News

VTDigger Morgan True With two weeks before the Vermont Health Connect web portal is due to go back online, state officials insist users will enjoy a smooth open enrollment period. But internal documents provided to VTDigger show that while new registrants — who are expected to number about 8,000 — may have an improved experience, […]

Vermont Public RadioBob Kinzel In the final weeks of the campaign, the future of Medicare benefits for Vermont seniors has become a hotly debated issue in the race for governor. It’s an explosive subject because candidates who suggest changes to Medicare risk losing the support of many voters over 65. So how did Medicare become […]

WCAXBy Shelby Cashman BURLINGTON, Vt. –Vermont schools could save millions of dollars in health care costs according to a new report released Tuesday. The study was ordered by the Vermont School Boards Association and it documents the enormous cost of providing health care to teachers and staff at the state’s K-12 schools. It shows what […]

VTDiggerAnne Galloway Two recent stories about the relationship between Medicare and Green Mountain Care, the state’s planned universal publicly financed health care program – often called single-payer – were inaccurate. The stories were based on statutes on the Legislature’s website that had not been updated. The online statutes do not reflect the latest changes made […]

VTDigger Anne Galloway Taxpayers and school districts could save tens of millions of dollars if school staff were insured on the Vermont health care exchange or through a single payer system, according to a new report. Districts could see a $39 million statewide drop in health care premium costs if school districts offered gold level […]

Rutland Herald By Neal P. GoswamiVermont Press Burea MONTPELIER — Gov. Peter Shumlin is adamant that his plan for a universal, publicly financed health care system is on track to move forward in the coming legislative session. But as the months have ticked by without a financing plan from the governor, some key stakeholders and […]

NOTE: Although this news story is not about Vermont, it also helps to show one of the consistent problems with private insurance plans.  Many people have high deductible plans and have to pay so much money before the plan actually kicks in that costs are still a barrier to care, and many people delay or […]

Burlington Free Press Gov. Peter Shumlin has appointed a Middlebury College economics professor to fill a vacancy on the Green Mountain Care Board. Jessica Holmes replaces Karen Hein, who didn’t seek a re-appointment when her term ended. Holmes will serve a six-year term. “Jessica has extensive academic and professional experience in health care economics,” Shumlin […]

VTDigger By Morgan True A new report prepared for the Green Mountain Care Board confirms wide variations in the price of medical services throughout the state and examines policy approaches to regulate them. Prices that Vermont’s 14 hospitals and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire receive from commercial insurers vary by between 72 percent and […]

Valley News By Rick JurgensValley News Staff Writer West Lebanon — Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin promised Friday to continue to push for health care and education reforms if re-elected but said that no fresh injections of funding are expected for Vermont’s overloaded mental health care and prison systems. In a wide-ranging 75-minute talk with Valley […]