Pete Buttigieg - Portrait of the youngest candidate in the US presidential race

MOTIVATION FROM FAMILY

While developing a political career is the goal and motivation of most US presidential candidates, Pete Buttigieg is somewhat different. The issue that the young Mayor is aiming for is the story of community health care. This goal originated from a personal problem of his own family.

Before his father died last January, Pete Buttigieg and his mother struggled to arrange the huge financial arrangements to take care of his father's health and illness for a long time. Simply because the current US Medicare health policy does not allow for the payment of most long-term care costs like Pete's family's. A social worker even told the family that the best option would be to spend all their savings; or if the family could prove they met the poverty level, they could receive meager health benefits.

After struggling with health care policy, Pete Buttigieg has set his sights on becoming a presidential candidate. And earlier this week, Pete Buttigieg unveiled a series of ambitious policy proposals designed to prevent similar tragedies for Americans. His plan focuses on ensuring that older Americans have access to affordable long-term care and can be financially independent in retirement.

With a passionate plan called “Dignity and Security in Retirement”, candidate Pete directly calls for a new national program for long-term care health benefits, while strengthening the insurance market in this area.

The highlight of his plan is a benefit program called “Long Term Care America,” which would provide seniors with about $90 a day to cover long-term care costs, such as hiring a home health aide or paying for a nursing home. The policy would apply to individuals 65 and older or those who need help with two or more daily personal activities.

US Democratic Party candidates debate live on television. Photo: AFP/Getty

Pete’s plan also focuses on increasing the number of direct care workers, supporting unpaid family caregivers, promoting access to home care, and expanding Social Security. His plan aims to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for this group. He also proposes creating a National Direct Care Workforce Standards Council to help regulate the industry and contribute to policy on issues such as compensation, training, and hiring.

POTENTIAL CANDIDATE

As the U.S. population has aged in recent years, researchers warn that the country is not ready to handle it. At least half of today’s adults will need long-term care by age 65. And by 2026, the country will need 7.8 million new direct care workers. The average cost of hiring a home health aide is more than $50,000 a year, while a nursing aide costs $100,000 a year.

Mr. Pete Buttigieg speaks to call on voters' support. Photo: Reuters

With such reality, it is clear that candidate Pete Buttigieg has targeted a practical need of the American people. That is the issue of social security and retirement security. In his campaign announcement, candidate Pete affirmed that he is determined to open a new era for older generations of Americans, an era that allows anyone to grow old and retire without having to worry about anything.

Perhaps, this impressive election announcement has drawn more attention to the 37-year-old Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg - Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He is considered by Forbes magazine to be the poorest candidate with only $100,000 in assets; while the richest candidate is billionaire Donald Trump with up to $3.1 billion.

However, Pete does have some experience and a remarkable profile. He has degrees from Harvard and Oxford, worked for global consulting firm McKinsey, served in the US Navy, and was voted Mayor of the Year in 2013 based on criteria such as interestingness, age, qualifications, and background. More importantly, Pete is also a rare Mayor who has come out as gay and has made his personal life public.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (right) publicly announced his gay relationship with his husband Chasten. Photo: The Hill

During his tenure as Mayor, Mr. Pete has also made significant contributions to the city of South Bend. The idea of ​​a “Smart City” to promote economic development, improve road traffic safety, revive green parks, etc. In his campaign statement, in addition to the key issues of health and social security, Mr. Pete also supports tightening gun control, fighting discrimination against the LGBT community, protecting the environment, and fighting climate change, etc.

Of course, despite having significant advantages in age, dynamism and a groundbreaking social security policy, candidate Pete will still have to overcome a series of potential Democratic candidates such as former Vice President Joe Biden or Senator Kamala Harris...

One advantage is that the number of Democrats supporting Pete Buttigieg is on the rise, even surpassing the other candidates. However, it is still unclear which scenario will continue! And that, the public will have to wait until the first round of the Democratic primary election, which will be held early next year, to choose a single candidate to represent the Republican Party. From now until then, Mr. Pete and the other candidates will certainly have a lot of work to do!