HFMA April 3, 2019
- Medicare expansion proposals continue to emerge from Democrats and are expected to dominate the next Congress.
- Expanding Medicare enrollments will accelerate price increases in private coverage.
- Some state governments have begun using Medicare rates for their employees, and commercial health plans and employer-based plans may follow suit.
Even assuming the federal government does not adopt a single-payer model such as Medicare-for-all, industry watchers see Medicare’s impact on the healthcare sector expanding.
Peter Hayes, president and CEO of the Maine Health Management Coalition, an employer-led regional collaborative, said health care is nearing “a tipping point.”
That pressure has increased the role of Medicare at the state government level, with Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon moving to base their employee-plan...