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I have been part of a chorus of healthcare writers complaining that when Democratic presidential candidates excoriate profiteering by health insurers and pharma, they always give providers a pass. Relatedly, my last post salutes three hard-hitting stories published this year -- two of them in the last week -- that spotlight predatory billing or collections by hospitals and private equity-owned physician staffing companies.
While no candidate participating in the September 12 CNN debate took Kaiser Health News editor-in-chief Elizabeth Rosenthal's pre-debate invitation...
I have been part of a chorus of healthcare writers complaining that when Democratic presidential candidates excoriate profiteering by health insurers and pharma, they always give providers a pass. Relatedly, my last post salutes three hard-hitting stories published this year -- two of them in the last week -- that spotlight predatory billing or collections by hospitals and private equity-owned physician staffing companies.
While no candidate participating in the September 12 CNN debate took Kaiser Health News editor-in-chief Elizabeth Rosenthal's pre-debate invitation...
one candidate caught the cue this week. Today, Pete Buttigieg is out with a "Medicare for all who want it" plan (rather like Biden's, FWIW). In a statement, as reported by HuffPost's Jonathan Cohn, Buttigieg rounded up the usual healthcare suspects -- plus one (my emphasis):Will any of the candidates take on HOSPITALS' PRICING AND BILLING policies at tonight's #democraticdebate? They should and why they might not...in my latest for the @NYTimesOpEd. https://t.co/e808tYGdLe— Elisabeth Rosenthal (@RosenthalHealth) September 12, 2019
“For years, Washington politicians have allowed the pharmaceutical industry, giant insurance companies, and powerful hospital systems to profit off of people when they are at their sickest and most vulnerable,” Buttigieg said in a prepared statement. “My ‘Medicare for All Who Want It’ plan will create a health care system that puts power in the hands of each American.”
