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Health Policy

The Health Policy team advances health coverage, health care access and affordability, public health and equity, social determinants of health, and quality and efficiency in health care payment and delivery.

A health care professional measures a worker's blood pressure, 2005. (Getty/Smith Collection/Gado/Centers for Disease Control/CDC Connects)

What We're Doing

Building a strong, thriving, and equitable public health system

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored how essential a robust public health system is to safeguarding America’s health and well-being. We are working to ensure that the system is sustainable, well-funded, and ready to respond to future health threats. We also advance policies to reduce exposure to toxins and improve resilience to other threats, such as extreme weather events, that jeopardize the public’s health—especially in vulnerable communities.

Making health care accessible in ways that people can feel

Health insurance is only valuable if people can use it. We are working to bolster high-quality health coverage for everyone in America. We elevate policy solutions to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, lower out-of-pocket costs, make it easier for people to access their benefits, and close coverage gaps. We are also working to ensure that the Medicare program is meeting the needs of older Americans and are advocating for policies to dramatically lower the costs of prescription drugs.

Tackling high health care prices and combating anticompetitive behavior

America’s exceptional health care spending levels are driven by high prices and market concentration. We elevate policy solutions to combat further health care consolidation and to tamp down on anti-competitive behaviors across the health care industry. This includes shining a light on where money in health care is actually going, where market power lives, and who is profiting along the way. We also promote strong regulatory action to counter corporate greed in service of lowering health care prices for everyone.

Advancing health equity and dismantling structural barriers to health

Our health policy efforts are grounded in advancing health equity. In all that we do, we work to center the experiences and priorities of those with the most at stake—including low-income people, people of color, women, LGBTQI+ people, and people living with disabilities—in our efforts to improve health care access, reduce costs, and create healthy communities and systems that protect people from health threats. We also work in close partnership with others across the organization to advance policy changes that combat the structural barriers that prevent many people in America from equally sharing in health and prosperity.

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CAP Responds to Request for Information on Consolidation in Health Care Markets Article

CAP Responds to Request for Information on Consolidation in Health Care Markets

The Center for American Progress submitted a response to the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ request for information on consolidation in health care markets.

Natasha Murphy, Nicole Rapfogel, Alexandra Thornton, 3 More Marc Jarsulic, Andrea Ducas, Brian Keyser

Lowering Costs for American Families Past Event

Lowering Costs for American Families

Join CAP for a conversation with Neera Tanden, Domestic Policy Advisor to President Joe Biden.

Center for American Progress

Event Recap: State Policy Efforts To Enhance Consumer Protections in Health Care and Improve the Value of Insurance Article
End of a hospital bed seen through a door

Event Recap: State Policy Efforts To Enhance Consumer Protections in Health Care and Improve the Value of Insurance

The second session in the Center for American Progress’ state health care affordability series highlighted policies that Connecticut, Tennessee, and Texas have implemented to address common barriers that undermine affordability and compromise access to care.

Natasha Murphy

State Policy Efforts To Improve Prescription Drug Affordability for Consumers Past Event

State Policy Efforts To Improve Prescription Drug Affordability for Consumers

Join the Center for American Progress for a virtual discussion with state officials on initiatives to lower pharmaceutical costs and improve affordability and access.

Center for American Progress | Online

Film Screening: ‘The Bitter Pill’ Past Event

Film Screening: ‘The Bitter Pill’

A documentary about the biggest civil litigation in U.S. history that took on pharmaceutical companies and their role in the opioid epidemic. The film will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.

Center For American Progress | 1333 H St. NW Washington DC 20005 | In-Person Only | Registration for this event has closed.

Event Recap: Affordability Beyond Premiums Article
Registered nurses sit at their desks while working at a medical center.

Event Recap: Affordability Beyond Premiums

The first session in the Center for American Progress’ state health care affordability series highlighted policies in New Mexico, California, and New Jersey to lower out-of-pocket costs for marketplace enrollees.

Natasha Murphy

2024 Affordable Care Act Marketplace Plan Selections by Congressional District Interactive
A staff nurse checks a patient at a hospital.

2024 Affordable Care Act Marketplace Plan Selections by Congressional District

A new CAP interactive explores the proportion of nonelderly people who made federally facilitated marketplace plan selections during the 2024 open enrollment period by congressional district. Without congressional action, consumers will lose the enhanced financial assistance that supported record levels of enrollment.

Nicole Rapfogel

Monthly Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Savings by State Interactive
Farxiga, Xarelto, Entresto, and Eliquis are made available to customers at the New City Halsted Pharmacy in Chicago.

Monthly Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Savings by State

Medicare drug price negotiation will result in thousands of dollars in net price savings for 30-day supplies of the first 10 drugs undergoing negotiation; here’s how those savings add up state by state.

Nicole Rapfogel

Executive Summary: How Federal Investments in Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Are Improving Public Health Fact Sheet
Photo shows a hand holding a clear glass underneath a running faucet

Executive Summary: How Federal Investments in Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Are Improving Public Health

This fact sheet summarizes a recent Center for American Progress report highlighting the use of federal investments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to replace dangerous lead service lines and advance public health among vulnerable communities.

Jill Rosenthal, Allie Schneider, Hailey Gibbs, 1 More Mariam Rashid

CAP Files Amicus Curiae Briefs Highlighting Importance of the Inflation Reduction Act in Lowering Drug Prices Article

CAP Files Amicus Curiae Briefs Highlighting Importance of the Inflation Reduction Act in Lowering Drug Prices

These briefs emphasize the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare prescription drug price negotiation program for affordability and health equity.

