Universal Healthcare Act

* **Committee consideration** by House Oversight
* **Passed the House of Representatives** on February 28, 2022 (233-201)
* **Passed the Senate** on April 29, 2022 (61-38) with amendment
* **House agreed to Senate amendment** on May 4, 2022 (234-200)
* **Signed into law** by President Tom Kirkman on May 5, 2022

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The **Universal Healthcare Act**, colloquially known as **Kirkmancare**, is a landmark federal statute in the United States passed by the 118th United States Congress and signed into law by President Tom Kirkman on May 5, 2022. The law established universal healthcare coverage in the jurisdiction of the United States.

The UHA's provisions take effect in September 2022 with enrollment and opting-out options open as of May 2022. The law designates Medicare as publicly-funded health insurance and automatically qualifies all registered U.S. citizens, but, unlike progressive proposals, allows an opt-out option for private insurance coverage and is not an entirely single-payer system. The U.S. healthcare system was officially designated as a mix between public and private insurance which established universal coverage. The law also sets a ceiling of $10 for all prescription drugs in the country.

Within hours of the law's enactments, tens of millions were automatically eligible for Medicare and the program's previous format was repealed and replaced. Rather than existing in parts, the law creates Medicare as a single entity health insurance provider covering all healthcare, including dental, vision, hearing, physicals, doctor appointments, hospital visits, meals, and more. The age requirement was also dropped, establishing automatic coverage eligibility from birth to registered death. The Department of Health and Human Services was charged with overseeing the national plan, and stated that all U.S. citizens would be automatically eligible by three months after the law's enactment.

U.S. President Tom Kirkman originally proposed the law during his reelection campaign in the 2020 presidential election. House Majority Leader Margaret Clay (R-VA) and House Minority Leader Bob Birch (D-MI) introduced the bill together as H.R. 1948 and urged members of both their parties to vote for the legislation. The House of Representatives passed the bill 233-201 on February 28, 2022 with all 197 Democrats and 36 Republicans voting in favor. In the Senate, the bill passed 61-38 with an amendment on April 29, after more than two months of debate, with all 44 Democrats and 17 Republicans voting in favor. The House approved the amendment the following week, and Kirkman signed the bill into federal law on May 5, 2022.

Estimates show that approximately 30-35 million more people will have meaningful health coverage with the enactment of the law. Additionally, the law drastically changed the structure of the markets. Insures were made to accept certain set-regulations for prescription drug prices for those who opted to remain under private coverage. CBO analysis estimates approximate savings of $550 billion in the federal budget annually. Independent studies suggest the law will save more than 73,000 lives each year.