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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 Working On

What We're Doing

Strengthening public health systems

The COVID-19 pandemic and increasing intensity of extreme weather conditions and natural disasters have exposed the many inequities and weaknesses in the United States’ public health infrastructure. We focus on improving health equity by investing in public health; addressing the social, economic, and environmental factors that affect health; and preparing for and mitigating future health threats.

Improving access to affordable health coverage

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

Lowering health care prices and consumer costs

Health care affordability is a top consumer concern, and out-of-pocket costs for health care and prescription drugs are inaccessibly high for many. One of our key priorities is improving America’s health by protecting consumers and lowering costs to ensure that all people can afford to manage their health. We also work to combat the upstream drivers of high health care costs and prices, including excessive levels of consolidation and anticompetitive health care practices.

 

Increasing vaccination rates to prevent death and disease

Vaccination is key to avoiding preventable illness, death, and economic loss. We promote policies to ensure a robust vaccine supply, to provide people with no-cost access to vaccines, and to combat vaccine misinformation and disinformation.

Center for American Progress

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By the Numbers

41%

About 4 in 10 adults report having debt due to medical or dental bills.

KFF, “Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs” (2024).

Source

$1B each summer

The health care costs from hospital admissions and emergency department visits due to extreme heat days.

CAP, “The Health Care Costs of Extreme Heat” (2023).

The Health Care Costs of Extreme Heat

$1.3T

Without reform, Medicare is at risk of overpaying Medicare Advantage plans between $1.3 trillion and $2 trillion over the next decade.

CAP, “Ending Overpayment in Medicare Advantage” (2024).

A man reads literature on Medicare at an event sponsored by MetroPlus in New York City.
Ending Overpayment in Medicare Advantage

1 in 3

The proportion of community health center sites that are located in areas of high relative climate vulnerability.

CAP, “Climate-Resilient Health Care Promotes Public Health, Equity, and Climate Justice” (2024).

Climate-Resilient Health Care Promotes Public Health, Equity, and Climate Justice

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Project 2025’s Medicare Changes Would Restrict Older Americans’ Access to Care and Imperil the Program’s Financial Health Article
Close-up on hands tipping pills out of a bottle onto a table; pill organizer nearby

Project 2025’s Medicare Changes Would Restrict Older Americans’ Access to Care and Imperil the Program’s Financial Health

By making Medicare Advantage—privatized Medicare—the default option for all Medicare enrollees, Project 2025’s plan would lead to a multibillion-dollar giveaway to corporations that would limit older Americans’ health care choices while putting Medicare’s future at risk.

Brian Keyser, Andrea Ducas

Event Recap: State Policy Efforts To Avert and Alleviate Medical Debt Article
The back of a nurse is seen as they tend to a patient in a hospital bed.

Event Recap: State Policy Efforts To Avert and Alleviate Medical Debt

The fourth session in the Center for American Progress’ state health care affordability series highlighted policies in Minnesota and Oregon as well as model legislation aimed at protecting consumers from the financial burdens of medical debt.

Natasha Murphy

State Policy Efforts to Avert and Alleviate Medical Debt Past Event

State Policy Efforts to Avert and Alleviate Medical Debt

Join the Center for American Progress for a virtual discussion with state officials and legal experts on policy options to protect consumers from the financial burdens of medical debt.

Supreme Court Dismisses Idaho v. United States Without Making a Decision on Emergency Abortion Care
The U.S. Supreme Court is pictured on June 26, 2024, a day before issuing its ruling in Idaho v. United States.

Supreme Court Dismisses Idaho v. United States Without Making a Decision on Emergency Abortion Care

While the merits of Idaho v. United States will be decided by the lower courts, the U.S. Supreme Court admitted to procedural miscalculations that directly compromised the safety of pregnant patients in Idaho—underscoring how pregnant patients and medical providers will continue to be caught in the chaos and confusion sowed by the politicization of medication.

Sabrina Talukder

CAP Responds to Request for Information on Consolidation in Health Care Markets Article

CAP Responds to Request for Information on Consolidation in Health Care Markets

The Center for American Progress submitted a response to the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ request for information on consolidation in health care markets.

Natasha Murphy, Nicole Rapfogel, Alexandra Thornton, 3 More Marc Jarsulic, Andrea Ducas, Brian Keyser

Lowering Costs for American Families Past Event

Lowering Costs for American Families

Join CAP for a conversation with Neera Tanden, Domestic Policy Advisor to President Joe Biden.

Abortion Access Mapped by Congressional District: 6-Week Abortion Ban Update Article

Abortion Access Mapped by Congressional District: 6-Week Abortion Ban Update

Florida’s extreme abortion ban for women who reach six weeks of pregnancy has essentially cut off abortion access for women in the South; new analysis by the Center for American Progress maps the latest driving times to an abortion clinic and the changes since the Dobbs decision by congressional district that, as a consequence of reduced abortion access, increase average district driving times by 300 percent nationally.

Sara Estep

Event Recap: State Policy Efforts To Enhance Consumer Protections in Health Care and Improve the Value of Insurance Article
End of a hospital bed seen through a door

Event Recap: State Policy Efforts To Enhance Consumer Protections in Health Care and Improve the Value of Insurance

The second session in the Center for American Progress’ state health care affordability series highlighted policies that Connecticut, Tennessee, and Texas have implemented to address common barriers that undermine affordability and compromise access to care.

Natasha Murphy

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