Universal Healthcare
The United States remains the only developed nation that does not guarantee healthcare as a right to its citizens. The result is a system where medical bankruptcy is common, preventable deaths are routine, and the quality of care one receives is largely determined by the size of one's bank account. This is a moral failure that demands structural correction.
How We Do It
- Establish a universal healthcare system: that guarantees comprehensive medical coverage for every American citizen, regardless of employment status, income, or pre-existing conditions.
- Transition to a single-payer or robust public option model: that eliminates the predatory practices of private insurance while preserving patient choice in providers.
- Implement federal negotiation of prescription drug prices: ending the practice of Americans paying multiples of what citizens of other developed nations pay for the same medications.
- Expand Medicare and Medicaid: as bridging mechanisms during the transition to universal coverage. Cap out-of-pocket medical expenses for all Americans, ensuring that no family is financially destroyed by illness or injury.
Mental Health
Mental health is health. For too long, mental healthcare has been treated as secondary to physical healthcare, resulting in chronic underfunding, inadequate access, and a stigma that prevents millions of Americans from seeking the help they need. The consequences are visible in our communities every day: in homelessness, addiction, violence, and despair.
How We Do It
- Mandate full mental health parity: in all insurance coverage, public and private, ensuring that mental health services are covered at the same level as physical health services.
- Dramatically increase federal funding: for community mental health centers, crisis intervention services, and outpatient care facilities, particularly in rural and underserved communities.
- Integrate mental health education: and early intervention programs into public schools at all grade levels. Address the mental health workforce shortage through student loan forgiveness and scholarship programs targeting professionals who commit to serving in underserved areas.
- Develop a national strategy: for addressing the intersection of mental health, homelessness, and addiction, replacing criminalization with treatment-focused approaches that address the underlying conditions.
Making America Truly Healthy
Good health begins long before a doctor's office visit. It begins with the food we eat, the information we trust, and the regulatory systems designed to protect us. The United States faces a chronic disease epidemic driven in large part by an under-regulated food and supplement industry, a profit-driven healthcare system that treats symptoms rather than causes, and a rising tide of health misinformation promoted by unqualified influencers for personal financial gain.
How We Do It
- Expand the FDA's authority and funding: to include rigorous regulation of dietary supplements, which currently enter the market with minimal oversight. Supplements shall be required to demonstrate safety and accurate labeling before reaching consumers.
- Subject health claims to strict federal standards: requiring scientific substantiation in advertising, on product packaging, and on social media. Corporations and individuals who make false or misleading health claims for financial gain shall face meaningful penalties enforced by the FDA and FTC.
- Require financial disclosure from influencers: who leverage social media platforms to promote health products or dietary regimens for financial gain. Those without recognized, accredited credentials shall be prohibited from making specific medical or nutritional claims.
- Establish an independent panel of nutritional scientists: to review and update dietary guidelines free from food industry influence. Incentivize the production and accessibility of whole, nutritious foods in food deserts and low-income communities through targeted subsidies and community investment.
Affordable Housing & Community Investment
The American housing crisis is not a shortage of land or building materials; it is a failure of priorities. While developers build housing that most Americans cannot afford, existing affordable housing sits vacant and deteriorating in communities across the country. The solution is not more luxury development: it is strategic investment in the communities and housing stock we already have.
How We Do It
- Direct federal housing investment: toward the rehabilitation and modernization of existing affordable housing stock, including low-income apartments, public housing, and community residences, rather than subsidizing new luxury developments.
- Establish federal guidelines limiting the conversion: of forested land, wetlands, and green spaces into housing developments when adequate existing housing stock can be rehabilitated to meet community needs.
- Limit the ability of corporate entities to acquire: large portfolios of single-family residential properties, preserving homeownership opportunities for individual Americans.
- Require affordable unit inclusions: meaning a significant percentage of all new housing developments receiving federal subsidies or tax incentives must include units priced at genuinely affordable rates. Provide federal support for state and local rent stabilization programs.
