USofCare’s Advice For a Federal Public Option

This past May, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Heath, Education, Labor, and Pensions released a Request For Information, seeking policy advice on a federal public health insurance option.

Since our founding nearly four years ago, USofCare has worked to enact public health care options at the state level. Recognizing the promise that a federal public health insurance option carries, we are pleased today to submit our response to the Committees’ request.

Our recommendations are informed by expertise gained through groundbreaking state efforts for affordable and dependable health care. This set of suggestions centers on people’s needs and the lessons we’ve learned to pass public options and other major affordability laws in states, and aims to build a better system in the wake of the pandemic — one where people have more certainty that they can afford their care.