Trump pitches 0% payroll tax rate for the rest of 2020

Each could have a different long term outcome. A future payoff will still hurt the offices that are 'made whole' but don't have cash now to pay employees or bills. Paying bills directly would emulate basic income or universal healthcare without taking part in the pricing discussion possible leading to gouging. And subsidies would do something similar as offices could raise prices above insurance minimums up to whatever the government pays out but could allow more control long term as the government muscles into the insurance space generally and can start setting prices like universal healthcare.

I think this is the perfect opportunity to be a bit authoritarian on healthcare policy. The left wants a universal system like medicare for all and the right wants the current administration to look good ahead of the 2020 election especialy if the 'economy' (stock market) is tanking.

The administration could declare a medical emergency and gain access to additional funding or work with congress to up funding or work on a universal medicare for all implementation. The emergency allows quick action and a scapegoat to point at if things don't work well initially (something like the ACA websites issues). The administration can then expand medicare to all citizens (emphasis on citizens for better optics to the right) and move to partner with insurance groups for outreach or expansion while paying health care offices directly and naming their price.

Win Win. The US has a psuedo universal system, the government can manage pricing for all bringing down prices for care and drugs, insurance companies become the hands actually doing the work and any layoffs can be pointed at the emergency or slow down vs the new policy.

Of course insurance groups will not want to work on this as it would mean they would lose a ton of money or die off but then again I'm not a policy maker or educated to write policy, just posing hypotheticals on the internet.