Letters

Addison County Independent We’re being overwhelmed with advertising for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, but there are no ads for traditional Medicare. The reason for the MA ads is that the Medicare Advantage corporations are making huge profits. Medicare Advantage is privatizing Medicare. When you sign on for Medicare Advantage you are giving your Medicare dollars […]

Brattleboro Refomer To the editor: The Sept. 25 commentary by Mr. Abe Berman, interim CEO of OneCare, “OneCare Vermont is successfully driving down health care costs,” was interesting in that it seemed enshrouded in delusions. I am not sure what study Mr. Berman quoted to show that OneCare is saving us any money, but on […]

Times Argus American health care is an untreated, severe fracture. Fractures need repair to ensure normal function. “Comminuted” fractures, in which the bone breaks into multiple pieces, are difficult to repair. The more pieces there are, the more difficult the repair. Our health care system displays the most severe kind of fracture: shattering into many […]

Addison County Independent Claire Corkins (Ways of Seeing, Aug. 24) is rightly horrified at the prospects of waiting a year to see an “in-network” optometrist and joining an eight-month waiting list for primary care. But the lack of access she decries is “normal” throughout the U.S. and is only the tip of the healthcare iceberg. […]

Brattleboro Reformer I am writing to oppose the proposed merger of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont with the Michigan Blues. Merger is a polite word for it. Takeover is the more appropriate word and our state regulators seem to be tripping over themselves to push this through as fast as possible. It seems a […]

Brattleboro Reformer To the Editor: We recently learned that Vermont Blue Cross Blue Shield would like to merge its operations with Michigan Blue Cross. This is alarming news, and our Department of Financial Regulation should not allow this merger to take place. Vermont is a small state and Michigan is a very big one. What […]

Brattleboro Reformer To the Editor: John McClaughry’s “Let’s reopen the health care debate” proposes Singapore’s health care system as a model although it is “not a wholly free-market solution.” That is an astoundingly misleading statement. In fact, Singapore represents the kind of government control of health care that Mr. McClaughry usually rails against. A detailed […]

VTDigger The University of Vermont Medical Center’s Stephen Leffler wrote that “About 60% of our budget covers pay and benefits for our hardworking and dedicated employees.” How much of that cost goes to the upper-level administrators? In 2020, the UVM system had 13 upper-level employees making more than $500,000. And that is just the upper […]

VTDigger Shouldn’t we be able to use our hospitals that we are paying for without being subjected to things like surprise medical bills?   I thank Bill Schubart for his commentary, “When do we ask the question about hospitals’ tax-exempt status?” While I am not qualified to answer Schubart’s question, I can say from my […]

VTDigger Medicare for All is the streamlined and cost-effective system we need. Blue Cross’s Vermont Health Connect premiums have risen by over 90 percent during the last nine years. This year, Blue Cross and MVP are asking for double-digit increases. Is this sustainable? In reviewing a book calling for a total overhaul of the U.S. […]