Editorials

Health insurance system is all about profit : Times Argus Online $587,206. That’s what Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Don George made last year — before his bonus. That makes Don George one of the highest paid executives in the state of Vermont and puts him at the top of the state’s 1 percent. BCBS’ […]

A Vermont Journal: Doctor Deb’s New Prescription March 25, 2015 by Hamilton E. Davis One of the most important principles underpinning health care reform in Vermont is the proposition that health care financing should be separated from employment. If you lose your job, or if your employer doesn’t pay for health insurance, that shouldn’t leave […]

VT Digger:  Stephen Brill’s new book “Bitter Pill” further elaborates on his Time Magazine article in spring 2013 entitled, “America’s Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us.” Brill explains in detail why hospitals are a big part of the problem. The University of Vermont Medical Center, formerly called Fletcher Allen, offers services at prices that […]

Rutland Herald: Although the governor put single payer on hold, this does not mean Vermont cannot move toward this goal in other ways. The misnamed Affordable Care Act cannot, and will not, do this job. Perhaps a more appropriate nomenclature for the ACA (or Obamacare, as it is known) would be the analogy given to it […]

Rutland Herald: How do you kill a bull with a red rag? Wendy Wilton (“Getting facts on health exchange,” March 22) knows how: You wave it in the bull’s face and while he rages at it, you stab him between the shoulder blades. Wilton’s recent piece on questions the state auditor should ask about Vermont Health […]

Vermont Standard “This is not reformism and being incremental in the Obamacare vein by any stretch of the imagination because it is a change in our current system of looking at health care as a private commodity. Instead, these bills would establish health care as a public good and for everyone, regardless of age, income, […]

VT Digger: Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Ellen Oxfeld, a member of the boards of the single payer advocacy groups Vermont Health Care for All and Vermont Leads. She lives in Middlebury. Two new bills (H.207 and S.88) have been introduced with tri-partisan co-sponsorship (Democrat, Republican and Progressive in the House version). They hold the […]

Vermont Digger: Editor’s note: This commentary is by Falko Schilling, who is a consumer protection advocate with the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. Recently we’ve seen all sorts of conspiracy theories about why Gov. Shumlin decided to shelve his top legislative priority – the universal health care plan. As one who worked closely with citizens, […]

Rutland Herald: As someone who for the past 25 years has owned, advised or worked closely with a Vermont business, I know firsthand how confusing our health care system is for employers. But here’s the most confusing aspect of all: Over the past three years, hospital budget growth has been kept at 3 percent, the lowest […]

St.Albans Messenger: As someone who for the past 25 years has owned, advised or worked closely with a Vermont business, I know firsthand how confusing our health care system is for employers. But here’s the most confusing aspect of all: Over the past three years, hospital budget growth has been kept at 3 percent, the lowest […]