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Thursday, February 17th, 2022

Physicians Slam Industry Push to ‘Fix’—Not End—Medicare Privatization Scheme

Author:     Jake Johnson
Source:     Common Dreams
Publication Date:     February 16, 2022
 Link: Physicians Slam Industry Push to ‘Fix’—Not End—Medicare Privatization Scheme
Stephan:   Here is yet another report illustrating how all decisions about healthcare in the United States are made not on the basis of fostering wellbeing but, instead, on how to preserve and increase profit. That's why we have the worst healthcare in the developed world.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty

Physicians and progressive advocates on Tuesday urged the Department of Health and Human Services to reject an industry appeal to tweak and rebrand—not end altogether—a Medicare privatization scheme known as Direct Contracting, which the Trump administration launched in 2020.

Members of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), which represents 24,000 doctors and other health professionals, has been working for months to bring lawmakers’ attention to the DC program and pressure the Biden administration to terminate it while it’s still in an experimental phase.

“The Biden administration must completely eliminate Direct Contracting—nothing less than that is acceptable.”

As a result of PNHP’s efforts, dozens of Democrats—including Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—have spoken out against the DC pilot, opposition that appears to have caught the notice of healthcare industry groups that stand to benefit from the program.

In a letter sent earlier this week, more than 220 healthcare organizations—including active participants in the DC program known as Direct Contracting Entities (DCEs)—implored […]

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