WaPo Real Time Debate Fact Check : The insurance industry hates the public option, too

[Celerity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/live-updates/election-2020/third-democratic-debate-analysis-and-fact-checking/the-insurance-industry-hates-the-public-option-too/

Something getting lost in this Medicare-for-all exchange (30 minutes and counting) is that the insurance industry considers every Democratic proposal a threat to the private market. In its TV and digital ads, the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future warns that expanding Medicare in any way would ruin what Americans are comfortable with.

“The politicians may call it Medicare-for-all, Medicare buy-in, or the public option, but they mean the same thing: Higher taxes and higher premiums,” say actors in the industry group’s most recent spots.

Ironically, one of Joe Biden’s answers on the subject explained the industry’s thinking: His suggestion that the 50 million people who, on average, lose their insurance plans due to employer decisions (or layoffs) would be able to quickly buy into the public option. That’s the moral hazard the industry is talking about — if 50 million people jumped into the new government system every year, private insurance would go into a death spiral, unable to compete.

snip

[underthematrix]

1. Actually, WaPo is trying to promote outrage.

It seems to me KaiserPermanent and United Health for example would become one of the government's public options. I don't see them going out of business. I see their business models changing to accommodate a new market and regulatory environment.

[yellowdogintexas]

2. when Medicare began, the claims were contracted to insurance companies

The companies had to bid on their contracts every three years. They had to do a good job because they could be undercut by another carrier at bid time.

I actually worked for The Equitable Life Assurance Company (now part of Cigna), processing Medicare physican claims. We worked hard to make sure those claims were completed in a timely manner with a low error percentage...and we worked the claims by hand!!! (we are talking 1975-1982 here)

Medicare has grown and changed over the years but one thing we do know: it is time tested and it works both from a patient provider point of view and from a technical point of view

[underthematrix]

4. I have Medicare and the supplemental and prescription drugs all thru KaiserPermanente and I

absolutely love it. With that said, I prefer the Biden public option because it gets us to the same place faster and with less controversy

[Celerity]

3. do you have a link on this? TIA

It seems to me KaiserPermanent and United Health for example would become one of the government's public options

[underthematrix]

5. I was simply commenting on the WaPo suggesting that large healthcare

providers would probably be part of any government public option program.