The Biden-Harris administration has been instrumental in expanding access to quality health care for millions of Americans while also driving down health care costs. Whether it’s lowering the cost of drugs, capping the monthly cost of insulin, or making sure millions of Americans have access to affordable health insurance, this administration has fought for everyday Americans and won. Vice President Harris has battled for better health care her entire time in public office – as California’s Attorney General, as Senator, and as Vice President. At every level of government, Vice President Harris has been a champion for better and more affordable health care for every American.
Here are some of the highlights from her extensive track record on health care:
- Vice President Harris cast the tie-breaking vote which allowed the Inflation Reduction Act to pass the Senate and become law. As Vice President, Kamala Harris has cast the most tie-breaking votes in history including for the seminal pieces of legislation of the Biden-Harris administration, the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act. Now two years after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, around 19.7 million Americans are saving on average $700 a month on health insurance, nearly 82 million Americans have access to no-cost vaccines and preventive care through Medicaid and CHIP, 10 million seniors received free vaccinations in 2023 alone, and Medicare is currently negotiating the price of 10 drugs taken by over 9 million seniors. On top of this, the Inflation Reduction Act capped monthly insulin costs at $35 for 3.3 million seniors on Medicare Part D. Surveys show around 1.5 million seniors would have seen cumulative savings of about $734 million in Part D and $27 million in Part B if this cap were in effect in 2020. Without her deciding vote, millions of Americans would be paying more for health care, with some not having any access at all. Now Vice President Harris is fighting to expand the savings from provisions like the $35 insulin cap to all Americans, including those with private coverage.
- Kamala Harris filed 10 amicus briefs defending the Affordable Care Act as California Attorney General, and as Senator co-sponsored 14 pieces of legislation protecting and expanding on the ACA, including legislation expanding preventive care requirements for private and public health insurance. Kamala Harris has a long and consistent history of fighting to defend and expand the ACA. Whether she was defending the constitutionality of the ACA in court, to arguing for the protection of contraception mandates, to ensuring that Republican plans to flood the ACA marketplace with junk plans could not come to fruition, at every turn Harris has stood up for the American people against interest groups wanting to increase their health care costs. Her history on health care is clear, Kamala Harris wants Americans to have lower costs and better care.
- Kamala Harris has always fought for reproductive freedom. During her time in the Senate, Kamala Harris co-sponsored 14 pieces of legislation that would expand and protect the reproductive rights of Americans. From supporting the Women’s Health Protection Act to protecting access to birth control to fighting for the expansion and protection of insurance coverage for abortions, Kamala Harris has a remarkably consistent record when it comes to ensuring Americans have access to quality and affordable reproductive health care. She has fought against the GOP war on reproductive rights since she was California’s AG filing amicus briefs arguing against the dystopian restrictions on abortion access in states like Texas and helping the California Congress create legislation ensuring equal access to reproductive health services to all people within the state. As Vice President, Harris has been a leader standing up for reproductive freedom working to protect access to abortion care and affordable high-quality contraception.
- Kamala Harris has prioritized maternal health and increasing health care equity. Maternal mortality in the U.S. is highest in the industrialized world, with around one-third of maternal deaths occurring during the postpartum period. Studies show that at least a factor of the incredibly high rate of perinatal maternal mortality is due to coverage disruptions during the first year after pregnancy, something which disproportionately affects people of color. As Vice President, Harris has challenged states to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from only two months to a full year. This policy would allow for over 720,000 people annually to see expanded coverage who wouldn’t have been able to access it otherwise. Now, thanks to these efforts, 46 states and Washington DC have adopted full extended postpartum coverage.Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women in the United States and maternal mortality rates — already higher than any other developed country — are still dramatically increasing. Even so, an estimated 80 percent of these deaths are preventable, making the passage of legislation addressing this crisis even more critical. As a Senator, Kamala Harris was involved with creation and proposing of the first Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act to address this crisis in maternal health. The “Momnibus” would direct HHS to establish task forces to address social determinants of health and award grants to innovations in maternity care and maternal mortality tracking. It also would expand federal nutrition programs through increasing the postpartum and breastfeeding periods and reduce specific state funding to jurisdictions which have no laws restricting constraints on incarcerated pregnant people. Every year since 2020, the Momnibus Act has been reintroduced in the Senate. It is perhaps the most essential central piece of legislation existing to address maternal mortality rates and health equity.
- As the California Attorney General, Kamala Harris was a part of cases which fined pharmaceutical companies nearly $7.2 billion for deceptive marketing, inflating prices, and harming American consumers. Then-Attorney General Harris broke records throughout her term when it came to settlements holding pharmaceutical companies accountable for deceptive and illegal practices. She was involved in the second largest recovery from a pharmaceutical company and the largest consumer protection settlement reached with a pharmaceutical company. Of the billions she was able to recover due to inflated drug prices and illegal marketing practices, $2.2 billion came from Johnson and Johnson, whose drugs Xarelto, Stelara, Imbruvica are currently up for Medicare price negotiation, $71 million came from Amgen, whose drug Enbrel is currently up for Medicare price negotiation, $68.5 million came from AstraZeneca, whose drug Farxiga is currently up for Medicare price negotiation, and $19.5 million came from Bristol-Myers Squibb, whose drug Eliquis is currently up for Medicare price negotiation.