“There’s No Room For Error”: Protect Our Care, Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Hart Research Discuss the State of Play in Washington As Congress Closes In On Budget Agreement
Speakers Discussed New Poll Showing Voters’ Unwavering Support for Build Back Better Provisions to Bring Down Health Care & Prescription Drug Costs
Washington, DC — Today, Hart Research’s Geoff Garin and the Center for American Progress Action Fund CEO Patrick Gaspard joined Protect Our Care to discuss the political situation in Washington as Congress works to pass budget reconciliation legislation and to present findings from a new national survey on voters’ attitudes towards the Build Back Better Act and health care.
Congress is closing in on a budget agreement that will transform the lives of American families nationwide. President Biden and Democrats are fighting tirelessly to give Medicare the power to negotiate for lower drug prices, close the Medicaid coverage gap, expand Medicare benefits to include vision, dental and hearing, and reduce health care costs for millions of people purchasing coverage on their own. However, the fight is not over: Big Pharma and other special interests are ramping up their lobbying and scare tactics to protect profits and lie to the American people. The new survey makes clear that voters’ attitudes remain unswayed by these influences, and that every single one of these health care priorities are central to the bill’s success. Read the full memo here.
“We’re at the precipice of a historic opportunity to build on the ACA. According to The Commonwealth Fund and The Urban Institute, the Build Back Better Agenda will cut the number of uninsured in this country by 7 million. Rates of uninsured Americans will drop in every state, and families’ will save $8.8 billion in premiums,” said Center for American Progress Action Fund CEO Patrick Gaspard. “Right now there’s no room for error. Democrats have the thinnest of majorities in the House and the Senate, and if we can’t pass a series of reforms that have broad, bipartisan support across the whole country, Americans are likely to remember that come election day.”
“The health care provisions are the most important priorities for the Build Back Better legislation’s support,” said Hart Research President Geoff Garin. “Lowering health care and drug costs for families and seniors are in the highest ranks of what voters care about for this bill and are central to the appeal of what is already a very popular proposal.”
“The future of this country depends on bold action to bring down costs and strengthen health care for the American people,” said Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse. “As Big Pharma and other special interests are spending millions to protect their profits and defend the broken system, voters remain unswayed in their support for Congress to lower health care and prescription drug costs. Patients are demanding relief, and poll after poll makes clear that any lawmaker standing in the way of reform is turning their back on their constituents and will pay the price at the ballot box. Our message to lawmakers is: don’t back down now.”