Burlington Free Press

The recent study funded by the Vermont Medical Society, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and other organizations opposed to a unified payment system (“single-payer financing”) for health care (“Outside report raises concerns about Vermont’s universal health care plan,” Nov. 14) beggars belief.

This new study by a Washington consulting firm concluded that health care savings for Vermonters under a unified payment system would be less than projected in an earlier analysis commissioned by the Green Mountain Care Board.

However, advanced industrialized nations around the world use some variant of single-payer financing and consistently keep their health care costs at 50-60 percent of ours while insuring their entire populations.

Are we to believe that Vermonters just don’t have the know-how, savvy or courage to implement a cost-effective unified payment system in the coming three years? I have more confidence in Vermont, our citizen legislators and the Green Mountain Care Board.

JASON KELLEY
Hartford
Dr. Jason Kelley of Hartford is a past president of Vermont Physicians for a National Health Program.