UnitedHealth CEO says ‘Medicare for All’ would ‘destabilize the nation’s health system’

UnitedHealth CEO says ‘Medicare for All’ would ‘destabilize the nation’s health system’
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. / CNBC

UnitedHealth Group CEO David Wichmann warned investors on Tuesday that “Medicare for All” proposals pushed by Democratic lawmakers and presidential candidates would “destabilize the nation’s health system.”

A number of Democratic proposals call for eliminating private health insurance, and replacing it with a universal Medicare plan, claiming that it would help reduce administrative inefficiencies in the health-care system.

But Wichmann, who rarely discusses politics, told investors on a post-earnings conference call Tuesday the measures being discussed would “surely jeopardize the relationship people have with their doctors, destabilize the nation’s health system and limit the ability of clinicians to practice medicine at their best.”

“And the inherent cost burden would surely have a severe impact on the economy and jobs – all without fundamentally increasing access to care,” he added.

The executive noted that health-care costs have grown less quickly than overall inflation for 16-straight months, saying “it has lessened considerably due to better management of price inflation and earlier and more effective management of care in lower cost settings.”