Healthcare Affordability Crisis
Rising healthcare costs and insurance premiums are making medical care unaffordable for middle-class families, leading to delayed treatment, medical debt, and people foregoing necessary medications and procedures.
Ways to address it
3 approaches- Healthcare Cost Transparency InitiativeRequire healthcare providers to publish transparent pricing, support price comparison tools, and advocate for state and federal legislation limiting surprise billing and promoting healthcare cost transparency.
- Municipal Healthcare Purchasing CooperativeJoin or create regional purchasing cooperatives to negotiate better rates for prescription drugs, medical supplies, and insurance premiums, leveraging collective bargaining power to reduce costs for residents and employers.
- Sliding Scale Community Health ProgramEstablish income-based fee structures for municipal health services, expand community health center capacity, and provide prescription assistance programs for low and middle-income families.