Letters

Brattleboro Reformer To the Editor: We recently learned that Vermont Blue Cross Blue Shield would like to merge its operations with Michigan Blue Cross. This is alarming news, and our Department of Financial Regulation should not allow this merger to take place. Vermont is a small state and Michigan is a very big one. What […]

Brattleboro Reformer To the Editor: John McClaughry’s “Let’s reopen the health care debate” proposes Singapore’s health care system as a model although it is “not a wholly free-market solution.” That is an astoundingly misleading statement. In fact, Singapore represents the kind of government control of health care that Mr. McClaughry usually rails against. A detailed […]

VTDigger The University of Vermont Medical Center’s Stephen Leffler wrote that “About 60% of our budget covers pay and benefits for our hardworking and dedicated employees.” How much of that cost goes to the upper-level administrators? In 2020, the UVM system had 13 upper-level employees making more than $500,000. And that is just the upper […]

VTDigger Shouldn’t we be able to use our hospitals that we are paying for without being subjected to things like surprise medical bills?   I thank Bill Schubart for his commentary, “When do we ask the question about hospitals’ tax-exempt status?” While I am not qualified to answer Schubart’s question, I can say from my […]

VTDigger Medicare for All is the streamlined and cost-effective system we need. Blue Cross’s Vermont Health Connect premiums have risen by over 90 percent during the last nine years. This year, Blue Cross and MVP are asking for double-digit increases. Is this sustainable? In reviewing a book calling for a total overhaul of the U.S. […]

Caledonian Record To the Editor: Imagine for one minute that the repair shop to which you take your car has 2 mechanics who work on the cars, but 20 people who work in the office making appointments, creating work orders, et cetera. How much would it cost to get a simple tune up or oil […]

VTDigger I thank the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, Owen Foster, and his fellow board members for subpoening OneCare on the matter of OneCare’s executive compensation. As Foster wrote in the subpoena, the accountable care organization’s attempts to “block transparency and regulatory review of how it utilizes Vermont taxpayer and insurance ratepayer funds […]

Seven Days To the Editor: Kevin McCallum’s article “Plan to Boost Legislators’ Pay and Offer Health Benefits Advances” [May 10] was interesting in that, for the first time in my 67 years, I agree with a member of the Republican Party. This was when McCallum quoted Rep. Mark Higley (R-Lowell): “I think the optics of […]

VTDigger It has been interesting to note how quickly various members of the Green Mountain Care Board, OneCare, and UVM Medical Center seem to dance around from one position to the next. Isn’t this a sort of conflict of interest? How can the organization that oversees the accountable care organization OneCare — that is the […]

VTDigger I read the commentary “Many people can’t afford to be state legislators” by Sens. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, and Becca White, D-Windham, with interest. What was more interesting, however, was what these senators did not say in their commentary. I generally agree with S.39 and support it. Vermont legislators do deserve better financial remuneration. Our […]