Vermont for Single Payer

Karen Klotz, Hardwick

My husband and I are currently spending $179.00/month to purchase health insurance through my employer and still have to pay a $4,000 deductible before anything is paid for. Because of this we never go to the doctor for preventative care because we know we will have to pay for it. If we had a single payer system that covered preventative care it would save money in the long-run, as people would get the care they needed when they needed it. I would be happy to pay into the single-payer system (and hopefully my employer could put the money they spend on my insurance toward it too) to actually have my care paid for without having to meet a high deductible. Please help us to achieve the single payer system in Vermont.

Denise Parker, White River Junction

My husband and I were on Medicade for many years when he was in school and worked part time. I can not work because I have an auto-immune disease. Now that he is out of school he can not find a job in his field due to the economy. We live on one paycheck making 25 dollars to much for medicaid. They put us on Green Mtn. Care and must pay deductibles, for each script. for each Dr. visit and 20% of blood tests, etc. That 25 dollars is eaten up with 1 doctor visit and 1 script. I take 6 scripts a day and see the doctor every 2 months. That doesn’t include my regular doctor and my husband. We cant pay all these out of pocket bills. We need single payer and we understand we will all have to pay a little more in taxes for this. We cant afford not to. Thank you for your time and God Bless.

Jess Wagener, ER Doctor, Middlebury

I am an emergency room physician in Middlebury. In my practice I see every day the effect our irrational and unequal system has on ordinary people. The people I see who are most adversely affected by the current system are middle class – farmers and small business owners who don’t work for the state or a large corporation. These people have access only to expensive private insurance plans with high deductibles. They delay seeking regular care or treatment for minor problems, allowing small problems to become big ones. They don’t have prescription plans and can’t afford the price of medication that they need.

For these families, even a minor illness or injury can push them over the edge into financial ruin. It is very sad to tell a patient that they need an X-Ray or CT scan only to be told – Doctor I just can’t afford it. I’m still paying off medical expenses from a previous illness. These are hardworking members of our community

Nancy Welch, Professor, Burlington

When my husband was diagnosed with tumors in both kidneys and his brain, our health insurance provider assigned us a case worker–not to help us coordinate his care but instead to restrict his access to care. Each time he needed to see a specialist, each time a doctor ordered a test or a radiation treatment, we had to contact the case worker who would later inform us that our request had been denied. We then had to appeal and wait critical days and weeks before each request was finally approved. The tumors in my husband’s kidneys were on the verge of metastasis; the brain tumor threatened the vision in his only eye. The practice that private insurance must pursue if it is to squeeze a profit from health care–the practice of limiting access or discouraging use of benefits–was aimed at

Ellen Powell, South Burlington

I am keeping fingers and toes crossed for single Payer in VT because I live on the edge of poverty and my health insurance relies on how many college students sign up for bass lessons at SUNY Plattsburgh each semester. If I don’t get enough, I don’t get health insurance. At the end of each semester I bite my nails, wondering if I’m going to get enough students signed up for the next semester to qualify for their health insurance for a few more months. It’s been like this for three years, is nerve wracking and it sucks. If there was a safety net under me of single payer in VT I would

Paul Martin, South Burlington

As a Canadian now living in Vermont, I’ve lived for most of my life with a single payer system and have seen first-hand how much more efficient it can be. More important than anything, though, is how much better it would be for the day-to-day life of Vermonters. Imagine being able to switch jobs, create your own business, hire an employee, or raise children without ever having to think twice about whether you will have access to healthcare. This is the reality for everyone in every other major country in the world. Economically, this would be a huge boost to the Vermont economy and would be phenomenal for business. What business would not want to move to Vermont if their cost of providing healthcare was dropped dramatically. Imagine how much more we could achieve this way! This would raise both the standard of living and the quality of life in Vermont.

If you’re looking for examples of how Vermont could become the leader in the US for reform, look no further than