Health care costs and reproductive health were key topics in Tuesday night’s debate. Vice President Harris presented concrete solutions for managing costs — such as addressing insulin and prescription drug prices and strengthening the ACA — while criticizing Trump for failing to deliver an alternative to the ACA despite promises since 2016. Additionally, Harris delivered impactful critiques by emphasizing Trump’s central role in undermining American women’s reproductive rights. This focus is particularly relevant, given the ongoing strain of high health care costs on American households and Trump’s continued efforts, alongside Republicans, to undermine reproductive health.
A recent Progressive Policy Institute poll reveals that working-class Americans are deeply concerned about soaring health care costs, which they largely blame on drug manufacturers, insurance companies, and hospitals. Key issues include opaque hospital pricing and high drug prices. In response, Harris has pledged to address these concerns as part of her health care platform, which was highlighted in the debate. Her proposals include capping insulin prices, limiting cost-sharing for generic drugs, and expanding Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices.
Harris’s evolution from support for Medicare for All to these more prosaic concerns is welcome. This pragmatic approach is likely due to the political decision to tamper the announcement of any major policy reform that would be targeted by the Trump campaign. Harris intends to instead protect and bolster the Affordable Care Act (ACA), along with making the Biden-Harris tax credit enhancements permanent, which are reducing health care premiums by an average of around $800 annually for millions of Americans.
Meanwhile, Trump’s inconsistent stance on repealing and replacing the ACA underscores his lack of seriousness and leadership on the issue, as evidenced by his vague statement during the debate: “I have a concept of a plan” to address or alter the law. Thanks to the ACA, a record percentage of Americans (92%) have access to health insurance. The Biden-Harris admin made an important contribution to this achievement by including enhanced subsidies for the ACA marketplace in its landmark Inflation Reduction Act. A record 21 million people enrolled through the ACA this year alone, reducing the uninsured rate from 16% in 2010 to under 8% today. But health care costs remain exorbitantly expensive, forcing working families to reprioritize their immediate financial needs over preventive or ongoing medical care.
Meanwhile, reproductive health care access remained a critical focus for Harris throughout the debate, as she vowed to reinstate Americans’ reproductive rights that were undermined when Trump’s Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade. Harris promised to seek national legislation to restore the legal right to abortion; enhance access to contraception; safeguard a woman’s right to access IVF, and repeal the Hyde Amendment. She also promised to continue to advocate for access to FDA-approved abortion drugs and select judges who uphold reproductive freedom.
Trump proved once again that he and the Republican Party are completely out of touch with working-class Americans who are increasingly distressed about the state of abortion access since the end of Roe. Refuting his record and providing faltering answers on reproductive access, Harris swung back, reiterating that Trump should “not be telling a woman what to do with her body.”
In PPI’s Winning Back Working America poll, 56% of participants said they are concerned about abortion access. Trump’s relentless effort to curtail access to reproductive health care is directly opposed to the majority of Americans’ wishes, eroding the foundation of democracy and their personal liberty. Harris and Democrats are aptly appealing to working-class voters, including Independents and Republicans, who are anxious about the fragile state of access to reproductive care in the 2024 election and beyond.
Harris’ focus on reducing health care costs and enhancing reproductive health access in the debate and in her campaign represents a refreshing shift that addresses the concerns of working-class voters. Even those with coverage often encounter substantial out-of-pocket expenses. Similarly, despite some states protecting reproductive freedom, individuals still face barriers and threats from Trump and Republicans seeking to undermine these protections. Harris and Democratic lawmakers present a promising vision for working Americans seeking relief from harmful Republican policies that threaten to increase costs and reduce access to care.
