Padilla, Schiff, Booker Announce Bill to Make Access to Equitable Health Care a Protected Civil Right
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) announced the Equal Health Care for All Act, bicameral legislation that would make equal access to medical care a protected civil right to help address the racial inequities and structural failures in America’s health care system that have led to higher mortality rates in communities of color. As President Trump and Republicans gut critical health care funding, the Equal Health Care for All Act would establish a definition for inequitable health care to help ensure that hospitals provide the same high quality health care services to all patients, regardless of race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, or religion.
Republicans voted to gut Medicaid by over $900 billion, stripping health care from 17 million Americans, including over 2.3 million Californians. They cut more than $4 billion in funding for California hospitals, which will lead to hospital closures and higher health care costs, all to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.
“By gutting billions of dollars for hospitals and other essential Medicaid services, the Trump Administration is hurting our patients and their pocketbooks in communities across the country,” said Senator Padilla. “Our bill would treat equitable health care as a civil right to provide every patient with the access to the high-quality care they deserve.”
“Everyone deserves equal access to comprehensive, high-quality health care, free from discrimination,” said Senator Booker. “However, this is not the reality for most communities across our country, with communities of color, especially women of color, bearing the disproportionate burden of poor health outcomes due to a lack of access to quality medical care. The Equal Health Care for All Act is legislation to combat the stark inequalities that exist in our health care system, and ensure every American has access to affordable, equitable care.”
“As the Trump administration rolls back access to funding for health care, it is imperative to protect the right to these essential services for all communities. I’m proud to co-lead the Equal Health Care Act for All to continue supporting high quality health care for all, because equal access is a fundamental right, and one that every American should enjoy,” said Senator Schiff.
The Equal Health Care for All Act aims to remedy structural and systemic failures in America’s health care system that have led to Black, Hispanic, and indigenous individuals disproportionately suffering from a range of illnesses, from asthma to heart disease. Black women are more likely than white women to die from breast cancer and during childbirth. Hispanic individuals suffer from higher rates of chronic diseases, including an 80 percent higher rate of diabetes.
Specifically, the Equal Health Care for All Act would:
- Require the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary to promote regulations requiring health care providers and facilities to disaggregate data on health outcomes by demographic characteristics;
- Require inclusion of quality measures of equitable health care in hospital value-based purchasing programs;
- Empower Medicare and Medicaid providers to enforce equitable health care standards;
- Rename the HHS “Office on Civil Rights” to “Office of Civil Rights and Health Equity;”
- Prohibit health care providers from providing inequitable health care to patients;
- Establish a Federal Health Equity Commission; and
- Authorize grants for hospitals to promote equitable health care outcomes.
The bill is also cosponsored by U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and is supported by NAACP, National Urban League, American Diabetes Association, and American Cancer Society.
Senator Padilla has long been a leader in the fight to make health care more equitable, affordable, and accessible in the United States. Last year, Padilla introduced the Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA) of 2024 to address health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities as well as women, the LGBTQ+ community, rural populations, and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities across the United States. He also recently joined Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and over 100 lawmakers in reintroducing the Medicare for All Act, historic legislation that would guarantee health care as a fundamental human right to all people in the United States regardless of income or background.
Earlier this year, Padilla introduced the bipartisan Health ACCESS Act to improve digital health services by allowing patients to easily search for and book health care appointments online while protecting personal health information. Padilla also recently introduced the EASE Act, bipartisan legislation that would increase access to specialty care for rural and underserved Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) patients. Additionally, he introduced the PEAKS Act to bolster emergency medical transportation services in mountainous areas, including supporting some of California’s 37 total Critical Access Hospitals.
A one-pager on the bill is available here. Full text of the bill is available here.
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