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MIDDLEBURY — U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont’s senior senator, said if re-elected next month he will continue to work to secure a waiver for Vermont to enact more sweeping health care reforms sooner than the 2017 timeline mandated under current federal law. “The way the law is written almost begs for some areas of experimentation, […]

By Daniel Barlow Vermont Press Bureau MONTPELIER – Many of Vermont’s health care woes stem from the fact that the state has an ineffective patchwork system of private insurance plans and government-funded programs, a Harvard economist told lawmakers Thursday. Dr. William Hsiao, an economic professor at Harvard’s School of Public Health, has been hired by […]

Anne Galloway, Vermont Digger The problem with health care in Vermont can be summed up in one word — fragmentation — according to Dr. William Hsiao, the Harvard-based economist who is designing health care models for the state. Vermont’s patchwork of duplicative private, federal and state medical programs, payment systems and insurers, he told members […]

Editorial, Bennington Banner The severe shortage of primary care doctors in the Bennington area, which is not unlike most areas of the region, and probably the nation, illustrates the warped nature of health care in the United States. The warp in the system stems directly from the for-profit nature of much of what we have […]

Times Argus Vermont’s difficulties in aligning its health care programs with the demands of the new federal health care law are further evidence of the inadequacy of patchworks fixes. The fixes embodied in both state and federal programs are patchwork because they are about providing health care coverage, not providing health care. State and federal […]

By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau MONTPELIER – A Harvard professor who helped design Taiwan’s health care system was chosen Monday as the man who will design three models to remake Vermont’s health care system. The Health Care Reform Commission voted unanimously Monday afternoon to choose Dr. William Hsiao as the leader of an effort […]

By Nancy Remsen, Free Press Staff Writer MONTPELIER — The Health Care Reform Commission recommended Monday that the Legislature hire the Harvard economist who helped Taiwan revamp its health-care system for a six-month, $300,000 health research project for Vermont. The consultant’s task: Give lawmakers three roadmaps the state could follow to achieve a more efficient […]

Burlington Free Press Maintaining the public trust in politics can often be about perception. By that measure, House Speaker Shap Smith’s decision to appoint former state Sen. Jim Leddy to the Health Care Reform Commission runs counter to the public interest.  Dr. Deb Richter, chairwoman of the health care advocacy group Vermont Health Care for […]

By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau MONTPELIER – A single-payer health care advocate filed a complaint with the Attorney General Monday contesting the appointment of a consultant to the state’s Health Care Reform Commission. Dr. Deb Richter of Montpelier said that James Leddy, a former Vermont senator, should not serve on the legislative committee because […]

Burlington Free Press A health-care advocacy group is taking issue with one of two appointments made Friday to the state’s Health Care Reform Commission. The group Vermont Health Care for All argued Saturday that the appointment of former state Sen. Jim Leddy of Burlington violates the law passed this year that expanded the number of […]