Letters

VTDigger I read the commentary “Many people can’t afford to be state legislators” by Sens. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, and Becca White, D-Windham, with interest. What was more interesting, however, was what these senators did not say in their commentary. I generally agree with S.39 and support it. Vermont legislators do deserve better financial remuneration. Our […]

Times Argus Many of our Vermont politicians seem to want to congratulate themselves in saying 95% of Vermonters have health insurance. However, closer examination would show many of these 95% have high deductible policies whose cost prohibits them from accessing primary health care their premiums should provide. These are the underinsured, of which there are […]

VTDigger Hospital executives make big, big salaries. Who pays them? We do. Insurance executives make big, big salaries. Who pays them? We do. Drug company executives make big, big salaries. Who pays them? We do. Drug companies and insurance companies and private equity owners of health care facilities make big profits. Where does that money […]

VTDigger I agree with Mr. Davis’s commentary on H.156. It certainly deserves to be taken off the wall and testimony from Vermonters needs to be heard. I disagree with his statement that there are not enough Vermonters who agree that we need single-payer publicly paid and privately delivered health care. As usual, the problem is […]

VTDigger Yes, I fully agree that state senators and Vermont House members need access to state employees’ health benefits. But so do all the rest of the Vermonters who are dealing with unaffordable private policies or no insurance at all. Continue reading  

St. Albans Messenger What used to be called “catastrophic” insurance has been rebranded as “high deductible” insurance. It used to be on the cheaper side because the insurance company’s liability didn’t kick in until you had already paid a large amount. While you were covered if something truly catastrophic happened, it encouraged you to avoid […]

VTDigger To the Editor: I fully empathize with Rep. Ashely Bartley on losing her job and her health insurance after she became a legislator. This is reprehensible. This is, however, not unusual in Vermont. In fact, it is routine. I was also a victim of it. I once lost my job and my health insurance […]

VTDigger Dr. Ashley Miller extols the virtues of moving from a fee-for-service model to a capitated payment model and expresses concern that this will change if BlueCross BlueShield chooses to withdraw from OneCare Vermont. In view of this issue, it is worth noting that a universal primary care program in Vermont could utilize the same […]

Brattleboro Reformer To the editor: Vermont’s health care system is a “village on fire” and the villagers don’t even get a say on the matter. Media recently reported that “Two health provider groups brought alarming anecdotes and statistics to the House Committee on Health Care.” The testimony was sufficiently alarming that one legislator compared Vermont’s […]

VTDigger As we are all being told by OneCare about how wonderful value-based care is, why do I as a consumer/patient feel like it is just another trick or scam to keep us dependent on very expensive administrative oversight that is not needed? Medical providers need to have the independence to make their own decisions […]