Warner Introduces New Sweeping Health Care Bill to Lower Costs, Expand Coverage, and Improve Access to Care

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today introduced the Health for the Commonwealth through Affordability, Reform, and Expansion Act of 2026, or the Health CARE Act, sweeping legislation to lower costs, expand coverage, and make it easier to access the care they need. The legislation would make significant reforms across the health care system while advancing Warner’s broader goal of ensuring every American, regardless of age or employment status, can access affordable health coverage. “Our current health care system makes it hard and expensive for Virginians and Americans across the country to access the care they rely on,” said Sen. Warner . “There is still a lot of work to be done to get to universal coverage, but my comprehensive Health CARE Act includes life-saving provisions to meaningfully improve health care and lower costs, including for those on Medicare, Medicaid, and those who get health insurance through their employer right now.” The Health CARE Act would: Reverse harmful health care provisions in H.R. 1. Make permanent enhanced ACA premium tax credits. Implement a low-cost public health insurance option. Expand the Medicare drug price negotiation program. Extend Medicare-negotiated drug prices, out-of-pocket limits for prescription drugs, inflation rebates, and $35 copay cap and no deductible on insulin to ACA and employer markets. Ensure health insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers do not put profit over patients by reforming the use of step therapy and prior authorization, banning PBM spread pricing in Medicaid, allowing Medicare Advantage enrollees to switch plans mid-year if their provider leaves their network, and requiring all retail, mail-order, and specialty pharmacies to respond to surveys that collect drug acquisition costs. Improve Medicaid by reinstating the higher federal match when a state newly expands Medicaid and applying it retroactively to states that expanded late. Improve Medicare by including hearing aid coverage. Require hospitals, clinical laboratories, imaging centers, and ambulatory surgical centers make negotiated rates and cash prices public. Require health insurance plans in the employer and ACA markets provide detailed information about benefits, explanations of benefits, out-of-pocket costs, and utilization management policies to plan enrollees, and to make certain cost and ownership information public. This legislation is endorsed by Community Catalyst, Families USA, Small Business Majority, Virginia Community Healthcare Association, Virginia Poverty Law Center, and Virginia Rural Health Association. “The Virginia Rural Health Association appreciates the support Senator Warner continues to provide for rural citizens and rural healthcare.  The Health CARE act will help rural citizens through maintaining the ACA premium tax credits and lowering prescription drug costs while supporting rural healthcare providers through prior authorization and Pharmacy Benefit Manager reforms,” said Beth O’Connor, Executive Director, Virginia Rural Health Association. “Virginia’s Community Health Centers are on the front lines of providing comprehensive, affordable health care to more than 400,000 Virginians each year. The Health CARE Act of 2026 represents a meaningful step toward expanding access to coverage, lowering health care costs, strengthening Medicaid, and reducing barriers that too often prevent patients from receiving the care they need. VCHA applauds Senator Warner’s continued leadership on improving access to quality, affordable health care and is proud to endorse this legislation,” said Tracy Douglas, MS, Chief Executive Officer, Virginia Community Healthcare Association. “Recent cuts to health insurance tax credits and enrollment assistors combined with new red tape for people with Medicaid insurance has impacted people’s ability to get insurance, get healthy and contribute to their communities,” said Shaina Goodman, Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs, Community Catalyst . “As such, proposals like the Health CARE Act are the exact thing Congress should be focused on. We are grateful to Sen. Warner for his leadership and happy to support legislation that moves our healthcare system toward one Community Catalyst envisions: where healthcare is affordable, accessible, and accountable to all people.” “The cuts to Medicaid from HR1 are devastating to low-income Virginians who were already struggling with increased costs for housing, food, and necessities. When someone goes without medical care due to red-tape barriers, the consequences to their health can be life threatening as well as financially devastating. We are excited that this bill would not only reverse the 2025 harmful cuts to life saving care but also create a federal option on the Marketplace which can assure that quality and affordable care is available to all Virginians,” said Emily Hardy, Director of Advocacy, Virginia Poverty Law Center’s Center for Healthy Communities. Read the full bill here . Read a section by section here . ###