Announcing Health & Medicine Policy Research Group’s 2026 Policy Priorities

Health & Medicine Policy Research Group is proud to share our 2026 Policy Priorities, which outline our top policy priorities to advance health equity and human rights in Illinois. The priorities reflect our commitment to policy change that improves people’s lives guided by our values and grounded in the belief that public health and human rights are inseparable.

Health & Medicine stands firmly for human rights and public health, and we condemn political violence in all its forms. Our 2026 Policy Priorities are both forward-looking, reflecting our longstanding commitments to health equity, and responsive to the urgent threats facing our communities, health, and democracy.

Week by week, people’s rights are being threatened and eroded, and people’s access to health care and other rights are being stripped away. Many public-sector services people rely on, along with the jobs that support them, are being slashed. Medicaid and SNAP are being undermined, while constitutionally protected freedoms are increasingly under threat. In this context, Health & Medicine remains committed to building power, advancing justice, and protecting the health of our communities.

Our core policy priorities for 2026 focus on:

  • Aging Equity
  • Healing-Centered and Trauma-Informed Systems
  • Health Workforce
  • Health Care as a Human Right
  • Housing Justice
  • Public Health System Capacity
  • Reproductive Justice

The agenda also include additional policy priorities—issues we engage in as capacity allows, often at pivotal moments—reflecting our inclusive view of health and health equity: Virtually everything we encounter shapes our health opportunities and risks.

We publish these priorities to inform current and potential partners, policymakers, and the public about our priorities and to invite partnership and collaboration. Our work is always done in partnership, and we welcome opportunities to support aligned efforts through coalition work, testimony, letters, advocacy, and organized people power.

Read the full 2026 Policy Priorities

For questions or partnership opportunities related to Health & Medicine’s 2026 Policy Priorities, please contact:

Gita Krishnaswamy
Interim Executive Director
gkrishnaswamy@hmprg.org
312-372-4292 x29

Wesley Epplin
Policy Director
wepplin@hmprg.org
312-372-4292 x25

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