Julie Rovner, Kaiser Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, joined host Scott Simon on NPR’s “Weekend Edition” on Saturday to talk about the plan released by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for funding the “Medicare for All” health plan she has endorsed. She is calling for the elimination of private insurance and replacing it with a government-sponsored health plan for all residents.
Rovner pointed out that the plan, which calls for paying doctors and hospitals at roughly the current Medicare reimbursement rates rather than what higher private insurance pays, is bound to raise concerns among those health care providers. “They will not like having their payments reduced to that level,” she said, “but that does make everything cheaper and makes it easier for her to finance and easier to finance by basically taxing the rich, which is essentially what she’s doing.”
In addition, Rovner was on a panel on New Hampshire Public Radio that examined the health care proposals of all the Democratic presidential candidates.
Rovner also discussed Warren’s plan on MSNBC’s “Kasie DC” show Sunday night with guest host Ayman Mohyeldin and Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a health policy researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.
In addition, Rovner appeared on “The Evening Edit” with Elizabeth MacDonald on the Fox Business channel Monday.
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