Letters

Rutland Herald:  As a primary care physician in Vermont for 40 years I want to encourage Vermont’s Legislature to give thoughtful consideration to proposed bills (H.207/S.88) that advocate universal, publicly financed primary care. This approach to health care would give Vermonters easy and affordable access to primary care — the cornerstone of a health care […]

Seven Days: As presented by Single Provider? [January 21], the strategy of the newly rebranded University of Vermont Medical Center is clearly to develop political clout by consolidation, overgrowth and overemphasis on technology. According to CEO Brumsted, UVMMC is gaining scale to better position the hospital to respond to the ever-changing health care landscape. What […]

Caledonian Record: To the Editor:I want to apologize to the Caledonian Record before I start this letter. I normally do not laugh at the opinions of others, unless the opinion was meant to be taken that way. The editorial Deja Vu (Caledonian Record 02/05/15) did it. Deja Vu calls several New Hampshire law makers who […]

Rutland Herald: I write in support of the many Vermont citizens, elected officials and public servants who are working hard to create a health care system that will serve all Vermonters fairly and well. Can’t we Americans learn from people in other nations that are doing better? Here is my personal experience. A few years […]

Rutland Herald: Dr. Anna Carey’s recent commentary regarding our insurance/business-based health care system is very much to the point. Having an ACA exchange policy such as bronze, or even silver, mainly benefits the insurer, not the insured. If one can’t access health care due to the high cost of out-of-pocket expenses, how can it be considered […]

Valley News: A 60-year-old man, who I’ll call C.C., recently walked into my family medical practice. The nurse handed me a thin chart record. His last visit was five years before for a skin infection. Written across the top in large block letters were the words, “NO INSURANCE.” C.C. and I started talking. Over the […]

Rutland Herald: It’s easy to condemn the Jan. 8 sit-in at the State House by Vermont Workers Center members and other single-payer health care supporters. Practically speaking, the demonstration was counter-productive because it left Vermonters talking about tactics (disruption) rather than substance (health care.) Other longtime, knowledgeable and passionate backers of universal, state-sponsored care felt obliged […]

Valley News: To the Editor: John McClaughry’s Jan. 6 column (“Single-Payer Has Failed in Vermont — So What Next?”) was incorrect on the death of single-payer in Vermont. It is on hold; it is not deceased. While Mr. McClaughry did acknowledge this, the crying need for it is not going away. Mr. McClaughry suggests that […]

Commons News: Single-payer health insurance is not dead, contrary to recent headlines and the media spin on it.Those of us in the Legislature who have been working for decades to bring about this change are not that easily deterred. Despite Governor Peter Shumlin’s statement — “Now is not the time” — we will continue to […]

Times Argus: Thank you, Dr. Michael Scollins, for your letter to The Times Argus reminding us that as Rome wasn’t built in a day, a single-payer health care plan won’t be either. Reminding us of successful single-payer plans already in operation in this country like Social Security and Medicare show that it certainly can be done […]