CAP works to strengthen public health systems, respond to COVID-19 in equitable and sustainable ways, 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)
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.
Americans Strongly Back Continued Access to Early Abortion Medication
American voters overwhelmingly want to keep the constitutional right to abortion in Roe v. Wade and strongly support legal access to early abortion medication for all women.
Prescription Drug Reform Is a Women’s Economic Security Issue
Lowering the cost of prescription drugs would ensure that women and their families are able to access needed health care while also bolstering their economic security.
2022 State Abortion Bans Are a Patchwork of Increasingly Extreme Laws
As the country awaits the Supreme Court’s final decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, this column highlights the myriad ways in which opponents of abortion are pursuing unprecedented incursions on that fundamental constitutional right.
Expanding access to safe abortion in whatever ways possible is more critical than ever—and a central way of doing so is to make medication abortion more easily accessible.
The Title 42 Expulsion Policy Does Nothing To Prevent the Spread of COVID-19
Issued as a public health measure, there is no statistical evidence that border expulsions under Title 42 result in a lower COVID-19 case rate in the United States.
Americans Will See Health Premiums Rise Sharply Unless Congress Acts Soon
Unless Congress acts soon to extend the American Rescue Plan subsidies, marketplace enrollees will face higher health care costs in 2023 and 3 million people will become uninsured.
How State and Local Leaders Can Prepare for Future COVID-19 Surges
As COVID-19 wanes and governments relax public health measures, policymakers must closely monitor indicators that reflect prevalence and severity, precautions and protections, and treatment availability to maintain readiness for future surges and resume precautions as needed.
COVID-19 Likely Resulted in 1.2 Million More Disabled People by the End of 2021—Workplaces and Policy Will Need to Adapt
Workplaces will need to adapt to significant increases to both the disabled population and disabled workforce, and future labor market analysis must center disability.
Congress Can Expand Health Coverage and Lower Health Costs Now
The reconciliation package should ensure that millions don’t lose enhanced financial assistance and should expand eligibility for marketplace subsidies.
