Recent Claims by Opponents of Single Payer in Vermont
CLAIM: Governor Shumlin’s reckless push towards a single payer system could very well be the biggest job-killer in Vermont’s history.
FACT: Dr. Hsiao and his team found that, in Vermont, single payer would create a net gain of 3,800 new jobs in the first year of implementation. (Check out his article in “The Road to Single Payer” on our homepage). The current system is the biggest job killer. Employers are holding back on employing more people due to ever spiraling health insurance costs. In addition, Vermonters have less disposable income because they must spend it on health care. With a system that is more efficient, sustainable, and accountable, and that is progressively financed, people will have financial security with respect to health care, and they will thus have more disposable income, which will circulate through the economy.
CLAIM: Employers pay 40% of total health care costs—and were never consulted as the health reform bill was debated in the Legislature.
FACT: Employers were asked for their input in at least two separate hearings at the Statehouse while the health care bill was being considered. As for the current distribution of health care financing, the fact is that private employers now only finance 20% of the total costs of health care. Another 60% comes from taxpayers, who pay for Medicare, Medicaid, and public employee health insurance. Taxpayers also bear the burden of financing the tax subsidies that private employers get for providing employee health insurance. The final 20% of current health care financing comes directly from individuals in the form of co-pays, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket payments.
CLAIM: Under Act 48, you will not be allowed to purchase insurance outside of the Vermont Health Benefit Exchange.
FACT: Groups will enter the Exchange at various beginning dates. Employers with 50 or fewer employees, and individuals, will be the first to purchase through the Exchange in 2014. In 2017, all non-ERISA employers will purchase through the Exchange. This process is a crucial stepping stone to single payer. Ideally, we will all share the risks, and the benefits, of health coverage that is collectively financed as a public good. During the interim, the benefit package offered by the Exchange will be equivalent to, or better than, what most employees now receive. Nevertheless, employers will be allowed to offer their employees additional, supplemental benefits, if it is felt that the Exchange benefits are insufficient.