Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

No repeal without replace, CEOs urge, as Trump readies a new healthcare overhaul

Modern Healthcare: 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.

Meanwhile, Mission Health chose to continue investing in population health initiatives, its new health insurance company and its Medicare Advantage program.

Paulus said those decisions flowed out of the huge uncertainty caused by Trump's and congressional Republicans' promise to rapidly repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. “It's eight years going in one direction, then turning on a dime and going in a completely different direction,” he said. “Uncertainty wreaks havoc in any industry. As a nation, we should decide on a direction and provide some long-standing stability.”

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