Rutland Herald: Vermont has long been a leader in providing quality health care coverage, and now we have an opportunity as a state to demonstrate how to deliver an affordable and comprehensive universal health care system.
This system could potentially save Vermonters half a billion dollars a year in overall health care costs, which is great news for small businesses.
Currently, it’s estimated that Vermonters spend about $2.7 billion annually on health care premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and although it seems like a big price tag, the $2 billion to $2.2 billion anticipated cost for Green Mountain Care will be an overall decrease. In addition, taking employers out of the health insurance provision system means we’ll no longer need to administer health insurance, reducing our overhead.
The implementation of universal health care presents us with a unique opportunity to benefit the entire state.
In order to achieve these benefits for small businesses and our employees, however, it’s critical that we find the right balance in the financing plan — one that won’t hurt small businesses like ours or hard-working Vermonters.
According to the Dec. 5 VTDigger article that reported a leak from the Governor’s Advisory Council, an 8 percent payroll tax could be a part of the financing package for Green Mountain Care. While 8 percent sounds like a reasonable starting point for the conversation about payroll tax contributions, we’re eager to learn more about the details.
Specifically, how will the payroll tax be phased in for small businesses that aren’t currently offering a health care benefit to their employees? And given that currently the average employer premium contribution covers about 80 percent of the cost, we would have serious concerns about any plan that shifted that balance too quickly, hurting working Vermonters. Any eventual cost shift needs to allow time for the benefits of universal health care and the cost savings we will see from improved health outcomes to flow to everyone.
These will be important details to clarify and to work on with the Legislature once the administration’s proposal is released and no matter what the standard payroll tax rate ends up being.
Just as important as the balance of the financing plan is the coverage it provides. As founding members of Main Street Alliance, we support a plan that restores Vermonters to at least the coverage that was available under our Catamount Health Plan and Dr. Dynasaur and that includes dental and vision. We should not roll back the progress that Vermont has already made to this point and we support those who are calling for a higher actuarial value — the better the policy, the better it is for Vermont.
As small business owners in Vermont, we’re excited about the opportunity to stay engaged in this process. We are looking forward to the release of the administration’s full plan later this month and to working with the Legislature next year. We know, in the long run and if done right, universal health care will save everybody money. When everybody saves money, they have more to circulate back into the local economy, and that’s good for Vermont Main Street businesses and our employees.
This column was contributed by Main Street Alliance members Wayne Nelson of L.N. Consulting in Winooski, Melinda Moulton, CEO of Main Street Landing in Burlington, Trudy Trombley of The Boutique at Stowe Mercantile and Truly Trudy’s Cosmetics in Stowe, and Eliza Cain of Red Hen Bakery in Middlesex.