Democrats have fought for universal health care for a century. They are proud to be the party of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. Because of the Obama-Biden Administration and the Affordable Care Act, more than 100 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, from heart disease to asthma, are secure in the knowledge that insurance companies can no longer discriminate against them. Women can no longer be charged more than men just because of their gender. And more Americans can get health coverage than ever before.
Unfortunately, at every turn, Democrats’ efforts to guarantee health coverage have been met by obstruction and opposition from the Republican Party. It has been Republicans who have embraced junk plans that undermine protections for pre-existing conditions. It was Republican state attorneys general who sued to block Medicaid expansion and Republican governors who refused to extend Medicaid coverage to their citizens, leaving millions of low-income Americans, disproportionately people of color, unable to access health coverage. And in the midst of the worst global pandemic in generations—one that has left more than 150,000 Americans dead and counting—the Trump Administration is fighting in court to invalidate the entirety of the Affordable Care Act and eliminate insurance for tens of millions of people. Overturning the Affordable Care Act remains a central plank of the Republican Party platform. The difference in values between the two parties on this life-or-death issue could not be more stark.
Democrats will always fight to save Americans’ lives by making it easier and more affordable to go to the doctor, get prescription medicines, and access preventive testing and treatments.
Generations of Democrats have been united in the fight for universal health care. We are proud our party welcomes advocates who want to build on and strengthen the Affordable Care Act and those who support a Medicare for All approach; all are critical to ensuring that health care is a human right.
- Securing Universal Health Care Through a Public Option
- Bringing Down Drug Prices and Taking on the Pharmaceutical Industry
- Reducing Health Care Costs and Improving Health Care Quality
- Expanding Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment
- Expanding Long-Term Care Services and Supports
- Eliminate Racial, Gender, and Geographic Health Inequities
- Protecting Native American Health
- Securing Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice
- Protecting and Promoting Maternal Health
- Protecting LGBTQ+ Health
- Strengthening and Supporting the Health Care Workforce
- Investing in Health Science and Research
For years, Republican elected officials—including the previous Administration—have tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which gives millions of Americans access to quality, affordable health coverage. Just last week, House Republicans released another extreme budget that would rip coverage away from millions of Americans while doing Big Pharma’s bidding to drive up prescription drug costs.
The budget from the Republican Study Committee—which represents 100% of House Republican leadership and 80% of House Republicans—would:
- Slash $4.5 trillion from the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. These devastating cuts would take health care away from millions of Americans.
- Ripping away coverage for more than 45 million people enrolled in ACA coverage and Medicaid expansion. The Republican budget completely strips funding from the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace and Medicaid expansion—programs that cover 45 million people.
- Turning Medicaid into block grants would threaten coverage and care for an additional over 60 million Americans with Medicaid. States would be forced to make it harder to qualify and enroll in coverage, cut critical benefits, or both, threatening coverage for millions of children and families.
- Threatening care for seniors and people with disabilities. Over seven million seniors and people with disabilities relying on Medicaid home care services could see it cut or taken away altogether, with ballooning wait lists for those who still need care. Hundreds of thousands of nursing home residents would be at risk of lower-quality care if Medicaid had to cut nursing home payments.
- Eliminate critical consumer protections. Millions of consumers are protected from insurance company abuses by the ACA, but the Republican budget sides with insurance companies to roll back these critical protections.
- Over 100 million people with pre-existing conditions could be denied or charged more for coverage.
- Older adults could face higher premiums. Health insurance premiums would skyrocket, especially for people in their 50s and 60s.
- Insurance companies would be allowed to rip off Americans with junk insurance products. The Republican budget promotes the sale of junk insurance products, which can scam consumers and leave them on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in expenses.
- Slash Medicare by turning it into a “premium support” program. In contrast with the President’s plan to protect and strengthen Medicare by lowering drug prices and making the wealthy pay their fair share, the House Republican budget would convert Medicare to a “premium support” program that would raise premiums for millions of seniors.
- Raise prescription drug prices for seniors and give massive handouts to Big Pharma. The Republican Budget would side with Big Pharma to increase drug prices and seniors’ out-of-pocket costs by repealing the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Medicare would no longer be able to negotiate lower drug prices. Big Pharma would once again be allowed to set whatever price they want, leaving seniors and taxpayers on the hook and facing higher prices.
- Big Pharma would no longer pay Medicare back when they increase drug prices faster than inflation, allowing them to jack up prices with no accountability.
- Seniors would go back to paying up to $400 for insulin, instead of the $35 price cap per monthly insulin prescription they have today.
- Seniors would face higher costs if the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap on drug costs is eliminated.
