Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nation's Largest Insurer Slams 'Medicare For All' Plans As A 'Wholesale Disruption Of American Health Care'
The Hill: Largest Private Insurance Company Slams 'Medicare For All' Plans
The CEO of the nation's largest health insurer on Tuesday sharply criticized "Medicare for all" proposals being debated by Democratic lawmakers and presidential hopefuls, weighing in on a major political fight ahead of the 2020 election. Medicare for all would amount to a “wholesale disruption of American health care [that] would surely jeopardize the relationship people have with their doctors, destabilize the nation’s health system, and limit the ability of clinicians to practice medicine at their best,” UnitedHealth Group CEO David Wichmann said on a conference call. (Weixel, 4/16)
The Star Tribune: UnitedHealth CEO Warns Against Democrats' Push For Single-Payer Health Coverage
UnitedHealth favors universal coverage through the expansion of existing private and public programs, Chief Executive David Wichmann said. He criticized the prospect of a government-led single-payer system, sometimes called Medicare for All, that would effectively eliminate private health insurers like UnitedHealthcare. “The wholesale disruption of American health care being discussed … would surely jeopardize the relationship people have with their doctors, destabilize the nation’s health system and limit the ability of clinicians to practice medicine at their best,” Wichmann said. “And the inherent cost burden would surely have a severe impact on the economy and jobs, all without fundamentally increasing access to care.” (Snowbeck, 4/16)
Bloomberg: Health Stocks Take $28 Billion Beating In Medicare-For-All Fight
Politics can be an ugly business. Health-care politics, especially so. Health-care companies that get mixed up in politics? That’s $28 billion worth of ugly. On Tuesday, UnitedHealth Group Inc. -- treated by investors as a bellwether for the insurance sector -- waded into the debate over Medicare for All, which would expand government-administered coverage to most of the population and rewrite the businesses of U.S. health insurers, hospitals and doctors. (Tozzi and Armstrong, 4/16)
Meanwhile —
The Hill: Sanders Courts GOP Voters With 'Medicare For All' Plan
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is trying to use “Medicare for All” to win over white working-class voters, many of whom supported President Trump in 2016. The 2020 candidate went on Fox News, Trump’s turf, on Monday night for a town hall, where audience members cheered when asked if they would support Medicare for All. Sanders shared the clip on social media several times the following day. (Sullivan, 4/16)
Kaiser Health News/Politifact: Hickenlooper Expanded Medicaid, Created State-Run Marketplace To Insure Nearly All Coloradans
Former two-term Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is a rare breed in the 2020 presidential race — he’s running as a moderate. On health care, he supports universal coverage and boasts about Colorado’s record-low uninsured rate. But unlike many of his competitors for the Democratic nomination, he opposes “Medicare-for-all,” the single-payer federal system that would guarantee health care coverage to every American. (Rennie, 4/17)
