Center for American Progress

Donate

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.

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

Recent Work

Featured Experts

More Experts

Latest

Compact View

  • Filter by
  • Type
    • Type
    Show Results
  • Date
    • Date
    • Date

    • to

    Custom range Fixed range
  • Topic
    • Topic
    Show Results
  • State
    • State
    Show Results
  • Toggle Search

  • 3097 Results

Clear filters

The Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans’ Plan To Make Billionaires Richer May Make Americans Sicker Article
Cars travel on the highway to and from Los Angeles, which is enveloped in smog.

The Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans’ Plan To Make Billionaires Richer May Make Americans Sicker

The Trump administration and congressional Republicans are working to finance their plans to cut taxes for the ultrawealthy—and they are cutting environmental protection and clean energy programs, endangering American lives and livelihoods, as part of this effort.

Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Lucero Marquez

Research in Ruin: Slashing the NIH Will Stifle Development of Lifesaving Medical Treatments and Harm the Economy Past Event

Research in Ruin: Slashing the NIH Will Stifle Development of Lifesaving Medical Treatments and Harm the Economy

Please join the Center for American Progress for the second in a series of virtual events highlighting the impact that DOGE’s cuts are having on the lives of everyday Americans; this event will focus on how cuts to NIH will limit progress in preventing and curing diseases and damage the economy in the process.

Online only

Medicaid made my brother’s final weeks more peaceful Article

Medicaid made my brother’s final weeks more peaceful

In an op-ed published by NC Newsline, Mia Ives-Rublee describes her family’s experience with Medicaid, which helped provide critical care for her brother during his final months.

NC Newsline

Mia Ives-Rublee

CAP’s Comment on the Department of Labor’s Proposed Regulation on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Notice in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings Article

CAP’s Comment on the Department of Labor’s Proposed Regulation on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Notice in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings

The Center for American Progress submitted a comment letter to the Department of Labor on the agency’s proposed rule to protect the rising number of workers who are exposed to extreme heat conditions that cause injury, illness, and death across the United States.

Jill Rosenthal, Rosa Barrientos-Ferrer, Kate Petosa

Cutting Medicaid would harm Iowa’s health and economy In the News

Cutting Medicaid would harm Iowa’s health and economy

In an op-ed published by Bleeding Heartland, Sue Dinsdale and Brian Keyser warn that if congressional Republicans slash Medicaid funding, Iowa’s economy could lose $8 billion over the next decade.

Bleeding Heartland

Sue Dinsdale, Brian Keyser

How Cuts to NIH Research Funding Would Hurt States Article
A sign stands near an entrance to the National Institutes of Health.

How Cuts to NIH Research Funding Would Hurt States

Proposed changes to the National Institutes of Health’s $48 billion budget would risk jobs, threaten state economies, and hamper progress toward prevention and treatment of diseases such as cancer.

Marquisha Johns

Policies To Combat Anticompetitive Practices in Health Care Report
The entrance to an emergency room is seen below a tall hospital building.

Policies To Combat Anticompetitive Practices in Health Care

Using their market power, health care providers and payers often leverage anticompetitive contracting terms to maximize profit at the expense of patient access and affordability.

Nicole Rapfogel, Marquisha Johns

‘Patrice: The Movie’: A Reel Progress Screening Past Event
Film promotion for 'Patrice: The Movie,' Garry and Patrice are on a pink background. Garry is in a wheelchair looking up at Patrice. Partrice is wearing glasses and a walking aide smiling at the camera.

‘Patrice: The Movie’: A Reel Progress Screening

Join the Center for American Progress for a special screening and discussion on a documentary rom-com about the next phase of marriage equality: disability.

Center for American Progress

Climate Change Jeopardizes HIV Care in the U.S. Article
Photo shows a black and white sign reading

Climate Change Jeopardizes HIV Care in the U.S.

Policymakers and public health officials need to take steps to integrate climate resilience in HIV/AIDS health care programs to mitigate the disproportionate impact that extreme weather events have on people living with HIV.

Haley Norris

Rising Extreme Heat Compounds the U.S. Maternal Health Crisis Report
A midwife picks greens for a pregnant mother and her daughter.

Rising Extreme Heat Compounds the U.S. Maternal Health Crisis

Policymakers must act to protect the health and safety of pregnant people—including by passing the Protecting Moms and Babies Against Climate Change Act, increasing access to indoor home cooling, and quickly adopting a federal occupational heat standard.

Amina Khalique

Protecting Americans From Extreme Heat Past Event

Protecting Americans From Extreme Heat

Join CAP for an event discussing policy proposals and actions that can protect those most vulnerable to extreme heat.

Center for American Progress

Project 2025 Would Eliminate No-Cost Vaccines for 54 Million Medicare Beneficiaries Article
A patient receives a COVID-19 vaccine from a pharmacist at CVS.

Project 2025 Would Eliminate No-Cost Vaccines for 54 Million Medicare Beneficiaries

The Project 2025 agenda would cause Medicare beneficiaries to lose no-cost access to lifesaving vaccines, increasing their health care costs and jeopardizing their health—particularly for older Black and Latino adults and those with lower incomes.

Jill Rosenthal, Marquisha Johns

Protecting Older Adults From the Growing Threats of Extreme Heat Report
Older adults at three tables play dominos inside a cooling center.

Protecting Older Adults From the Growing Threats of Extreme Heat

Policymakers must improve heat resilience among older Americans, who face higher risks of extreme heat-related health conditions and deaths, and strengthen the social support and health care systems serving this growing share of the population.

Marquisha Johns, Beth Almeida, Jill Rosenthal

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.

Center for American Progress | Online

How the Affordable Care Act Improved Access to Preventive Health Services Report
Woman lifting smiling daughter into the air

How the Affordable Care Act Improved Access to Preventive Health Services

Congress must protect and build on the Affordable Care Act’s provisions related to disease prevention and health promotion over and beyond the law’s historic health coverage expansions—particularly in light of the recent Braidwood v. Becerra decision.

Marquisha Johns, Jill Rosenthal

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

Load More

This field is hidden when viewing the form

Default Opt Ins

This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form

Variable Opt Ins

This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.