Addison Independent
By John Flowers
JACK MAYER IS one of the local health providers who spearheaded the effort to ask the Middlebury selectboard to endorse a resolution opposing proposed cuts to Medicaid.
MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury selectboard on Tuesday decisively endorsed a citizen-initiated resolution opposing a U.S. House-backed Budget Reconciliation Bill that recommends major cuts to critical federal healthcare and nutrition programs.
The petition, spearheaded by local health providers, asked the selectboard to “express its grave concern” about the reconciliation bill, which supporters said would “lead to an estimated loss of $793 billion in federal Medicaid spending over 10 years, which would result in an estimated 10% drop in enrollment and a loss of coverage for between 14,000 and 23,000 Vermonters.”
It’s a petition that also urges Vermont lawmakers to pass legislation “that will help protect Vermont’s healthcare system and our community from the devastation they will likely experience if Medicaid funding is reduced; asks the state’s Congressional delegation to build coalitions across the aisle to lift the Medicaid cuts before the budget bill as it makes its way through the U.S. Senate; and directs Town Manager Mark Pruhenski to send a copy of the resolution to Vermont’s top elected state and federal officials.”
“I think the value of the Middlebury selectboard endorsing this resolution is that it sets an example for other selectboards to do the same…” longtime Middlebury pediatrician Dr. Jack Mayer told the board. “I realize we’re asking you to step up as one of the first significantly sized towns in Vermont to make this statement. I’m sure that once we start the process going, we’ll find significant positive consideration among other towns, who have the same concerns about the (Medicaid cut) consequences.”
Only two weeks ago, the jury was out on whether the selectboard would even consider the resolution. Some board members voiced concern entertaining the resolution might politicize the board and force it to deviate from its primarily role of running the town.
Selectman Andy Hooper — who stressed he supports the foundation and intent of the resolution — abstained from voting on the request on Tuesday based on how other municipal governing boards have become bogged down with global and national resolutions.
“I pay a fair amount of attention to Burlington, and Burlington has a partisan city council. They spend a lot of time talking about things that are not local and germane to what’s happening with the boundaries of their city. I worry about that, for us,” he told the petitioners.
“I understand the gravity of the situation; I just have questions about our place and our voice in this, and worry we’ll be asked to opine on Gaza and other international efforts,” he continued.
But Mayer and a contingent of around 20 additional supporters swayed the other six members to support the resolution, arguing, among other things, that the proposed Medicaid cuts would affect many Middlebury residents.
“This is a severe threat to the continued successful healthcare that Porter Hospital can provide, and that’s as local a concern as we can imagine,” Mayer said. “We’re talking about something that’s going to come down on our heads, very soon — in Middlebury, to our neighbors… I think to remain silent is to be complicit, when we know these consequences are coming down the pike.”
Porter Hospital President & COO Bob Ortmyer added his voice to the chorus of petitioners. In a letter to the board, he underscored the potential impacts of the proposed Medicaid cuts.
“We are particularly nervous about the impact to the most vulnerable members of our communities — children, pregnant patients, the elderly, and individuals living with disabilities. The most vulnerable Vermonters will be left without health care coverage and unable to access critical health care services,” he said.
Among those urging the selectboard to take a stand on Tuesday was Addison Central School District Superintendent Wendy Baker. She noted 40% of Middlebury students currently receive Medicaid funding. The school system also receives around $300,000 annually through Medicaid for prevention and intervention efforts.
“Those Medicaid funds allow tentacles of support that branch out beyond the school into local providers” that help students deal with issues ranging from poor vision to mental health, Baker said.
And it’s not like Baker and her superintendent colleagues don’t have enough on their plates. The state Legislature next week will meet in special session to consider, among other things, H.454, a bill that would make sweeping changes to Vermont’s public education system.
“If Medicaid funding is significantly changed, I would dare say it would have a much greater impact on the fabric of this community than (H.454),” she told the board. “And I don’t say it lightly.”
David Rosenberg, a former longtime professor at Middlebury College, noted many poor and vulnerable people move to Middlebury because it’s the county’s hub for nonprofits.
“Just because there’s only a little we can do, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do what we can do, if it’s the right thing to do,” he told the board.
Middlebury resident and longtime healthcare reform activist Ellen Oxfeld concurred. She told selectboard members not to underestimate their collective voice.
“When Vermont towns speak, it’s somewhat different than someone writing to their legislator,” she said, noting the weight that lawmakers have been giving testimony to the Vermont League of Cities & Towns on a myriad issues.
“Medicaid funding affects our towns, and our legislators need to hear from the towns,” Oxfeld said.
After a spirited, 50-minute discussion, the board voted 6-0 (with Hooper abstaining) to endorse the resolution. Members Isabel Gogarty, Megan James and Farhad Khan offered brief, supportive remarks. Selectboard Chair Brian Carpenter and member Dan Brown offered more guarded affirmation, echoing Hooper’s concerns about the potential for a precedent that could send further resolutions to a board that convenes only twice per month to do the town’s business.
And a second resolution request might be in the offing — from Indivisible Middlebury, a group that’s opposing Trump Administration policies that are affecting the poor, immigration and democracy. Board members, at the end of Tuesday’s meeting, indicated they’re not inclined to field such a resolution.
John Flowers is at johnf@addisonindependent.com