage, applied by President Barack Obama in 2010, offered insurance coverage for greater than 21 million People in 2024.
Donald Trump’s Well being Care Plan
Trump’s well being care plan hasn’t been fleshed out regardless of years of guarantees. His marketing campaign web site has little on the subject apart from broad statements about growing “transparency” and selling “choice and competition.” The previous president, who additionally takes nice pleasure in claiming accountability for the Supreme Courtroom overturning Roe v. Wade, has admitted that he has simply “concepts of a plan” for bettering the American well being care system.
Lack of proposals or obscure solutions on the ACA
In 2016, Trump campaigned on repealing and changing the ACA. He failed whereas in workplace. Trump has continued his push to repeal the ACA and change it with a plan he claims could be extra inexpensive—with out offering particulars. “I had a choice to make when I was president: do I save it and make it as good as it can be—never going to be great—or do I let it rot? I felt I had an obligation, even though, politically, it would have been good to just let it rot and let it go away,” Trump stated on the Sept. 10 presidential debate.
Murky proposal on nationwide abortion ban—”depart it to states”
Because the president who nominated three Supreme Courtroom justices liable for overturning Roe v. Wade, Trump has expressed pleasure—and campaigned on—the choice. Nonetheless, he has additionally stated that he would veto a federal regulation banning abortion and believes particular person states ought to resolve the difficulty. Trump praised “the courage” of the justices for overturning the longstanding federal safety of abortion throughout an all-women city corridor on Oct. 16, claiming that People needed abortion “brought out of federal government and brought back to the states.”
Finish transgender care
Trump has made it a marketing campaign concern to maintain males out of girls’s sports activities, ban taxpayer funding for gender reassignment surgical procedures, and cease colleges from supporting gender transition.
Enlist his daughter to determine little one care coverage
“Child care is a No. 1 priority, and I have no choice because I have a daughter named Ivanka… and that’s all she talks to me about is child care for the people,” Trump stated on the Oct. 16 city corridor. “We put in a great child care and we’ll be expanding that, and that will help you a lot,” the previous president informed the all-women viewers.
