U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will announce a plan on Thursday to ensure equal access to employment, education, housing, and health care for people with disabilities.
Harris, a U.S. senator from California and one of 20 Democrats competing against Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election, will highlight how her Medicare for All healthcare proposition would cover long-term, in-home facilities and early screening for people with disabilities, according to a preview of her campaign’s strategy.
Harris will also pledge to build senior White House positions for individuals with disabilities and use the executive power of the president to direct the housing and transportation departments to require financing recipients to demonstrate that projects will be fully available before they receive the cash, her campaign said.
“When we ensure that every American with disabilities is able to fully participate in our schools, our workplaces, and all aspects of our communities, our country is stronger,” Harris said in a statement.
If voted to ratify U.S. participation in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Harris will pledge to advance. She will also strive to raise financing for the vocational rehabilitation program from the Department of Education, which provides grants to countries to assist disabled people find and maintain employment.
As of August 2018, approximately one in four adults in the U.S. — about 61 million Americans — had a disability that, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. , “impact major life activities.”
Trump’s budget plan suggested to cut national expenditure, including by setting set quantities for Medicaid, the government’s health insurance program for the poor and disabled, which would be provided by the federal government.
More than 10 million disabled people are eligible for Medicaid coverage, and disability proponents have strongly criticized Trump’s budget proposal.
According to RespectAbility, a non-partisan disability rights group, about 74 percent of probable electors in the 2018 parliamentary elections either had a disability or a near relative or friend with one.
The Luntz Global survey of 1,000 probable voters for RespectAbility showed that 34% were swing voters, 36% were Democrats, and 29% were Republicans. Individuals with a disability were more probable than those without one to attend a latest political rally, the survey discovered.