Editorials

Brattleboro Reformer By Jane Katz Field, M.D. Our brave little state took a big step forward in 2011 with the passage of Act 48, which not only would have provided universal health care but was projected to lower healthcare costs in Vermont (private and public) by $1 billion over a 10 year period. But at […]

Rutland Herald My patient, let’s call him Brian Lussier, had been sick for a few days and was getting worse. His dad’s job at the local mill didn’t provide health insurance, and the family paid out of pocket. Their financial situation was difficult. They were a proud Vermont family, always paying their bills. Brian’s mom […]

The Vermont Standard By Kurt Staudter It would stand to reason that primary care physicians would have more work than they could handle if their practices were located where there is a significant population of elders. It would seem to me that practices like that would have a license to print money. Not so, with fewer […]

Rutland Herald It’s that time of year again in the United States — when we have the “privilege” of wading through pages and pages of willfully obfuscating jargon and very bad prose in order to: a) obtain access to health care in this country, and b) avoid facing bankruptcy on account of grossly inflated health […]

VTDigger This commentary is by Miriam Tatum, of Derby. Tatum is a retired pediatrician in primary care and community hospital care for 30 years in Newport and Derby Line. She is an ally of the Vermont Worker Center. Almost a year ago, Newport and Northeast Kingdom residents first heard that a consultant to the Green […]

VTDigger Our current crisis demands bold solutions This commentary is by Julie Wasserman of Burlington, an independent health policy consultant who worked for Vermont state government for over 25 years. Vermonters cannot afford their current health care costs. How then could they afford Blue Cross Blue Shield’s proposed double-digit increases? For the coming year, BCBSVT […]

VTDigger This commentary is by Kenyon Bolton. He is an internal medicine physician who lives in East Montpelier. It is already difficult to find a new primary care clinician in Vermont. The “One Big Beautiful Bill” making its way through the U.S. Congress will likely make it harder thanks to its proposed Medicaid work requirements […]

The Valley Reporter The University of Vermont Health Network announced – with great fanfare – this week that it had submitted a proposal to the Green Mountain Care Board aimed at addressing health care affordability and access. The glowing report details how collaborative UVMHN folks worked to address issues of health care costs and patient […]

Vermont Standard “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” — Isaac Asimov “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” — George Orwell We’ve had a confusing relationship with violence in this country. We claim to be a peace-loving people, yet we […]

VTDigger This commentary is by Liz Hunt of Charlotte. She is a pediatric nephrologist (children’s kidney doctor) at UVM Children’s Hospital. Since the Oliver Wyman Act 167 report was published and the Green Mountain Care Board announced its budget decision for the UVM Health Network, there has been a sense of worry and sadness at […]