Top health system leaders met with President-Elect Trump on Wednesday to discuss care delivery reforms and other pressing healthcare issues, according to several media reports.
An article in The Washington Post cited a pool report that confirmed that the group of health system CEOs met with President-Elect Trump Wednesday at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. At the meeting were Toby Cosgrove, M.D., CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, Paul Rothman, M.D., CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, John Noseworthy, M.D., CEO of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and David Torchiana, M.D., CEO of Boston-based Partners Healthcare, according to The Washington Post report.
Cosgrove, a cardiac surgeon and Vietnam War veteran, may be a candidate to head the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Washington Post previously reported that Cosgrove met with Trump earlier this month to be interviewed for the VA Secretary post.
Bloomberg News reported that the group met to discuss overhauling health care for veterans, citing a senior transition official. Bloomberg writers Zachary Tracer, Shannon Pettypiece and Jennifer Epstein wrote, “The group weighed public-private partnerships and other options that would make it possible for veterans to go to any hospital for care, inside the Veterans Affairs system or outside of it, a senior transition official said after the meeting.”
Additionally, a Stat News article stated, “Sean Spicer, Trump’s press secretary, said the main focus was how to reform the VA health care system and “provide better quality and timely care to veterans.” Also discussed, he said, was Obamacare, costs, access, and quality of care.”
Trump and Republican leaders of Congress plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The Bloomberg News article also cites a statement from the Mayo Clinic that “Noseworthy was invited to discuss ‘his perspective on the future of health-care delivery, research and excellence,’ including applying principles developed at the Mayo Clinic to improve U.S. health care.”
“Noseworthy planned to discuss ‘Mayo Clinic’s views on critical success factors needed to solve our nation’s most pressing and complex health challenges,’ the Rochester, Minnesota-based health system said.”
In an interview with The Washington Post in November, Noseworthy said his office had already been in touch with Trump’s transition team offering help.
“We’re really talking about replace and repair, rather than repeal. But we haven’t seen a full approach yet from the administration. Personally, this is me speaking. …We’re basically optimistic we can create a better system together,” Noseworthy said, according to the November Washington Post article.
Also in the meeting were Bruce Moskowitz, described as a physician in Palm Beach, and Isaac Perlmutter, chief executive officer of Marvel Entertainment, who is a healthcare philanthropist, according to several media reports.