SNAP, WIC & Social Safety Net
Social safety net programs are not handouts; they are investments in the stability and productivity of the American people. A family that can afford nutritious food, stable housing, and basic necessities is a family that can contribute to the economy, raise healthy children, and participate fully in society. Cutting these programs in the name of fiscal responsibility is a false economy that costs far more in the long run than it saves.
How We Do It
- Fully fund and expand SNAP and WIC programs: to meet demonstrated need, ensuring that no American goes hungry. Streamline and modernize the application and administration processes to reduce barriers to access for those who qualify.
- Eliminate punitive and bureaucratic restrictions: that prevent eligible Americans from accessing benefits they are entitled to. Invest in wraparound support services that help recipients build long-term stability.
Food Access, Food Deserts & Nutrition Equity
Access to nutritious food is not equally distributed in America. Food deserts, areas where residents lack access to affordable fresh fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious foods, are concentrated in low-income communities and communities of color. The consequences are documented and severe: higher rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and diet-related illness. The problem is not individual dietary choices; it is a structural failure of the food system.
How We Do It
- Establish a federal Food Access Equity Initiative: that provides grants, low-interest loans, and technical assistance for the development of full-service grocery stores, farmers markets, and community food hubs in identified food deserts, with priority given to community-owned and cooperative food retail models.
- Expand SNAP benefits to include prepared foods: and hot meals for elderly, disabled, and homeless recipients who lack cooking facilities, and extend SNAP eligibility to college students experiencing food insecurity.
- Reform SNAP benefit levels: to reflect the actual cost of a nutritious diet as determined by the Thrifty Food Plan, which was substantially updated in 2021 but remains inadequate for many households.
Welfare-to-Work & Trade Training Pipeline
Public assistance is most effective when it serves as a bridge to self-sufficiency rather than a permanent station. Every American who is able to work deserves the opportunity to develop marketable skills, earn a living wage, and build a stable life for themselves and their families. A robust welfare-to-work pipeline, grounded in real trade and vocational training with genuine employment outcomes, is both a moral and economic imperative.
How We Do It
- Enroll welfare recipients who are able to work: in accredited trade or vocational training programs of their choosing, including electrician, plumbing, HVAC, medical certifications, culinary arts, information technology, and other in-demand fields. Training shall be fully funded through federal investment.
- Provide participants up to 24 months to complete their program: with built-in milestone checkpoints to ensure meaningful progress and active job placement assistance upon completion. Childcare shall be provided at no cost during training.
- Gradually reduce benefits as income increases: following employment, preventing the benefits cliff that currently penalizes newly employed Americans for earning more.
- Provide meaningful federal tax incentives: to businesses that hire welfare-to-work graduates and provide them with living wages and benefits, creating a virtuous cycle of investment and employment.
Loneliness, Social Isolation & Community Connection
In 2023 the United States Surgeon General issued an advisory declaring loneliness and social isolation a public health epidemic. Americans report fewer close friendships, less civic participation, and weaker community ties than at any point in recorded survey history. The health consequences are severe, and the social consequences leave isolated individuals more vulnerable to radicalization, addiction, and mental illness. This is a policy problem that demands a policy response.
How We Do It
- Establish a federal Office of Community Connection: within the Department of Health and Human Services, tasked with coordinating across agencies to address loneliness and social isolation as a public health priority.
- Invest in community infrastructure: including libraries, community centers, parks, and public gathering spaces, that provide venues for the organic social connection that has been eroded by the privatization of public space.
- Integrate social connection and community engagement: into the design of federal social programs, recognizing that isolation is both a cause and consequence of poverty, illness, and marginalization.
- Expand AmeriCorps and national service programs: as mechanisms for building cross-demographic social connection and civic participation.
