Yes, those of us who have been trying to push for universal/single payer health care funding for every Vermonter, are quite aware that education staff, teachers, maintenance staff and all education employees’ insurance costs to cover health care, are the single most costly part of education funding.
There is a very simple solution to this. If we take all health insurance funding away from education and instead include a statewide, universal health care system run by the state, or one single state overseen entity for all Vermonters, not just teachers and education staff members, we could easily handle education funding without having to make huge district changes to do so. We just need some real keen financial analysis to do so with tax changes that would more equalize how health care is funded.
Yes, many of us would like to wait until the federal government comes up with such a plan, but at this point, many of us think we might be waiting for eternity; certainly under the current administration, it could never happen. However, as many have noted, health care is not a conservative or liberal issue. We all are at the mercy of private insurance companies that are some of the most lucrative stocks to own on the New York Stock Exchange.
Why do health care costs vary so much from one hospital to another? UVM and its affiliates are all much pricier than many of the more rural hospitals around the state and many of them are in danger of closure. Let’s have our state government take a much larger role in health care funding and leave the education departments to decide their priorities without having to deal with health care funding.
The state of Oregon, as well as several other states like Maine, Washington State and California are all working on these universal health care plans. Let’s join together on this, and stop fighting about education districts. Most Vermonters believe health care is a right, not a privilege. So why should all Vermonters pay for the health insurance for education when they may not be able to pay for their own health insurance?
Mary Alice Bisbee lives in Rochester.