September 19, 2019

Buttigieg’s Health Plan Gets One Big Thing Right
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, jumped into the Democratic presidential primary’s most contentious issue on Thursday with the release of his “Medicare for All Who Want It” outline. A particularly bold part of his health plan tackles a key issue largely avoided by the other candidates. Buttigieg comes down firmly on former Vice President Joe Biden’s side with a plan that closely resembles the one the front-runner released in July. Buttigieg’s proposal would retain the private insurance market, create a public health insurance option with limited auto-enrollment and boost subsidies for lower-income Americans.  One crucial difference — and not just with Biden’s plan — is that Buttigieg’s proposal explicitly calls out hospital and provider prices as a critical driver of health care costs. His plan would cap out-of-network provider charges at double what Medicare would pay for the same service. Many providers charge substantially more than that, but even Democratic presidential candidates tend to avoid the issue and focus on easier political targets like insurers and drugmakers.Out-of-control prices are an inevitable consequence of America’s confusing mash-up of private employer coverage, public plans and individual insurance options. Fragmentation reduces negotiating power and makes it extremely difficult to bargain effectively with providers, especially as hospitals consolidate. Hospital care and physician and clinical services accounted for more than half of America’s $3.5 trillion in health care spending in 2017. Provider prices have been rising more rapidly than inflation for years, which helps explain why the U.S. spends so much more than other developed countries. For example, the average cost of bypass surgery in the U.S. was $78,318 in 2014. The same surgery cost $34,224 on average in Switzerland that year and $24,059 in the U.K. That sort of gap is not unusual.In addition to already inflated pricing and spending, there are countless individual examples of abusive pricing and behavior from providers. Even candidates like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders who call for “Medicare for All,” which would require steeper and more widespread provider cost cuts, don’t go out of their way to talk about the issue. Provider prices came up only a few times across five Democratic debates in which health care received sustained airtime. It’s a touchy subject, considering the large number of people employed by health providers and their relative popularity among voters. Buttigieg’s willingness to openly address the issue is a refreshing step forward in the health policy debate and boosts the appeal of his plan. His proposal would retain many of the current system’s flaws, even with the addition of a public option. But the cap has the chance to improve matters substantially. On top of cutting outlier prices, it would bolster negotiating leverage for the public option and private plans by making it less lucrative for providers to refuse to join insurance networks. It could bring the cost of insurance and care down and expand access in a less disruptive manner. In many ways, his plan still falls far short of single-payer options. Medicare for All could do far more to bring costs down by folding people with private insurance into a national plan and would provide substantially more generous coverage to many more people.The cost of such a plan and voter concerns about eliminating private coverage means it’s not guaranteed to pass even if Democrats take back the White House and Senate. In that light, it’s refreshing to have a more moderate alternative that at least acknowledges and attempts to tackle one of the health system’s biggest issues. To contact the author of this story: Max Nisen at mnisen@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Niemi at dniemi1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Max Nisen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering biotech, pharma and health care. He previously wrote about management and corporate strategy for Quartz and Business Insider.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Olivia Munn Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Double Mastectomy Procedure | E! News
March 13, 2024
kUaEV1Kd3S0
Travis Kelce Shares Details From His Trip to Singapore With Taylor Swift | E! News
March 13, 2024
3YXi-Dgf4eg
Kate Middleton VIRAL Photo: Agency Addresses Photoshop Claims | E! News
March 13, 2024
S4VkO0TpkCY
Da'Vine Joy Randolph Plays 'Smash or Pass' With Iconic Moments From Her Career
March 13, 2024
vkPdJEF2BX4
Jean Smart Wears a Hotel Bathrobe to Present an Award to Hannah Einbinder l Power of Comedy SxSW
March 12, 2024
Bw7uVEYQev4
Lenny Kravitz Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 12, 2024
MlWq8BcnwhE
Dak Prescott Extortion Plot & Steph Curry for President? | TMZ Sports Full Ep - 3/12/24
March 13, 2024
jHFsrjs7OFY
A Japanese space rocket blew up after takeoff Tuesday, turning the sky into a fireball of smoke.
March 13, 2024
YkfJ3Qg8B7c
#KimKardashian and #BiancaCensori hung out at #KanyeWest's listening party Tuesday night!
March 13, 2024
EfwLLq6bx9k
‘Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond denies using Ozempic to lose 60 pounds
March 13, 2024
Omfjk1AlZ3A
Chrissy Teigen reveals her ‘boob lift scars’ in daring dress at Jay-Z & Beyoncé’s Oscars 2024 party
March 13, 2024
VxZ2qXAlpmU
Zoë Kravitz pokes fun at dad Lenny Kravitz's style during Hollywood Walk of Fame speech
March 13, 2024
j3-lcFu_1sQ
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
SC Freiburg - Bayer Leverkusen
17
Mar
USA: Major League Soccer
Atlanta United - Orlando City
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
West Ham United - Aston Villa
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Rayo Vallecano - Real Betis
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Championship
Leeds - Millwall
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Las Palmas - Almeria
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Villarreal - Valencia
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Sevilla - Celta Vigo
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
11
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Chelsea - Newcastle United
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Liverpool - Manchester City
10
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Real Madrid - Celta Vigo
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa - Tottenham Hotspur
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Atalanta
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Fiorentina - Roma
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
AC Milan - Empoli
09
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Werder Bremen - Borussia Dortmund
09
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Arsenal - Brentford
09
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Bologna - Inter Milan
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.