To the Editor:
Regarding “Vermont’s healthcare crisis is real – S.190 wasn’t the solution,” the authors point to a successful example of referenced-based pricing for California’s public employee retirement system (CalPERS) in one paragraph, then parrot the Governor’s complaint that, because S.190 applied only to Qualified Health Plans and Vermont Education Health Initiative (VEHI) plans, it left the majority of insured Vermonters outside its scope. But that’s just what the CalPERS example did.
We can no longer choose our own health care path or live here comfortably because we have the highest health insurance premiums in the USA, which is causing businesses and families to go broke or leave the State. All politicians tremble with fear when the BC/BS and Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems come anywhere near them, and bow to their pressure.
When my son went to university in Canada, he could walk into any hospital or see a doctor any time, anywhere, and walk out either with no invoice or a $15 charge. Meanwhile, my husband and I pay $34k in health insurance premiums + deductible for 2 preventive visits per year. That $34k covers all hospital costs and insurance administration that Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured Vermonters do not pay for.
If the healthcare industry doesn’t need regulation, nothing does. Why do we protect the astronomical profits of insurance companies and UVMMC’s bloated administration at the expense of regular working Vermonters now struggling under the weight of premiums that consume over 20% of our income?
Liz Curry, Burlington