16 Jun New Health Policy Guidelines Letter Outlines Clear Message for the 119th Congress and Trump Administration: Lower Costs, Boost Innovation, and Empower Patients
The Health Equity Collaborative (HEC) is sending a clear message to Congress and the Trump Administration this week: pass healthcare reforms that lower costs, boost innovation, and empower patients.
Backed by a coalition of more than 40 diverse national organizations, HEC released a new letter that lays out a framework to guide federal health policy toward greater access and improved well-being for all.
Why This Letter Matters
Despite growing awareness of health disparities, far too many communities, particularly people of color, individuals with disabilities, and low-income populations, continue to face systemic barriers to care. The U.S. healthcare system must improve, and that begins with leadership from Congress and the Trump Administration.
This open letter is both a wake-up call and a roadmap. It calls on policymakers to address the root causes of health inequities and implement policies that ensure every community has the opportunity to lead a healthy life.
Our Priorities
The letter outlines seven key priorities that demand urgent attention:
- Confront the Rising Cost of Healthcare: To truly lower costs and achieve better outcomes for every patient, all healthcare stakeholders must be held accountable for the rising cost of care.
- Protect Critical Federal Healthcare Programs: Protecting federal healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid is crucial for ensuring the health and well-being of millions of Americans. These programs provide essential coverage to vulnerable populations, including seniors, low-income individuals, and people with disabilities.
- Promote Patient Empowerment Across the Healthcare Sector: Empowered patients are more likely to be actively engaged in their own care, leading to better health outcomes, increased adherence to treatment plans, and greater satisfaction with their healthcare experience.
- Support Breakthrough Medical Technologies and Innovation: We encourage the research and development of medical treatments to improve health outcomes and combat diseases that disproportionately affect diverse communities.
- Improve Representation of Diverse Populations in Clinical Research and Data Sets: Having rich data on diverse communities and strong representation in medical research and clinical trials ensures that the treatments developed benefit all patients.
- Build a Representative Healthcare Workforce: Increasing the diversity of America’s healthcare workforce is essential to gaining patient trust and ensuring all segments of our society receive high-quality, culturally competent care.
- Modernize Value-Based Treatment and Clinical Care: When it comes to healthcare, one size does not fit all. It is critical that lawmakers and industry stakeholders provide meaningful tools and personalized services to meet the needs of diverse populations.
This letter is just the beginning. The Health Equity Collaborative will continue to advocate, organize, and work alongside lawmakers, partners, and communities to ensure that better health outcomes are not just a goal but a reality.
We invite policymakers and stakeholders to treat this letter as both a policy guide and a call to action.
We also encourage advocates, professionals, and community leaders to join us in calling for meaningful healthcare reform grounded in dignity and justice.
Together, we can build a healthier, more inclusive future, one policy at a time.