President Biden and Congress are working on a legislative package to expand access to affordable health care, to be included in the upcoming reconciliation bills.  

At long last, we have the numbers in Congress, and the political will, to expand upon the Affordable Care Act. It also just so happens that we have an urgent health crisis that requires historic action.

Some possible parts of the package include:

• Permanently expand the Obamacare health subsidies for middle class families in the American Rescue Plan that expire next year;

• Extend health coverage for up to 4 million low income families locked out of care in states that rejected Medicaid expansion;

• Expand Medicare to 55-year-olds, which Obama tried to do back in 2009;

• Lower prescription drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies; and

• Improve SSI (Supplemental Security Income) so that marginalized disabled people are no longer forced to subsist on a sub-poverty benefit;

All of these and more are great proposals, and they are not mutually exclusive. It is time to think big about making real change in our healthcare system that will outlast the pandemic and protect all communities.

Enacting substantive health care reform that delivers results is essential.

Sign the petition to Congress: Go big or go home on health care. Now is the time to enact real change.