Sophia Weaver, Marquisha Johns, Andrea Ducas, 3 More Jamie Crooks, Devon Ombres, Ben Olinsky

CAP Files Amicus Curiae Brief Highlighting Importance of the Inflation Reduction Act in Lowering Drug Prices Article

CAP Files Amicus Curiae Brief Highlighting Importance of the Inflation Reduction Act in Lowering Drug Prices

This brief, filed by the Center for American Progress and the NAACP in response to Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al., emphasizes the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare prescription drug price negotiation program for affordability and health equity.

Sophia Weaver, Marquisha Johns, Andrea Ducas

2023 CAP IDEAS Conference Past Event
CAP IDEAS Conference logo

2023 CAP IDEAS Conference

Join the Center for American Progress as we celebrate 20 years of innovative policy solutions and look boldly forward to a progressive future.

CAP Comments on the EPA’s Proposed Rule on Lead Dust Levels in Child-Occupied Facilities Article

CAP Comments on the EPA’s Proposed Rule on Lead Dust Levels in Child-Occupied Facilities

The Center for American Progress submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in response to the agency’s proposed lower lead dust hazard standards and clearance levels for child-occupied homes and child care facilities.

Jill Rosenthal, Hailey Gibbs, Allie Schneider

Executive Summary: A Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach to Tackling the Opioid Crisis Fact Sheet

Executive Summary: A Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach to Tackling the Opioid Crisis

This fact sheet summarizes a recent Center for American Progress report outlining the need for a whole-of-government, society-wide approach to addressing the complex challenges posed by the opioid overdose epidemic.

Trinh Q. Truong, Debu Gandhi, Jill Rosenthal, 5 More Marquisha Johns, Mariam Rashid, Dan Restrepo, Akua Amaning, Cleo Bluthenthal

Tackling the Opioid Crisis Requires a Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach Report
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents sift through packages in search of fentanyl.

Tackling the Opioid Crisis Requires a Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach

The opioid epidemic is a complex public health crisis that can be ameliorated by addressing root causes of drug use; expanding access to treatment and harm reduction strategies; and reducing the supply of illicit opioids entering the United States.

Trinh Q. Truong, Debu Gandhi, Jill Rosenthal, 5 More Marquisha Johns, Mariam Rashid, Dan Restrepo, Akua Amaning, Cleo Bluthenthal

The Health Care Costs of Extreme Heat Report

The Health Care Costs of Extreme Heat

Daily climate and health care utilization data from Virginia illuminate the health care costs of extreme heat, which amount to approximately $1 billion every summer when extrapolated nationally.

Steven Woolf, Joseph Morina, Evan French, 6 More Adam Funk, Roy Sabo, Stephen Fong, Jeremy Hoffman, Derek Chapman, Alex Krist

The Biden Administration’s Move To Regulate Forever Chemicals in Water Is a Win for Public Health and Infrastructure Report
Hand holding collection jug under one faucet in a line of running faucets

The Biden Administration’s Move To Regulate Forever Chemicals in Water Is a Win for Public Health and Infrastructure

The Biden administration is proposing bold action to regulate dangerous chemicals in drinking water—and is coupling these regulations with critical funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to help local water systems come into compliance.

Sarah Millender, Jill Rosenthal

Public and Private Investments Are Poised To Transform Michigan Report
A worker works on the bed of one of Ford’s battery-powered F-150 Lightning trucks.

Public and Private Investments Are Poised To Transform Michigan

The historic home of the automotive industry, Michigan, stands to benefit from major infrastructure improvements and new plants for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries, especially if it incorporates public input and builds worker power to grow the middle class.

David Ballard, Lily Roberts, Marina Zhavoronkova, 4 More Kevin DeGood, Emily Gee, Jessica Vela, Karla Walter

Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Could Benefit Millions of Seniors Article

Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Could Benefit Millions of Seniors

The first 10 drugs negotiated under the Inflation Reduction Act are likely to include treatments for chronic conditions—such as diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune disorders—and be used by millions of beneficiaries.

Nicole Rapfogel

CAP’s Comments on FDA Draft Guidance for Lead Levels in Foods Marketed to Babies and Young Children Article

CAP’s Comments on FDA Draft Guidance for Lead Levels in Foods Marketed to Babies and Young Children

The Center for American Progress submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in response to the agency’s proposed draft guidance intended to reduce lead in foods marketed for infants and young children.

Jill Rosenthal, Hailey Gibbs, Allie Schneider

Empowering State Attorneys General To Fight Health Care Consolidation Report
Photo shows an exterior view of a tan-colored hospital

Empowering State Attorneys General To Fight Health Care Consolidation

To address hospital consolidation, improve competition, and protect consumers from higher health care costs, state legislatures should act to strengthen and support state attorneys general antitrust enforcement authority.

Sam Hughes, Natasha Murphy

How the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity Can Respond to the Health Threats of the Climate Crisis Report

How the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity Can Respond to the Health Threats of the Climate Crisis

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Climate Change and Health Equity must elevate the health and environmental justice implications of the climate crisis and provide the connective tissue needed to harness resources, leverage authorities, and coordinate federal expertise.

Jill Rosenthal, Marquisha Johns

Film Screening: ‘InHospitable’ Past Event

Film Screening: ‘InHospitable’

This documentary film sheds light on the impacts of hospital consolidation and the conduct of non-profit hospitals.

Center for American Progress

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