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 [...]
Happy to Pay Into a Single Payer System
February 26th, 2010Insurance Tied to Employment with No Safety Net is Worrisome
February 24th, 2010Ellen 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 [...]
Catamount Health Costs
February 22nd, 2010 By: Marge Power, VT for Single Payer Supporter, Montpelier
Catamount Health is a State health care insurance program that helps eligible Vermonters buy health insurance from private insurance companies, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and MVP. Why would the State pay private insurance companies when it has the capacity to administer the program directly? Ask Governor Jim [...]
Vermont Could Become the Leader in Reform
February 22nd, 2010Paul 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 [...]
Experts Testify: Millions can be saved in administrative costs
February 16th, 2010
By: Dr. Deborah Richter
The Senate Health committee took testimony this week from two national experts on the subject of administrative costs in health care with particular emphasis on hospital administrative costs.
Dr. Himmelstein is a researcher and physician from Harvard University. Dr Kahn is from University of California San Francisco.
Dr. Himelstein reported that 26% of [...]
Single Payer and Job Loss
February 8th, 2010
By Eric Lazarus, Single Payer Supporter, Burlington
One concern people express about a Single Payer healthcare system, is the loss of jobs that result when insurance companies stop selling health insurance, or, as in some scenarios, fall back to selling only supplemental health insurance. In either case, many jobs will be lost, and society should [...]
Corporate Health Insurance Controls Our Choices
February 6th, 2010 Peggy Sapphire, Craftsbury
My husband and I have Medicare & Aetna, but Aetna has no preferred provider network in Vermont. We live in VT on a fixed Social Security pension.
Five years ago my husband was diagnosed with bladder cancer. His treatment began with a Barre,VT urologist, and within 2 years we’d incurred such significant debt [...]
Don’t Deny Preventive Services
February 6th, 2010 Tara Meyer, Nurse Practitioner, Burlington
I was in my last semester of my Family Nurse Practitioner program at UVM. Vermont has a program called Ladies First, which basically covers some preventive care (like mammograms) for women without health insurance. When I was a new student I thought this was great– “Wow, in Vermont, all women [...]
No Lifetime Caps on Health Insurance
February 6th, 2010 Gina Mazer, Montpelier
I have a chronic, genetic illness called Gaucher’s Disease, which means I need to receive an infusion of an enzyme that I am missing on a monthly or twice a month basis, at the hospital. This replacement enzyme (called Cerezyme) is extremely expensive, so much so that if my insurance has a [...]
Single Payer Good for Business
February 6th, 2010 By: Melinda Moulton, CEO/Redeveloper of Main Street Landing & Single Payer Supporter
For over 26 years Main Street Landing has provided 100% Health Coverage for our employees and their families at no expense to them. Main Street Landing pays 23% of our payroll toward health insurance for our employees and their families. Why – because [...]