In the News

VT for Single Payer has compiled recent news articles and letters to the editor about Single Payer Health Care in Vermont. To view all the recent news stories click here. To view all the recent letters to the editor click here. To view all recent Editorials and Op-Eds click here.

How rising health care costs are driving up property taxes

VTDigger by Peter D’Auria  On Tuesday, many Vermont voters will weigh in on school budgets that have grown by the largest margins in recent history. The reasons for that growth include rising costs for special education, vanishing Covid-19 pandemic aid, deteriorating school buildings and increased expenses related to student mental health. Another reason is likely […]

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Lawmakers replace ambitious Medicaid expansion with a study

VTDigger One key piece of the legislation currently remains intact: a provision that would help low-income Vermonters afford Medicare coverage. by Peter D’Auria Lawmakers watered down a sweeping health care bill last week, replacing a provision that would expand access to Medicaid for many Vermonters with a study. As initially written, the bill, H.721, would […]

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Universal health care advocates hope to reinvigorate support at Vermont Statehouse

Vermont Public Vermont Public | By Peter Hirschfeld A coalition of House lawmakers is trying to reignite political momentum for a universal health care system in Vermont. The decades-long push for single-payer health care in Vermont suffered a devastating blow when then-Gov. Peter Shumlin abandoned his plan for a publicly funded system that would have […]

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Nearly 30,000 Vermonters have lost Medicaid coverage in the past 8 months

VTDigger More than two-thirds of those removed were disenrolled for “procedural” reasons — meaning it’s unclear whether they are actually ineligible.  by Peter D’Auria In 2022, Erin Kellar was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Kellar had enrolled in Vermont’s Medicaid health insurance program as a graduate student, and was able to stay in the program […]

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Final Reading: Legislators try to revive universal health care plan

VTDigger From left, Rep. Mari Cordes, D-Lincoln; Rep. Saudia LaMont, D-Morristown; Rep. Esme Cole, D-Hartford; Rep. Ela Chapin-D East Montpelier; Rep. Jubilee McGill-D Bridport; and Rep. Brian Cina, P/D-Burlington made a ceremonial march on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, to deliver a bill reviving Green Mountain Care to the Office of Legislative Counsel, where bills are […]

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Final Reading: Vermont’s health care system is a ‘village on fire’

VTDigger By Kristen Fountain Two health provider groups brought alarming anecdotes and statistics to the House Committee on Health Care this week, causing one new lawmaker to compare the state’s health care system to a village on fire. Unlike the evacuation of the Statehouse earlier in the week, this was not a drill. “In the […]

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Long Wait Times Persist at UVM Medical Center, New Data Show

Seven Days By Colin Flanders Patients continue to wait weeks and months for specialty care at Vermont’s largest hospital, new data show. The University of Vermont Medical Center is seeing only about one third of new patients within two weeks of a referral to a specialist, far short of its stated goal of an 80 […]

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Health insurance price hikes could have a huge impact on Vermont small businesses

VTDigger By Liora Engel-Smith Kevin Cheney’s events and crowd-control company is beginning to rebound from what has been a lean couple of years. Cheney, founder and majority owner of Green Mountain Concert Services Inc., recalls losing a quarter of a million dollars on the first day of the Covid-19 lockdown two years ago when everything […]

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Staffing shortage creates disparity in nursing pay

Stowe Reporter Aaron Calvin and Avalon Styles-Ashley | Staff Writers Last December, as Vermonters chopped down Christmas trees, breathed life into inflatable reindeer and placed glowing menorahs in their windows, COVID-19-related hospitalizations surged. State health officials warned that a new Omicron variant had likely been in local communities for a while, becoming the state’s most […]

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