Can Biden “Sister Souljah” the Healthcare Industry?
Just because the Health Care Industrial complex has LOUDLY endorsed Joe Biden, that doesn’t mean Biden endorses them. He could still have his “Sister Souljah” moment and smack down this “Joe is running to kill single payer” talk, but I’d view that as a long shot, based on the fact that he needs money.
And yet, he did say that we are in a “battle for the soul of the nation” so maybe his all out pro-corporate stance on issues such as outsized guaranteed profits for insurers and BigPharma at the expense of the soul of America has softened(?)
The health care industry is happy to see Joe Biden jumping into the Democratic presidential race, hoping he can be a bulwark against their true 2020 opponent: Medicare-for-all.
Many of the top Democratic primary candidates have embraced Bernie Sanders’s Medicare-for-all plan, which would essentially eliminate private health insurance.
Biden hasn’t. He also hasn’t rolled out his health care platform, as Vox’s Sarah Kliff recently wrote, but he seems likely to present a center-left alternative to single-payer.
“I’ve definitely had clients ask, where is Biden?” said Kim Monk, the managing director at Capital Alpha, which advises Wall Street investors from Washington, DC. “He’s basically an establishment candidate and would be much more in tune to building on what’s there as opposed to coming in and destroying what’s there and starting over.”
One analyst told investors amid a mild market freakout over single-payer the other day, as Axios reported: “How could the news get better? Biden wins the Democratic nomination without changing his current view against single payer.”
Industry lobbyists aren’t certain Biden will win. One Democratic health care lobbyist grimly predicted to me Sanders would take the Democratic nomination. A trade association leader brought up Biden’s two previous failed presidential bids. But they finally have a candidate in their corner with the profile to battle Sanders and single-payer. (snip)
Industry insiders expect Biden to, at most, support a public option that allows some or all people under 65 to buy into Medicare. The Biden campaign did not respond to requests for comment on the candidate’s health care plans.
“The industry would just like to see a candidate who would be responsible and be pragmatic,” this person said. “From the industry standpoint, it’s like, what was all the energy about 2010? Biden would be more sympathetic toward that.”
My guess is that Biden will essentially offer an invigorated ObamaCare plan complete with a Medicare option. He’ll offer the Medicare option to have some credibility for being “progressive” in his approach but will be willing to negotiate the Medicare option away should he be elected to the presidency.
Agreed, but I don’t he’ll negotiate it away. Instead I think he will means test it as a way of limiting it.
55.4 %of the population are covered by employer health plans (followed by Medicaid (19.5 %), Medicare (16.0 %), direct-purchase (14.6 %) and military health care (4.5 %).) The percentage of people without health insurance coverage was 10.4 %. Of that 55% covered by employer health plans the satisfaction rate is 71%.
Politically, those are tough numbers to overcome. My son works for Microsoft. His health plan is nothing short of extraordinary for a very small cost to him. It would be a tough sell to get him and millions of others to accept MFA. It’s a pretty tall hill.
I hope he focuses on reducing medical costs instead as there is plenty of low hanging fruit there.
Source of data: Census.gov (Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2014) (https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2015/cb15-157.html)
Joe’s a Delaware Corporatist, just like all the rest from this state, problem is American healthcare remains a joke. People want a solution and an end to the lifelong fear of being destroyed by medical bills, Medicare for all is the least we can do, ancient Joe Biden or not.
Checking in on the discord.