This four-part collection 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 crucial points dealing with Individuals on this election. Info is sourced from marketing campaign web sites and what the candidates have mentioned 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 look after Individuals has been a urgent problem for many years, with the pandemic shining a lightweight on the dysfunction and inefficiencies of an antiquated system the place a couple of 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 essential well being indicators.
The Reasonably priced 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 medical doctors calling on Trump, who pledged throughout his first run for the White Home to “repeal and replace” the measure, to elucidate his well being care plan and inform voters what he intends to do with the ACA if elected. As for Harris, she mentioned in the course of the presidential debate on Sept. 10 that she intends to strengthen the ACA.
Kamala Harris’ Well being Care Plan
Kamala Harris speaks throughout a city corridor on Oct. 10 in Las Vegas.
Harris’ well being care proposals include much more specifics than Trump’s, with a deal with increasing entry and bringing down prices. The vp 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 Go away Act (FMLA), which at present affords Individuals 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 mentioned.
Put money into inexpensive youngster care
The vp would restrict the quantity working households pay for youngster care to 7% of their earnings.
Increase Medicare to cowl in-home look after 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.” Saying her proposal throughout an look on “The View,” Harris mentioned the measure is supposed to assist the so-called “sandwich generation”—these with kids and fogeys to deal with on the similar time. The coverage goals to liberate funds and time for caregivers who’ve traditionally needed to depart their employers and lose earnings to look after aged mother and father or disabled family members.
Signal nationwide abortion safety into legislation
Harris pledges to signal a legislation reinstating Roe v. Wade and the federal proper to abortion if Congress passes it. This may exceed any state legislation that bans or significantly 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 non-public 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, carried out by President Barack Obama in 2010, offered insurance coverage for greater than 21 million Individuals in 2024.
Donald Trump’s Well being Care Plan
Donald Trump speaks throughout a marketing campaign rally on Oct. 19 in Latrobe, Pa.
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 rising “transparency” and selling “choice and competition.” The previous president, who additionally takes nice pleasure in claiming duty 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 imprecise 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 mentioned 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 accountable for overturning Roe v. Wade, Trump has expressed pleasure—and campaigned on—the choice. Nevertheless, he has additionally mentioned that he would veto a federal legislation 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 Individuals wished abortion “brought out of federal government and brought back to the states.”
Finish transgender care
Trump has made it a marketing campaign problem to maintain males out of ladies’s sports activities, ban taxpayer funding for gender reassignment surgical procedures, and cease colleges from supporting gender transition.
Enlist his daughter to ascertain youngster 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 mentioned 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 instructed the all-women viewers.
