AHA, FAH share hospital concerns with public option in draft Democratic platform

The AHA and Federation of American Hospitals yesterday wrote to the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee regarding the associations’ concerns with the draft platform’s support for accessing public coverage through a public option. “We hope the Democratic platform draft will continue to move the nation in the direction of more equitable, affordable health coverage and access to care, resulting in improved population health,” wrote AHA and FAH. “However, our members have serious concerns that creating a public option with Medicare-like payments would subvert those goals by depressing insurer payments to health care providers and disrupting the fragile finance system that sustains hospitals today.” The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission projects a record low –9% Medicare margin for hospitals in 2016, the letter notes. “Adding millions more enrollees whose health care would be reimbursed at Medicare rates would likely threaten access to needed health care services, particularly for those in vulnerable communities,” the hospital groups said.