House Dems Send Health Care Wishlist To Jeffries

House Democrats’ health policy wishlist, should the party have a majority next year, includes winning over Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s followers, alongside rolling back what Republicans have done to reduce government health care funding.

It also includes the traditional Democratic priorities like expanding health insurance coverage and protecting abortion access. But the 84-page agenda obtained by POLITICO acknowledges there’s no consensus on “Medicare for All.”

The agenda is the product of a working group established in June by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who aspires to be speaker if Democrats win in November. Jeffries has said health care would be Democrats’ top issue.

“Undoing H.R. 1 is the floor, but not the ceiling,” the working group’s September memo says, referring to President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which slashed Medicaid funding by nearly $1 trillion. The memo goes on to say members have “broad consensus” to “rein in corporate monopolies, invest in a durable healthcare system, and pursue an ambitious path towards universal coverage.”

The memo also previews the factional disputes within the Democratic caucus that are sure to come if the party takes power. It proposes sweeping expansions of Medicare and Medicaid, abortion access protections, a reversal of Kennedy’s vaccine policies and a restoration of science research funding. But it does not endorse Medicare for All, which the party’s progressive wing favors, instead proposing it as one option among several to expand insurance coverage.

A progressive supporter of Medicare for All, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, led the working group alongside the more-moderate Terri Sewell of Alabama, who hasn’t endorsed the idea.

“As Republicans and the Trump Administration pursue devastating cuts to healthcare programs that millions rely on, Democrats must put forward a bold vision that lowers costs, expands access, and strengthens care for future generations,” Ocasio-Cortez and Sewell said in a June statement when they were selected to lead the effort.

The representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Jeffries declined to comment.

The health care working group is one of five Jeffries convened to focus on affordability and lowering the cost of living. The other four topic areas are caregiving, groceries and goods, gas and utilities and housing.

The health care working group met with 139 caucus members, the memo said, which is more than 60% of current House Democrats. The group also solicited feedback from 145 stakeholder groups, including patient advocacy organizations, trade associations, hospitals and physician groups.

"It's clear it was a kitchen-sink-type document where everyone got their idea put in," said a person familiar with the memo granted anonymity to give a candid assessment of it. "Nobody was told no, it seems."

Beyond reversing Trump’s health care moves, the memo suggests regulating large health care companies, expanding preventive care, investing in the health workforce and strengthening women’s and reproductive health. It also recommends extending enhanced premium tax credits in Obamacare, which Congress let expire last year.

The policy program isn’t all partisan proposals. The group recommends a slate of bipartisan policies to force hospitals to charge the same prices as physicians, to reverse declining Medicare pay for doctors, to add medical residency slots, to remove the Trump administration’s caps on nursing and medical student loans, to create Social Security long-term care insurance benefits, to expand access to clinical trials and more.

The platform also suggests price caps on EpiPens, eliminating medical debt, doubling funding for community health centers, limiting total health care costs to 8% of Americans’ incomes and expanding Trump’s fund to invest in rural health programs.

The Democrats also propose “reclaiming MAHA,” Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement. It’s become a fractious group within the GOP coalition dissatisfied with Kennedy’s progress in improving the quality of food and medicine and the continuing influence of the pharmaceutical, food and agriculture industries in Washington.

Ocasio-Cortez has led a monthslong effort behind the scenes to court MAHA advocates to the Democrats’ side. She thinks the party’s anti-corporate message can appeal to those voters disaffected with Trump and Kennedy’s leadership. As yet, Democrats have not been willing to bend on their support for vaccines that many in the MAHA movement believe have not been adequately safety tested.

The memo recommends removing the Trump administration’s protections for glyphosate, the pesticide that MAHA advocates say can cause cancer. It riled the movement in February when Trump issued an executive order to bolster the domestic glyphosate supply. The chemical is part of some Roundup products, the most commonly used weedkillers in America.

Winning the House will give Democrats an opportunity to show voters where they want to go. They won’t be able to go there unless they get back the Senate and White House too.