Our communities are experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and related conditions. At Kaiser Permanente, we believe the mind can’t be treated separately from the body and so we consider mental health in our total health approach.

We support policies that:

• Help reinvent outdated models of care
• Support and rebuild a stressed and strained workforce
• Invest in preventive services and evidence-based care innovations

We’re concerned about the burden high drug prices impose on our members and society.

We provide safe, effective medication at a good value by:

• Using the most current, evidence-based research to choose the drugs we cover
• Negotiating prices
• Using generic and biosimilar drugs
• Keeping track of safety and outcomes

As a health plan, provider, and pharmacy in one, we have a diverse perspective on the prescription drug marketplace. Our experience informs an array of policy positions designed to make prescription drugs more effective, safer, and more affordable.

In Maryland we’ve partnered with the nation’s first Prescription Drug Affordability Board. This board is dedicated to evaluating and setting fair price limits for certain high-cost prescription drugs, ensuring they are financially accessible to Maryland residents.

We’re dedicated to a future in which everyone in the United States has access to high-quality health coverage. This is called universal coverage, and we believe it’s within reach.

In Maryland, we helped create the country’s first easy-enrollment insurance sign-up program. Marylanders can now enroll in Medicaid or other insurance by just ticking a box on their state tax form. In 2021, we supported legislation that created a similar program in Virginia.

We also supported efforts in Maryland to expand Medicaid coverage to include:

• Adult dental services
• Coverage for pregnant immigrants who lack permanent legal status and their children up to age 1

We support efforts to expand coverage options for all immigrants who lack permanent legal status. More than 200,000 immigrants across Maryland and Northern Virginia have no access to care and coverage. To help solve this problem, in 2022 we provided coverage to more than 11,000 people who don’t have access to other public or private health coverage.

We also support efforts to help more young adults in Maryland sign up for health coverage. 

In 2022, young adults ages 18 to 37 became eligible for extra discounts through the Young Adult Premium Assistance program. Before, the program only helped adults up to age 34. This change increased young adult enrollment by about 11% between 2022 and 2023.