By: Roy Santa Croce
– The Vermont House Committee on Health Care listened to hours of testimony, with Vermonters talking about their access to primary care, and the cost behind it.
Dozens of people waited in line to share their experiences with Vermont’s health care system. Many shared similar criticisms: costs are too high for basic health needs. Liz Curry, who lives in Burlington, says, “for $60 a day, we get four healthcare services one a year. For prescriptions and any other service, we pay a deductible up to $12,900. So, our total health care costs can reach $34,000.”
Thursday’s meeting comes as the house health care committee is working to pass a bill that would give all patients access to primary care without any cost sharing. The bill proposes a new system, where insurers would send a monthly payment to a primary care provider, covering any routine services.
Medical student at the Larner College of Medicine Patrick Payne says, “I ask of you as a future Vermont physician and future primary care provider, to think of a future that is free of the complexities so we can care for each other the way that we really desperately want to.”
“Patients with a consistent primary care physician have health care costs of 27% lower than those without one. When we lose a physician, those patients don’t disappear. They go to the emergency department at 5-8 times the cost of an office visit,” says Chittenden County family physician Kate Tian.
The committee says it’ll take the feedback from Thursday’s meeting and use it to craft new legislation. If you didn’t testify, but still want to register your opinion, you can send an email here