The New York Times: The Partnership’s “Reach Is Undeniable”

In a front-page story in Sunday’s The New York Times, Robert Pear reports on the mission, message and strategy of the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future.

When it comes to building on what works in American health care, while coming together to fix what is broken, he writes, the Partnership’s “message is simple”:

The [Partnership believes that the] Affordable Care Act is working reasonably well and should be improved, not repealed by Republicans or replaced by Democrats with a big new public program.  More than 155 million Americans have employer-sponsored health coverage.  They like it, by and large, and should be allowed to keep it.  “We have a structure that frankly works for most Americans,” said Charles N. Kahn III, the president of the Federation of American Hospitals … “Let’s make it work for all Americans.  We reject the notion that we need to turn the whole apple cart over and start all over again.”

The Times also takes note of the aggressive approach the Partnership is taking to get its message out:

In a daily fusillade of digital advertising, videos and Twitter posts, the coalition, the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, says that Medicare for all will require tax increases and give politicians and bureaucrats control of medical decisions now made by doctors and patients … The coalition will step up the tempo in the coming week as Democrats in the House and the Senate plan to introduce bills to establish a single-payer system … [I]ts reach is undeniable.  The coalition has picked up more than 25 members, including the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and the nation’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans.   And it has already sprung into action.  When Senator Bernie Sanders, the author of the Medicare for All Act, announced on [last] Tuesday that he was again running for president, the coalition immediately attacked him as “a leading advocate for upending our nation’s health care system in favor of starting from scratch with Medicare for all.”

To read The New York Times’ full article, CLICK HERE.