The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is in full swing, and has thus far featured speeches from party stalwarts like former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The trio have all thrown their weight behind Vice President Kamala Harris and her recently-launched presidential bid to succeed outgoing President Joe Biden.

The DNC coincided with the party officially releasing its party platform, which offered voters the first glimpse of Harris’ policy priorities heading into November.

The platform also offers a contrast to the one laid out by the Republicans and former President Donald Trump earlier this summer.

On the whole, the platform hits on the same notes as the Biden administration’s health policies, including reducing healthcare costs and emphasizing reproductive rights. 

It also touts many of the accomplishments of the Biden administration, such as the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharma companies.

Now, Democrats are debating whether Harris should continue sailing on the Biden administration’s legacy — or forge ahead and build a new, more ambitious vision of her own, according to reporting from Politico.

For example, while the platform praises the Biden administration’s passage of the IRA and its Medicare negotiations provision, it offers few insights into what new tangible drug pricing reform Harris would seek to enact.

Here are some of the main healthcare takeaways from the current Democratic party platform — and other healthcare topics brought up at the DNC this week.

Reproductive rights

As expected, reproductive rights protections are a main pillar of the Democratic Party’s platform this election cycle.

The platform touched on some of Biden’s efforts to protect reproductive rights during his time in office, including extending protections to pharmacies that provide medication abortion and clarifying federal laws to ensure emergency medical care preempts state abortion bans.

Most notably, Democrats emphasized that they are seeking to pass legislation that would restore Roe v. Wade. 

The party also indicated it would work to strengthen access to contraception so “every woman who needs it is able to get and afford it,” as well as protect access to in vitro fertilization (IVF).

IVF has become an increasingly important topic in the reproductive rights debate after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that embryos created through the process were considered children under law. 

The ruling spurred IVF clinics to temporarily halt their procedures in the state, spreading fears that more conservative states may attempt to curb IVF access.

At the DNC, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, (D-IL), highlighted reproductive rights in her speech, noting her own struggle with infertility as well as her experiences undergoing IVF to give birth to her two children.

“How dare a convicted felon like Donald Trump treat women seeking healthcare like they’re the ones breaking the law,” she said.

Gun violence prevention

More and more, public health officials have identified gun violence as a public health threat. 

The Democrats underscored those concerns in the 2024 platform, vowing to establish universal background checks, ban assault weapons and require safe storage for guns. 

The party added that it would seek to “end the gun industry’s immunity from liability” and increase funding to federal agencies that enforce firearm background checks.

The DNC platform also pledged to fund gun violence research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Democrats touted Harris’ effort in leading the newly-initiated White House Office of Gun Safety Prevention, which has been working with the healthcare sector to take action on the issue. 

This ranges from developing hospital-based violence programs (HVIPS) to secure gun storage counseling and research.

The ACA and Medicaid expansion

While the debate over repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has largely fallen to the wayside over the last several elections, Democrats doubled down on their commitment to “never let” Republicans dismantle it.

After a lengthy period of quiet on the matter, former President Donald Trump brought up the idea of repealing the ACA again on his Truth Social platform months ago, though most policy experts have noted it’s unlikely Trump would seek to actually unravel it if he wins.

Still, Democrats defended the law in their platform: “We’ll never quit fighting to protect and expand the [ACA], making quality care more accessible and affordable.”

They pointed to the 21 million people currently signed up for ACA coverage, the highest number of Americans in history — and added that the ACA has reduced the rate of uninsured Americans from 16% in 2010 to 8% in 2024.

Democrats are also still throwing their support behind Medicaid expansion, noting that they will push to further expand Medicaid-like coverage to the 2.8 million uninsured low-income adults who live in states where Republicans “still refuse the help.”

Drug pricing

The Democrats’ platform hammered home the motto they’ve taken up since the IRA went into effect in 2022: arguing that Biden and Harris “took on Big Pharma and won.”

Touting the implementation of the IRA drug pricing reform — from Medicare’s new negotiating power to the $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket drug costs for beneficiaries — has been a central pillar of the Democrats’ campaign. 

Just last week, Medicare unveiled the first maximum fair prices of the first ten drugs chosen to be a part of the program, noting that it would save the federal government $6 billion in its first year.

The platform also highlighted the Biden administration’s efforts to crack down on so-called “sham” pharma drug patents, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently taking charge on the matter.

Additionally, Democrats said they plan to build upon the IRA by adding 50 drugs per year to the Medicare negotiation list rather than 10 per year and cap cost-sharing for generics at $2 a dose. 

Yet aside from that, it appears Harris’ platform hasn’t gone into explicit detail into how else the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee would expand drug pricing reforms if elected.

Democrats also brought up medical debt relief at the DNC this week, promising to remove all medical debt from credit scoring if Harris wins the election. 

Sanders touches on universal healthcare

Back in 2019, when Harris was originally running for president, she was known for her support of universal healthcare that would cover all medically necessary services — from ER visits to mental health appointments and substance abuse disorder treatment.

However, since Harris has come to the forefront as Democratic nominee, she has largely distanced herself from her 2020 presidential campaign promises — including her support for Medicare for All.

That’s officially no longer part of her agenda, as she aims to shift more to the center to win over more moderates and secure the 2024 election.

However, Democrats are employing a strategy of getting more left-leaning progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders, (I-VT), to speak at the DNC this week to show support for Harris in an attempt to win over more liberal-minded voters as well.

Sanders brought up universal healthcare at the DNC, suggesting that while the issue isn’t officially in Harris’ platform, Democrats may be open to revisiting it.

“We need to join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right not a privilege,” Sanders said.