Progressive Democrats who dreamed of pushing a “Medicare for all” system once their party retakes the House next year will likely keep dreaming, experts said this week.
Hospitals and insurance lobbyists, who were united with progressives in protecting the Affordable Care Act, object to plans that would let people under 65 buy into Medicare.
Medicare for All would essentially eliminate private health coverage, and most providers, including those in long-term care, balk at more government regulatory authority over healthcare.
An expansion of the program for seniors would likely be bad news for nursing home professionals worried about sharing the government’s Medicare reimbursements to other entities. The Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, designed to push back against more government control over healthcare, includes the American Medical Association and BlueCross BlueShield Association. But while industry groups are unlikely to ever be converts, the concepts of single-payer system is gaining traction among voters, Politico reported yesterday.
“People across this country have worked through for themselves the public debate on the government’s role in healthcare, and America has shifted,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a Medicare for All supporter, told Politico. “So the importance of persuading every one of the insiders that this is going to be a great deal for them has diminished.”
