News

Kit Norton and Felippe Rodrigues, VT Digger In 2015, lawmakers were in a fight with the health care industry over whether to disclose the price of various hospital procedures. Senators argued for strong transparency measures so patients would know how much they were paying. The industry argued that price transparency would be detrimental for local […]

Mike Faher, VT Digger The number of Vermonters without health insurance continues to decline, but many residents still struggle with the high cost of health care. Those are two key takeaways from the 2018 Vermont Household Health Insurance Survey – the first such survey conducted by the state since 2014. click to continue

VTDigger With state regulators set to vote on OneCare Vermont’s $903 million budget in less than a week, critics are stepping forward to slam the performance and transparency of the Colchester-based accountable care organization.Detractors charge that OneCare – which is coordinating the state’s “all-payer” attempt at health care payment reform – is using public money […]

Press Release: Senator Bernie Sanders WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) heard testimony Tuesday afternoon from Dr. Deborah Richter of Cambridge, Vermont, during a Senate roundtable discussion focused on the costs and availability of health care in rural America. Sanders invited Richter, who works in primary care and addiction medicine in rural […]

VTDigger Vermont’s health care oversight board blocked the designated consumer advocate on health care matters from weighing in on affordability during a hearing Monday on health insurance rates for the coming year, yielding to a request from the state’s largest insurers. Kevin Mullin, chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, confirmed Monday afternoon that the […]

VTDigger By Mike Faher The 2018 legislative session was a roller-coaster ride for advocates of universal primary care in Vermont. Supporters celebrated when the primary care bill, S.53, advanced with public financing mechanisms built in. And they rallied behind the bill when state legislators questioned the feasibility of taxpayer-funded health care. But the campaign ended […]

Vermont Public Radio By Peter Hirschfeld It’s been more than three years since then-Gov. Peter Shumlin abandoned his pledge to create a universal health care system in Vermont, but advocates are working this session to reignite the embers of the single-payer flame. On a Tuesday evening in late January, around 50 Vermonters showed up for […]

VTDigger By Mike Faher A key House committee is backing a taxpayer-funded system of universal primary care, bucking those who have expressed concerns about such a system. The House Health Care Committee on Wednesday voted 6-5 to support a version of S.53 that explicitly endorses publicly financed primary care. The care should be available to […]

VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott’s administration is taking a firm stance against a legislative effort to create a universal primary health care system. The administration is opposed to S.53 in part because publicly financed primary care would require new taxes. But that’s only one of several problems, said Michael Costa, deputy commissioner of the Department of […]

VTDigger The Senate on Wednesday advanced a bill that could result in a new system of universal primary health care in Vermont. But there’s a long way to go before the health care system envisioned in S.53 would be a reality. And the compromise version of the bill that won preliminary Senate approval does not […]