[Re “Manage Your Care: To Lower Health Costs, Vermont’s Largest Insurance Company Is Urging Patients to Shop Around,” January 14]: The Blue Cross Blue Shield ad campaign urging patients to “shop around” and avoid the University of Vermont Medical Center when possible is a textbook example of late-stage capitalism: one powerful institution accusing another of exploitation. Framed as consumer advocacy, the state’s largest insurer fancies itself as a protector of patients against an overcharging hospital.
In reality, BCBS is not a neutral watchdog; it is Vermont’s dominant insurer, shaping premiums, reimbursement rates, benefit design and access to care. Rather than empowering patients, BCBS deflects blame while obscuring the exorbitant premiums, growing cost-sharing and administrative complexity, not to mention the Vermont CEO salary nearing $1 million annually.
As the dominant provider for northwest Vermont — and having consolidated six area hospitals, including some in New York — UVM Medical Center realized $1.9 billion in excess revenue last year. With these two giants accusing each other of driving up costs, we are witnessing a total market failure.
The absurdity is that Vermonters facing cancer, cardiac emergencies or complex chronic illness cannot simply comparison-shop hospitals and care. Rural residents often have no viable alternatives within a reasonable distance; insurance networks, referral requirements and coverage rules constrain choice long before patients ever see a bill.
Health care should not be viewed as a competitive marketplace; it should be a public good, and this requires a publicly funded system. A single-payer model — just like veterans, very low-income households and people over the age of 65 have — delivers real price control and affordability.
Liz Curry
Burlington