Strengthening Health

We work to strengthen public health systems and improve health care coverage, access, and affordability.

A pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic is seen in California. (Getty/Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)

What We're Doing

Increasing vaccination rates to end the pandemic

Vaccination is key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and avoiding preventable illness, death, and economic loss. We promote equitable vaccine policy and leveraging governmental and employers’ power to promote vaccination and pandemic recovery.

 

Strengthening public health infrastructure

The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed inequities and existing weaknesses in the United States’ public health infrastructure. We’re focused on improving health equity by investing in public health, addressing social and economic factors that affect health, and preparing for future health threats.

 

Improving access to affordable health coverage

We’re dedicated to bolstering affordable, high-quality health coverage options. By building on the Affordable Care Act, closing the Medicaid coverage gap, and innovating progressive solutions, we envision a world in which everyone can access care.

 

Lowering health care prices and consumer costs

Health care affordability is a top consumer concern, and prices for health care and prescription drugs are inaccessibly high for many. One of our key priorities is improving America’s health by lowering costs to ensure all people can afford to manage their health.

 

By the Numbers

1.9

Life expectancy fell by 1.9 years in the pandemic—8.5 times more than peer countries.

Woolf, “Effect of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 on life expectancy across populations” (2021).

2x

The U.S. spends 2 times more as peer countries on health, with 8% lower life expectancy.

CAP, “The Declining Health of Americans” (2021).

7,000

Closing the Medicaid coverage gap would save 7,000 lives per year.

CAP, “Closing the Medicaid Coverage Gap Would Save 7,000 Lives Each Year” (2021).

2.8x

COVID hospitalized Black and Hispanic people at a rate 2.8 times higher than white people.

CDC, “Risk for COVID-19 Infection, Hospitalization, and Death by Race/Ethnicity” (2021).

Recent Work

Latest

Opinion: Leave doctors and patients to make reproductive decisions In the News
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Opinion: Leave doctors and patients to make reproductive decisions

Virginia critical care nurse Cate Weiss writes about how abortion bans criminalize medical care and put medical professionals in legal limbo, which in turn jeopardizes patient care.

Cate Weiss

Dems took on big Pharma, voters like me noticed In the News
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Dems took on big Pharma, voters like me noticed

Lifelong asthma sufferer Carol Brown is eager to see the prescription drug savings from the Inflation Reduction Act. Beginning in 2025, Brown will save thousands of dollars annually due to the $2,000 copay cap.

Carol Brown

What’s the Point? How Shifting Issue Priorities Could Influence the Midterms Article
Photo shows two people at voting booths

What’s the Point? How Shifting Issue Priorities Could Influence the Midterms

Democratic and Republican voters have different priorities heading into the 2022 midterm elections; whichever set of policies drives more political engagement and persuasion among voters will likely determine the outcome this November.

John Halpin

Expanding Access and Protections in States Where Abortion Is Legal Article
Abortion rights advocates holding a large sign that reads

Expanding Access and Protections in States Where Abortion Is Legal

Abortion is protected by state law in more than 20 states, many of which have expanded access to abortion by making it more affordable, codifying state-level reproductive rights, broadening the types of providers able to offer care, and protecting abortion providers and access to clinics.

Kierra B. Jones

Women’s Stories on Economic Justice and Health Care Article

Women’s Stories on Economic Justice and Health Care

This storybook features women in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire whose stories center on issues from prescription drug pricing and health insurance, to child care and paid leave.

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