Biggest US health insurer wades into Medicare for All fight
The U.S.’s biggest health insurer sharply criticized the Medicare for All proposals being debated by Democrats, wading into a heated Washington political debate that’s likely to dominate the 2020 presidential race and the conversation about the future of private health plans in America.
For months, health insurers have kept mostly quiet about the proposal, the most-ambitious versions of which would replace privately financed health coverage with Medicare, the government program that covers about 60 million mostly elderly Americans. On Tuesday, UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s chief executive officer said such proposals would amount to a “wholesale disruption of American health care.”
As a source of coverage, UnitedHealth is almost as large as Medicare itself. It provides health-insurance services to 49.7 million people, and last year recorded revenue of $226.2 billion. Along with insurance, it operates physician practices, sells consulting and data services, and administers drug benefits. It also covers millions of people in the private-sector versions of Medicare and Medicaid.
Despite its immense size, the company has kept a relatively low profile with the wider public. Its quarterly earnings are typically buttoned-up events, treated as a financial indicator for other insurers who report later in the earnings season. Engaging in a political fight could turn it into a political target as Democrats look for winning issues.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/biggest-us-health-insurer-wades-into-medicare-for-all-fight/ar-BBVZHgJ?li=BBnbfcN
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If Medicare worked like it should, supplemental coverage would not be required.
