Partnership Statement Reacting To FAH-AHA Report Outlining Negative Impacts Of Medicare Public Option Proposal

WASHINGTON – The Partnership For America’s Health Care Future issued the following statement today after the release of a joint study from the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) and the American Hospital Association (AHA).  The study’s findings raise concerns about the negative impact Medicare-X Choice Act, a legislatively proposed public option, would have on the nation’s hospital system:

“Every American deserves access to quality, affordable health care, and that’s why we need to build and improve upon what is working within our current health care system,” said Lauren Crawford Shaver, the Partnership’s Executive Director.  “As this study shows, using the tools available to us under our current health care system would result in nearly four million more Americans receiving health coverage than what we would see under this Medicare for All-style proposal.

“Not only that, this study shows that under Medicare-X Choice, America’s hospitals would face further cuts, potentially exacerbating hospital closure rates and limiting patients’ access to the care they need,” she continued.  “Yet again, the evidence shows that one-size-fits-all proposals – whether they’re called Medicare for All, Medicare ‘buy-in,’ single-payer, or public option – are the wrong way forward for America’s health care system.”

The FAH-AHA report, prepared by Washington, D.C.-based KNG Health Consulting LLC, was commissioned in response to a flurry of recent legislative proposals, such as the Medicare-X Choice Act, that seek to fundamentally change Medicare.  The report finds:

• – Among the 30 million uninsured, additional improvements to our current system would result in roughly 9.1 million uninsured persons gaining health coverage, while in comparison Medicare-X Choice would result in just 5.5 million gaining coverage.  In other words, more so than Medicare-X Choice, building upon our current system, such as by improving the Affordable Care Act, would increase access and coverage to nearly four million additional Americans.
• – Under Medicare-X Choice, hospitals would be faced with $774 billion in cuts, which would “compound financial stresses already faced by the nation’s hospitals, potentially impacting access to care and provider quality.”

To read the FAH-AHA report in full, CLICK HERE.

To learn more about the Partnership For America’s Health Care Future, CLICK HERE.