Abortion
Harris' Stance:
- Harris supported abortion rights throughout her Senate career; preserving those rights is expected to be a central part of her campaign.
- She is believed to be the first vice president ever to visit an abortion clinic -- a Planned Parenthood facility in Minnesota in March.
- Two months earlier, in Wisconsin, she kicked off her "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms" tour, highlighting the harms of extreme abortion bans.
- In July, Harris pledged that if Congress passed a law to preserve the right to abortion nationwide, she would sign it.
- Abortion-rights groups were quick to endorse Harris after Biden ended his campaign; anti-abortion groups seem alarmed by her unflinching commitment to the issue.
Healthcare Reform
Harris' Stance:
- In 2019, during her first presidential campaign, Harris voiced support for Medicare for All, then appeared to waver on that approach.
- Soon afterwards, she introduced "KamalaCare," a more moderate proposal that preserved a role for private health plans and suggested a 10-year glide path to a single-payer system. However, in late July, a Harris spokesperson said that Harris "will not push single payer as president."
- As California's Attorney General, Harris defended the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) constitutionality in multiple amicus briefs.
- She is expected to extend the enhanced ACA subsidies, which will otherwise sunset at the end of 2025. These subsidies help Americans afford health insurance on the exchanges by capping premiums at a percentage of their income on a sliding scale.
- Harris is also expected to work to expand Medicaid coverage in the 10 remaining non-expansion states.
- As for Medicare, she previously supported President's Biden's plan to increase taxes for Americans who earn more than $400,000 annually to help keep the program solvent.
Healthcare Costs, Drug Prices
Harris' Stance:
- During her first presidential campaign in 2019, Harris proposed granting the HHS secretary the authority to set a fair price for all drugs sold nationally based on prices in other developed countries.
- Harris supported "march-in rights," a provision of the Bayh-Dole Act that allows the government to seize control of patents for high-priced drugs under certain circumstances. She also supported drug importation for high-priced drugs.
- As California's attorney general, she took on healthcare consolidation and anti-competitive pricing among insurers, hospital chains, and drug companies, laying the groundwork for a landmark lawsuit against Sutter Health.
- Harris is expected to continue to defend the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which, for the first time ever, allowed the HHS secretary to negotiate the prices of 10 select drugs. Multiple drug companies and other stakeholders have sued the government over the negotiation process, but, to date, the government has won every case.
- For Medicare beneficiaries, the IRA also capped insulin prices at $35 per month and will cap out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 annually for Part D prescription drugs beginning in 2025.
- Harris has said she would support extending the IRA's cost protections to Americans who are not Medicare enrollees.
Maternal Health
Harris' Stance:
- As a senator, Harris was one of the leading co-sponsors of the "Momnibus," a package of more than a dozen bills that addressed drivers of maternal mortality and morbidity, with a focus on Black women.
- In December 2021, she led the White House's first Maternal Health Day of Action Summit.
- In June 2022, the Biden administration released a blueprint for addressing the maternal health crisis, which included plans to expand and diversify the perinatal workforce, increase access to behavioral healthcare, and encourage states to apply for waivers to expand Medicaid coverage from 60 days postpartum to 12 months. As of May, 46 states and the District of Columbia have adopted such policies.
Pandemic Response
Harris' Stance:
- In 2020, then-vice presidential nominee Harris said she would not trust a COVID-19 vaccine that Trump distributed before the election, unless a "credible" source could ensure its safety.
- Harris, however, did receive a COVID vaccine in December 2020 on live television.
- She also publicly supported vaccines, boosters, and masks, casting them as tools to help schools and businesses reopen.
- In July 2023, the Biden-Harris administration, responding to congressional legislation, launched a new Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy.
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