Childcare as Economic Infrastructure
The United States treats childcare as a private consumer expense to be managed by individual families. Every peer nation treats it as public infrastructure essential to economic participation and child development. The consequences of the American approach are severe and well-documented: American families pay more for childcare as a percentage of income than families in almost any other wealthy nation, often spending more than they pay for housing or college tuition; women disproportionately leave the workforce or reduce their hours because they cannot access or afford childcare; children from lower-income families receive lower-quality early care that compounds existing developmental disadvantage; and the childcare workforce, which is predominantly female and disproportionately women of color, is among the lowest-paid in the entire economy despite doing work of documented importance to child development. [177]
How We Do It
- Establish a universal childcare program that caps childcare costs at a defined percentage of family income, directly subsidizes childcare providers to ensure quality, and significantly increases compensation for childcare workers to bring it in line with the educational qualifications and developmental importance of the work. Model this program on the evidence from states and nations that have implemented universal childcare, which consistently shows positive returns in women's workforce participation, child outcomes, and economic productivity that more than offset the public investment. [178]
Child Welfare & Family Support
Children are our most important national resource and investment. Yet millions of American children grow up in poverty, without adequate nutrition, childcare, or family support. Addressing child welfare is not only a moral imperative; it is an economic one, as early investment in children produces generational returns for society.
How We Do It
- Establish universal, affordable childcare and pre-K programs: accessible to all American families, regardless of income, recognizing that quality early childhood education is among the highest-return investments a society can make.
- Expand and strengthen the Child Tax Credit: as a meaningful anti-poverty tool, ensuring that no child in America goes without basic necessities. The monthly direct payment model has proven effective at reducing child poverty and should be made permanent.
- Invest in foster care reform: prioritizing family preservation, trauma-informed care, and improved outcomes for children in the system. Strengthen child protective services through increased funding, improved training, and better inter-agency coordination.
- Expand school nutrition programs: to ensure that every child has access to healthy meals during the school day, free from the stigma of income-based qualification. Provide universal free school breakfast and lunch for all students.
Addiction Treatment & Recovery
Addiction is a public health crisis, not a moral failing. The United States has lost hundreds of thousands of lives to the opioid epidemic alone, and addiction to alcohol, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and other substances continues to devastate communities across the country. For too long, addiction has been treated as a criminal justice issue rather than a healthcare issue, resulting in mass incarceration and preventable deaths.
How We Do It
- Establish addiction treatment as a fully covered healthcare service: under the universal healthcare framework, ensuring that every American who needs treatment can access it regardless of income, insurance status, or geography.
- Invest in harm reduction programs: including needle exchange programs, naloxone distribution, and supervised consumption sites, that save lives and connect people with treatment while reducing the public health costs of active addiction.
- Hold pharmaceutical companies and distributors accountable: for their role in creating and perpetuating the opioid epidemic, ensuring that settlement funds are directed toward treatment, recovery, and community investment.
- Invest in long-term recovery support services: including sober housing, peer support programs, and employment assistance.
Elder Care & Aging with Dignity
America is aging. The baby boom generation is entering its final decades, and the demands on elder care systems are growing faster than our current systems can accommodate. At the same time, elder abuse, nursing home neglect, and the financial exploitation of seniors represent a growing and largely unaddressed crisis. A nation that does not care for its elders with dignity and respect has failed a fundamental test of its values.
How We Do It
- Establish a comprehensive federal long-term care benefit: that covers home and community-based care, assisted living, and nursing home care for all Americans who need it, reducing the devastating financial burden on middle-class families.
- Establish and enforce rigorous federal standards: for nursing home staffing, quality of care, and resident rights, with regular unannounced inspections, transparent public reporting, and meaningful penalties for facilities that fail to meet standards.
- Invest significantly in home and community-based care programs: that allow seniors and people with disabilities to age in place with dignity. Recognize and support family caregivers through tax credits, respite care programs, and Social Security credit for caregiving years.
- Establish a comprehensive federal elder abuse prevention framework: including mandatory reporting requirements, enhanced penalties for financial exploitation, and investment in adult protective services that are currently chronically underfunded.
