Families USA Leads Call for Congress to Bring Down Skyrocketing Health Care Costs

09.03.2025 /Press Release

Families USA Leads Call for Congress to Bring Down Skyrocketing Health Care Costs

More than 50 organizations are calling on Congress to take urgent action to hold the health care industry accountable and bring relief to millions of Americans facing high and rising health care costs

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Families USA today is leading 56 organizations in a call for Congress to address the root causes of the health care affordability crisis that is raging in America, as hospital and provider prices soar and health care premiums are expected to rise even higher next year. On the heels of partisan legislation that will further threaten affordability and will reduce access to health care and coverage for millions of Americans, Families USA is uniting a broad coalition to call on leaders in Congress to work together to pass bipartisan, commonsense reforms that will lower health care costs for people, employers and the federal and state governments including price and billing transparency and same service same price legislation.

The organizations represent patients, consumers, workers and employers across the country as health care costs threaten not just people and families, but also our nation's economy. Cosigners include AFSCME, Doctors for America, Justice in Aging, National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, and National Consumers League.

"Recent legislation prioritized and passed by this Congress advanced policies that further threaten affordability by reducing access to coverage and care, while wholly failing to address the root causes driving unaffordable American health care in the first place, including the health care industry's anticompetitive behaviors and price gouging of families," wrote the organizations in their letter.

"The unchecked growth of big health care corporations and a lack of oversight over their business practices have led to monopolistic health care practices and prices, reduced access to care, worse health outcomes and lower wages for workers - a direct threat to the health and financial security of every American. Without immediate action from lawmakers to rein in the harmful business practices of these corporate health systems, our nation's health care affordability crisis will only worsen over the coming months."

The letter outlines several policy reforms that passed the House of Representatives last Congress in a strongly bipartisan vote, before ultimately being scrapped due to pressure from President Trump and Elon Musk. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed interest in bringing these measures forward again as part of a government funding package this fall.