Partners,
As the priorities of the new congress take shape, it’s clear we’re facing very real threats to health care coverage, access and affordability, including potential cuts to critical safety net programs such as Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act that will hurt consumers and our communities.
Today, the Consumers First coalition is urging Congress to take a different path with the release of its 2025 Legislative Agenda: Policy Solutions for the 119th Congress to Drive Value Into the U.S. Health Care System. Consumers First brings together diverse organizations representing families, working people, employers and primary care clinicians to redesign the economic inventiveness of healthcare payment and delivery that drive unaffordable, low-quality healthcare.
Voters sent a clear message in this election that inflation and the costs of everyday necessities, including healthcare, are just too high. If congress is serious about lowering costs, including health care costs, this agenda offers real bipartisan solutions that will improve health care affordability and save hundreds of billions of dollars. Consumers First urges Congress to pursue solutions to:
- Drive down costs and improve quality for consumers, working people, and employers by addressing consolidated healthcare markets and removing distortions created by ineffective payment systems.
- Lower prescription drug costs for our nation’s families.
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Increase price and quality transparency to create a more efficient, fair and equitable health care system.
- Establish national data-sharing and interoperability standards to reduce waste and improve health care quality.
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Develop and implement a national health workforce strategy to address persistent shortages and improve care delivery.
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This agenda is the work of the coalition’s steering committee, which includes AFSCME, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Benefits Council, Purchaser Business Group on Health, and Families USA.
Read the full agenda.
This is an important moment for all of us as advocates to send a clear message to Congress to deliver on this agenda for the people of this country, and by doing so providing meaningful alternatives to harmful cuts to the social safety net. We are calling on the broader health advocacy community to join us and take the following collective actions to advance a true affordability agenda to promote affordable health care and help fight against disastrous cuts to Medicaid and other social safety net programs.
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