Progressive-Favorite ‘Medicare For All’ Takes A Battering From Trump Administration Health Officials
HHS Secretary Alex Azar criticized the plan only a day after CMS Administrator Seema Verma said that it would become "Medicare For None" if the system were enacted. “Medicare is running out of other people’s money, and those other people happen to be our children,” Azar said. The secretary also spoke about plans for overhauling the Medicare billing structure.
The New York Times:
Trump Officials Scoff At ‘Medicare For All’ Drive
The Trump administration is hitting back against advocates of “Medicare for all” even as the proposal gains momentum among left-leaning Democrats in this election year. Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, said on Thursday that the administration had a vision for “reforming the American health care system” that would shrink, not expand, the federal role. In a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Mr. Azar said that Medicare could barely afford to keep its current commitments. “Medicare is running out of other people’s money, and those other people happen to be our children,” he said. (Pear, 7/26)
KPCC:
Trump Administration Confirms California Lawmakers Were Right About Single Payer
Seema Verma eliminated any doubts that the Trump administration might allow California to move forward with plans for a single payer health care system. The head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spoke to the Commonwealth Club of California on Wednesday. (Faust, 7/26)
Modern Healthcare:
Azar Promises Continued Medicare Billing Overhaul, Regulatory Relief
HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Thursday doubled down on promises to overhaul the Medicare billing structures to drive down government costs and vowed to put out new guidance for providers on the anti-kickback laws and HIPAA. HHS will write new guidance for laws that "stand in the way of healthcare providers" and hold back the healthcare system's transition to value-based care, Azar told a conservative audience at the Heritage Foundation. He also highlighted the CMS' new request for information on the Stark law and noted that additional requests are coming to prepare the administration as it overhauls anti-kickback and HIPAA rules. (Luthi, 7/26)