Healthcare Exec: Sanders' Medicare for All Would Create 'Disruption'

A healthcare executive slammed Medicare for All Wednesday, saying that the single-payer healthcare plan would cause “disruption” for millions of Americans by eliminating their private health insurance.

Matt Eyles, the CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), said in an interview with the Hill that Medicare for All would cause massive disruption for tens of millions of Americans who rely upon their health insurance for their healthcare coverage.

“The disruption that you would have, by getting rid of private insurance, in the employer market, telling 180 million Americans that they need to give up their coverage through their employer is really not the best way to fix the problems and expand coverage in our health care system,” Eyles said.

Medicare for All’s potential disruption to the healthcare industry remains a delicate issue for many Democrats.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), a sponsor of a popular House Medicare for All bill, admitted in May that one million health insurance workers will get “displaced” under the single-payer healthcare proposal.

Eyles responded to criticism from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who sent a letter to the AHIP chief executive, as well as Steve Ubl, the chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, asking them how much they plan on spending to fight Medicare for All.

Publicly available lobbying records reveal that AHIP spent $5 million in lobbying in the first half of 2019, although that does not include campaign contributions as well as advertising spending.

In his letter to the healthcare executives, Sanders said that they could better use the money they have spent fighting Medicare for All to instead “make sure that no one in the wealthiest country in the world dies or goes bankrupt because they cannot afford to purchase life-saving prescription drugs or go to a doctor.”

Eyles also said that expanding coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) remains the best way to provide Americans healthcare coverage.

AHIP also serves as a member of the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, which has fought Medicare for All as well as former Vice president Joe Biden’s public option plan.

The American Medical Association (AMA) announced last week that they will leave the Partnership to focus instead on solutions, such as fixing Obamacare by increasing ACA subsidies.