Democrats, with House majority, would go big on healthcare

House Democrats are promising immediate action on healthcare next year if they flip control of the chamber in the midterm elections.

Party leaders say health costs are a foremost priority of their broader affordability agenda. And the top Democrats on the numerous committees that oversee federal healthcare programs are all preparing to tackle the issue in the earliest phases of the next Congress.

“I see that as priority No. 1: Saving the healthcare of the American people,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), who’s in line to chair the Budget Committee if Democrats win the House majority.

The issue has resonated on the campaign trail all cycle, especially after President Trump and Republicans slashed health programs as part of last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, then allowed ObamaCare subsidies to expire in January. Polls indicate health costs are among the top issues — if not the top issue — on voters’ minds heading into the polls next month.

Democrats have seized on those anxieties, making healthcare a primary plank of their midterm pitch. Now, as the election odds continue to shift in their favor, those Democrats in line for gavels are already eyeing plans to pounce on the issue as a first order of business next year. 

The push will feature legislation to reverse the Republican cuts and revive the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. But it also promises to extend much further than that, with efforts to expand paid medical leave and long-term care while challenging the controversial vaccine policies of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

Even House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who has been exceedingly careful not to telegraph the specifics of the Democrats’ game plan for the majority, has made an exception on the healthcare front, telling reporters over the summer that it will be an early item on the agenda. 

“We have made clear that we’re going to aggressively focus on making life more affordable, and I think we should begin in the areas where we know there is uniform Democratic........

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