Bruce Japsen Senior Contributor Mar 8, 2020,08:00am EST
Democratic
presidential candidate Sen. Bernie[+]
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New investments in privatized Medicare and Joe
Biden’s return as the front-runner for the Democratic party’s nomination for
the Presidency is bad news for the single payer version of “Medicare for All.”
The day after former vice president Biden won
10 of 14 Democratic primaries on Super Tuesday, the value of stocks of health insurance companies soared
7% to 10% or more on what some saw as the less likely chance
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont would become the Democratic party’s nominee for
President to challenge Donald Trump should Republicans re-nominate him. Sanders
favors expansion of Medicare to all Americans via a government-run healthcare
system that would uproot the private health insurance industry.
Biden favors an expansion of
government-subsidized health insurance coverage but would keep the private
system. Biden proposes to build on the Affordable Care Act signed into law 10
years ago by President Obama and adding a public option to private plans sold
on the ACA’s public exchanges.
Amid the strong support Sanders has been
getting, health insurance companies continue to talk about expanding privatized
Medicare Advantage coverage.
And privatized Medicare Advantage isn’t
slowing despite the publicity about single payer Medicare for All and the
legislation’s high profile in this year’s Presidential campaign.
In the last two months, all major health
insurance companies including the Aetna unit of CVS Health, Anthem, Cigna,
Humana and UnitedHealth Group reported record enrollment in Medicare Advantage
and many of these insurers expanded into new areas for 2020.
This year, Medicare Advantage plans are
offering more supplement health benefits under new rules established by the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which has seen a record
number of health plans selling coverage that offers seniors the same benefits
as traditional Medicare plus extras like preventative care and outpatient
healthcare services.
And while big health plans look to expand
Medicare Advantage into new sales regions for 2020, small companies and
startups are doing the same.
Take Alignment Healthcare, an up and coming
provider of Medicare Advantage coverage for seniors, which last week announced it landed $135 million from
Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price and Durable Capital Partners. Alignment
Healthcare said the money will be used to “accelerate the growth of the
company’s Medicare Advantage footprint while deepening its investments in its technology
platform and plan offerings.”
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