Healthcare CEOs to Trump, Republicans: No repeal without replace

"CEOs of insurers, suppliers and technology companies, as well as associations representing sectors across the industry" are in strong agreement that Obamacare should not be repealed until there's a plan that can adequately replace it. And they are universally freaked out by the uncertainty Donald Trump's election has caused.

Shortly after Donald Trump's unexpected victory in the presidential election, leaders of the six-hospital Mission Health system decided to put large capital investments on hold. They wanted to preserve financial flexibility in case the new Republican administration pushed through “very harmful changes and reductions in payment,” said Dr. Ronald Paulus, CEO of the Asheville, N.C.-based system. […]

Healthcare CEOs, Paulus among them, are willing to consider Trump's healthcare reform ideas. But they have strong concerns about whether his plan would match the ACA's performance in expanding coverage and slashing the uninsured rate to less than 9%, according to Modern Healthcare's post-election Power Panel survey, which got responses from 93 of 123 CEOs contacted. Leaders of large hospitals and health systems are disproportionately represented on the panel, but the participants also include CEOs of insurers, suppliers and technology companies, as well as associations representing sectors across the industry. […]

Republican leaders are debating whether to quickly pass a repeal of most of the ACA, possibly with a one- or two-year delay, then later craft a replacement package. But 86% of the CEOs responding to the survey either strongly or somewhat agreed that repeal should not proceed without a replacement plan that provides affordable health insurance for all Americans who lack employer-based coverage.

“You can't drop 20 million people from the insurance rolls,” said Dr. William Conway, CEO of the 1,200-physician Henry Ford Medical Group in Michigan. “I hope there's no way to go back.”

We'll see how much sway this industry has with Republicans now. It's not just the insurers who are struggling with the uncertainty of  what's coming. It's the entire industry. If anything should sway Trump and the Republicans, it's corporate America freaking out.