Nicole Rapfogel is a policy analyst for Health at American Progress. Prior to joining American Progress, she interned with the Field and Outreach team at Population Connection, where she organized and advocated for U.S. policy to advance global reproductive health and rights. She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in public policy and global health. Her undergraduate research focused on contraceptive counseling and patient-provider communication. She is currently pursuing her Master of Public Health at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, where she supports research on structural inequities among LGBTQ+ adults.
Policymakers could make behavioral health care, including mental health services, more affordable and accessible by enforcing network adequacy and parity provisions, lowering patient costs, and making networking with insurers more attractive for providers.
Fact Sheet: Top 10 Ways To Improve Health and Health Equity
To improve health and well-being, policymakers must act to address inequities, infrastructure, and social determinants of health that contribute to poor health.
Policies to strengthen the nation’s health must ensure that individuals and communities are healthy, thriving, and inclusive through long-term, sustained investments.
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.
Preventing Disruptions to Coverage and Care After the Public Health Emergency
As the conclusion of the national public health emergency looms, state and federal policymakers should improve continuity of care for millions of Medicaid enrollees facing disenrollment and preserve critical access to COVID-19 testing and treatment.
How North Carolina Is Using Medicaid To Address Social Determinants of Health
North Carolina has developed a large-scale, comprehensive approach to addressing unmet nonmedical needs—including food, housing, and transportation insecurity—through Medicaid.
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.
Congress Can Act Now To Lower Drug Costs by Allowing Medicare To Negotiate Prices
Reforms to let Medicare negotiate prices, cap out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, and limit insulin cost-sharing would make lifesaving drugs more affordable.
Closing the Medicaid Coverage Gap Would Save 7,000 Lives Each Year
Extending comprehensive coverage to the 2.2 million uninsured adults in the Medicaid coverage gap would lessen medical debt and lead to fewer evictions.
