Many thanks to Bill Schubart for cogently chronicling the many different ways that Vermont’s health care is sliding toward disaster (“The slow-motion implosion of Vermont’s health care system”).
We are now well on our way toward a health care monopoly in the hands of the University of Vermont Medical Center and its affiliated “ACO,” OneCare Vermont.
I share Mr. Schubart’s skepticism that the state’s fractured oversight bodies are capable of correcting course before we run aground. Between the political fear that seems to be constraining our elected officials, the unclear lines of authority between our multiple administrative bodies, and the self-interest of the many people who profit by the status quo, is there any room at all for the public’s interests?
If Vermonters want to avoid the consequences of having a “single provider” health care system, they really need to wake up to how bad things are and how much worse they are likely to get. Serious and continuous public pressure on our officials is the only hope. Start contacting them now, please. And repeat that contact over and over again.
Lodiza Lepore
Bennington