WE SUPPORT HOUSE DEMOCRATS

HEALTH CARE AGENDA FOR 2026 AND 2027

We support Democratic leaders' efforts in the House to reverse the decline in health coverage and make medical care more affordable. The proposals now being developed would restore assistance for people buying private insurance, reverse recent Medicaid cuts, lower prescription drug costs, and potentially expand access to Medicare. With millions of Americans losing coverage or facing higher costs, these steps are important and point in the right direction.

In June 2026, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries selected Representatives Terri Sewell and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to lead the House Democrats' Cost of Living Healthcare Working Group, created to develop policies to lower health care costs and expand access.

One priority is restoring the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired at the end of 2025. These subsidies helped millions of people afford private insurance through the ACA marketplaces. After they expired and premiums increased, marketplace enrollment fell by 2.2 million between December 2025 and February 2026. Restoring that assistance would directly address one reason people are losing coverage: the rising cost of keeping it.

Another priority is reversing recent Medicaid cuts. Medicaid enrollment fell by 4.8 million between May 2025 and May 2026, and further losses are expected as additional provisions of the 2025 budget law take effect. Reversing those cuts would help prevent millions of lower-income Americans from losing an important source of health coverage.

The proposals also target prescription drug costs. Insurance alone does not make health care affordable when patients still struggle to pay for the medications they need. Reducing drug prices would address another part of the problem by making necessary treatment more affordable for people who already have coverage.

House Democratic leaders are also considering lowering the Medicare eligibility age, currently 65. This could give older Americans another path to affordable coverage before reaching the current eligibility age, when private insurance can be particularly expensive.

Together, these proposals address the health care crisis from several directions: reversing Medicaid cuts, making private insurance more affordable, reducing prescription drug costs, and expanding access to Medicare.

The United States should not accept declining health coverage and rising medical costs as inevitable. We support efforts to reverse that trend and move toward a system in which more Americans can afford both health insurance and the medical care they need.

Reps. Sewell and Ocasio-Cortez Selected to Co-Convene House Democrats' Cost of Living Healthcare Working Group (Rep. Sewell 6-22-26)

Health care affordability leads Democrats’ agenda as they seek to take Congress (The Washington Post, 9-3-26)

Analysis Finds Up to 10 Million People Have Lost Healthcare Coverage During Trump’s Second Term (Common Dreams, 9-3-26)