With Industry Backing, American Hospital Association CEO Rebuffs 'Medicare-for-All'

Hospitals have joined with insurers, doctors, and drug makers on a coalition to oppose the policy, which has become a favorite talking point among Democrats running for president.

As liberal politicians begin to flesh out the details of what they each mean when they say they support "Medicare-for-All," healthcare industry lobbying groups are moving to oppose the idea as overly disruptive and potentially harmful.

American Hospital Association President and CEO Rick Pollack said in a blog post Friday that the proposals being touted by Democrats in Congress and those running for president "could do more harm than good to patient care."

"Our first priority should be fixing what's broken instead of ripping apart our entire health care system and starting from scratch," Pollack wrote, complaining that government reimbursements are insufficient to cover the cost of care and can be unreliable in the face of government shutdowns.

And hospitals are far from the only industry stakeholders to oppose Medicare-for-All. Insurance companies, doctors, and drug makers, too, have joined with the AHA and other groups in a coalition to oppose the policy. That coalition, the Partnership for America's Health Care Future, is steered by Lauren Crawford Shaver, who worked for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, as The New York Times reported.

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Pollack pushed for policymakers to build on the Affordable Care Act's foundation, expand Medicaid in every state that hasn't done so already, and guard the long-term viability of Medicare and other federal health programs.

"As a politically practical matter, we need to focus on finding consensus to improve the system we have rather than subject the nation to yet another polarizing debate on health care," Pollack wrote.