Home of the next realignment. We think big, embrace heterodoxy, and chart the future of public policy and action.
Joined March 2025
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THE CASE FOR FREE PRIMARY CARE
David Bowen helped write the Affordable Care Act. Now he's a senior fellow at Searchlight, focused on the future of American health care.
That future: Free primary care for all — no copays, deductibles, or paying out of your pocket. A new public option for health insurance that strongly competes with private plans to lower costs and improve care. And more to come.
David sat down with @treeaston to discuss the plan and Searchlight's efforts to move beyond some 16 years of frozen health care debates and inaction.
0:00 - Why pair free primary care with a public option?
3:33 - Concerns with health care tied to employment
5:49 - Lessons from the ACA
7:18 - Working with the Medicare for All coalition
11:31 - Changes for those on Medicare
12:34 - Adding more loved ones to your family plan
16:36 - Time with Sen. Ted Kennedy during the ACA fight
20:49 - Building upon the ACA as a 'starter home'
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MAKE 'EM PAY!
Data center companies and hyperscalers should fund the modernization of our grid.
Convert their growth into massive public investments.
And guarantee that families don't pay a dime more in utility bills because of data centers.
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To the workers, makers, and planners who built America's electricity system from the ground up: Thank you.
The work continues.
We must build a modern grid for a modern America.
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Searchlight Institute retweeted
Jun 12
Welcome @BenKrauss5 !!
🚨 We're excited to announce that @BenKrauss5 has joined Searchlight as our new Editor.
Ben comes to us from the Slow Boring Newsletter and most recently spent a year abroad in Taiwan.
Welcome to the team!
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Searchlight Institute retweeted
Jun 12
Whoo! Excited to be joining the Searchlight team.
I think a lot of the debates we have on here would benefit from more takes and articles from policy wonks who have real experience working on the actual problems in question.
Searchlight has policy fellows who have worked at the most senior levels of government on issues like immigration, healthcare, decarbonization. They understand how to make progress on these issues, and the undeniable trade-offs that are involved in the process. Subscribe to our Substack to hear from them, the staff, and myself!
🚨 We're excited to announce that @BenKrauss5 has joined Searchlight as our new Editor.
Ben comes to us from the Slow Boring Newsletter and most recently spent a year abroad in Taiwan.
Welcome to the team!
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Searchlight Institute retweeted
Jun 12
Welcome @BenKrauss5!
🚨 We're excited to announce that @BenKrauss5 has joined Searchlight as our new Editor.
Ben comes to us from the Slow Boring Newsletter and most recently spent a year abroad in Taiwan.
Welcome to the team!
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🚨 We're excited to announce that @BenKrauss5 has joined Searchlight as our new Editor.
Ben comes to us from the Slow Boring Newsletter and most recently spent a year abroad in Taiwan.
Welcome to the team!
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"Building a durable governing coalition is hard. Using that governing coalition to actually solve policy problems is even harder."
Read Ben's first piece: searchlightinst.substack.com…
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For years, health care monopolies have consolidated power, raised prices, and denied adequate care.
ENOUGH!
Break up every single one of these monopolies.
Give government the tools it needs to protect your care.
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.@katemyoder: The idea that talking about climate change is a liability for Democrats has become conventional wisdom.
Last year, the Searchlight Institute issued the advice “Don’t say climate change.”
thebulletin.org/2026/06/conv…
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Searchlight Institute retweeted
Jun 11
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Americans deserve a truly 100% public option for health insurance — one that can compete against private plans to lower everyone's costs.
But it's more than that: We need a public option with REAL savings for families.
A public option for ALL.
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Searchlight's @treeaston on California's sluggish vote counting.
"It should be embarrassing to California Democrats. It should be embarrassing that Democrats at the national level have just sort of gotten used to this kind of thing."
theatlantic.com/politics/202…
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Health care costs are too high. Far too many Americans skip visits to the doctor or a stop by the pharmacy.
Let's make primary care FREE — for you, your kids, everyone.
No copays. No deductibles. Zero dollars out of your pocket.
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Searchlight Institute retweeted
Jun 11
I'm obsessed with what's happening here
We can do big things.
Modernizing America's aging grid is how we lower energy costs, protect consumers, and grow our economy.
Our grid. Our power. Our future.
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Searchlight Institute retweeted
Jun 11
Our grid our power our future!
We can do big things.
Modernizing America's aging grid is how we lower energy costs, protect consumers, and grow our economy.
Our grid. Our power. Our future.
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"Almost immediately after the 2024 election, some strategists argued that Democrats should stop talking about the threat of global warming altogether. A growing number of Democratic politicians agree."
nytimes.com/2026/06/11/clima…
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Searchlight Institute retweeted
Jun 11
“All of the above” is back, baby. nytimes.com/2026/06/11/clima…
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We can do big things.
Modernizing America's aging grid is how we lower energy costs, protect consumers, and grow our economy.
Our grid. Our power. Our future.
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MAKE 'EM PAY.
Make the data center companies and hyperscalers pay — funding massive upgrades to the electricity system we all use.
Make 'em pay so that working families don't.
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An idea: Use the data center buildout to fund a generational investment in America's aging grid.
Make these companies pay more — so that working families don't.
We call it the American Grid Infrastructure Fund.
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