Maternal Health & Reproductive Rights
The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed nation, and the crisis is most acute among Black women, who die from pregnancy-related causes at rates two to three times higher than white women. This is not inevitable; it is the predictable outcome of systemic inequities in healthcare access, quality, and the treatment of Black patients by a medical system riddled with implicit bias.
How We Do It
- Establish a national maternal health initiative: with dedicated funding, research, and accountability mechanisms specifically targeting the reduction of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity. Expand Medicaid coverage for postpartum care to a full year.
- Mandate implicit bias training: for all healthcare providers involved in obstetric and gynecological care, addressing the documented pattern of Black women's pain and concerns being systematically dismissed by medical providers.
- Protect the constitutional right to reproductive healthcare: including access to contraception and abortion, as fundamental components of women's health, autonomy, and equality.
Maternal & Infant Mortality: A National Crisis
The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any wealthy nation, more than twice the rate of Canada, three times the rate of the United Kingdom, and ten times the rate of Norway. The maternal mortality rate for Black women is approximately three times the rate for white women, a disparity that persists across income and education levels and that reflects the documented impact of structural racism on medical care. More than 80 percent of maternal deaths in the United States are preventable. The infant mortality rate follows a similar pattern, with the United States ranking behind most peer nations and with stark racial disparities that reflect the same systemic failures. These are not statistics. They are preventable deaths of American mothers and babies that represent a comprehensive failure of the healthcare system and the social supports that determine pregnancy outcomes. [197]
How We Do It
- Establish a National Maternal Mortality Reduction Initiative with binding targets for reducing maternal mortality rates and closing racial disparities, with dedicated funding for perinatal care, postpartum support, implicit bias training for obstetric providers, and expansion of midwifery and doula services in communities with the worst maternal health outcomes. Extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to twelve months, recognizing that the majority of maternal deaths occur in the weeks and months after birth when coverage has historically ended. [198]
- Address the specific drivers of racial disparities in maternal mortality through targeted investment in community health workers, birth centers, and culturally competent prenatal care in communities of color; mandatory implicit bias training for all obstetric providers receiving federal funding; and robust enforcement of civil rights laws in obstetric care settings. Establish a federal standard of care for obstetric emergencies based on best practices from states and countries with the best outcomes. [199]
Arts, Culture & the Humanities
A nation's greatness is expressed not just in its economic output or military power but in its culture: in the art it creates, the stories it tells, the history it preserves, and the creativity it nurtures. Federal investment in arts, culture, and the humanities is investment in the national soul. It supports the creative industries that contribute billions to the economy and nurtures the critical thinking that drives innovation across every sector.
How We Do It
- Restore and significantly increase federal funding: for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, reversing the chronic underfunding that has weakened these vital institutions.
- Invest in arts education in public schools: ensuring that every American child has access to music, visual arts, theater, and creative writing as part of a well-rounded education. Support community arts organizations as anchors of civic life.
- Fund public media: including public broadcasting, community radio, and digital public media, as an essential public service that provides trusted, non-commercial information and cultural programming to all Americans regardless of their ability to pay.
Rural America
Rural communities face a distinct set of challenges that are often overlooked in national policy conversations dominated by urban and suburban perspectives. From healthcare deserts and broadband gaps to agricultural consolidation and economic decline, rural America has been systematically left behind by economic and policy trends that have concentrated opportunity in metropolitan areas.
How We Do It
- Address the rural healthcare crisis: through targeted investment in rural hospitals, clinics, and healthcare workforce programs. Expand telehealth infrastructure and reimbursement to extend the reach of healthcare services.
- Complete the job of extending high-speed broadband: to every rural community in America, treating broadband internet access as essential infrastructure.
- Invest in rural economic diversification: supporting the development of new industries including clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and technology in rural communities that have historically been dependent on single industries.
- Direct addiction treatment and recovery resources: explicitly toward rural areas where treatment options are most limited and the crisis most acute.