Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, has introduced the "Medicare for America Act," which would open an expanded Medicare program to every resident while allowing people to retain qualifying employer-sponsored insurance. According to the congresswoman's press release on Friday, the proposal would eliminate deductibles, cap premiums at eight percent of income and limit annual out-of-pocket spending to $3,500 for an individual and $5,000 for a household. Its current prospects appear limited as the newly introduced measure has no cosponsors and would have to advance through a Republican-controlled Congress.
Per the United States Census Bureau, about 26.7 million Americans (7.9 percent) were uninsured throughout 2025. Employment-based insurance remained the country's most common form of coverage in 2025, covering 53.5 percent of the population for at least part of the year. The expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies has also increased costs for marketplace customers.
The KFF estimated that those expirations would push average annual premium payments among subsidized marketplace enrollees from $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026, an increase of 114 percent. DeLauro first introduced a version of Medicare for America in 2018. Newsweek reached out to DeLauro via email for comment on Monday.
Unlike a single-payer system that replaces most private insurance, DeLauro’s proposal is built around choice. Every U.S. resident would become eligible for Medicare for America, while people without insurance would be automatically enrolled. Someone offered insurance through an employer could stay with that coverage or opt into the new Medicare program instead.
If an employee chose Medicare for America, the employer would still be required to contribute to the premium. Employers themselves could also use Medicare for America to provide worker coverage. Private employer plans that remained would have to meet stronger requirements, including dental, vision and hearing benefits.
That distinction separates the proposal from the Medicare for All Act introduced by Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington state Democrat, in April 2025, which would establish a national Medicare-for-All insurance program and prohibit duplicative coverage. Medicare for America would have no deductible and would cap premiums at 8 percent of household income. People earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level would pay neither premiums nor out-of-pocket costs.
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