Times Argus
Originally published Feb 15, 2006
MONTPELIER ā Even as the House Health Care Committee worked inside on a health reform bill that would provide care to more Vermonters, a group of activists stood on the Statehouse steps demanding a more comprehensive approach.
Members of a group dubbed Concerned Vermonters for Universal Health Care complain that the plan being written by the committee falls far short of the goal of ensuring that every resident of the state has access to quality care at an affordable price.
They accused the committee of caving in to Gov. James Douglas, who has advocated a much more modest approach to expanding access and reducing costs, in the hope of enact-ing something this year.
“They’ve crafted a bill that (Douglas) would have no choice but to sign,” said Deb Richter, a physician who supports a taxpayer-financed single payer system similar to how health care is funded and delivered in Canada.
That’s a sentiment shared by many critics of the House’s work this year. Critics believe the House has drafted an initiative similar in approach to the governor’s that will not achieve the priorities that Democrats set out in the elections of 2004.
The bill would expand insurance coverage to some of the people who do not currently have it. But it does not purport to cover everyone and it still may not meet with the governor’s approval because Democrats have made it clear that they will need to tap a tax source to pay for it. Douglas has said he does not believe there’s any need for new taxes to pay for health care.
Democrats respond that his plan, which would require people to take insurance provided by their employers if it’s available, is little different from a tax. It would cost an estimated $45 million to those employers.
Advocates for health care reform say neither the House nor the governor is getting it right. “The House bill may help a few Vermonters. But all Vermonters need help,” read one sign held by the roughly 100 activists who demonstrated outside the Statehouse in a brisk wind on Tuesday.
It is true that the Health Care Committee’s bill would not require people who do not currently have health insurance to buy it. But it was designed to make insurance more affordable by creating a tiered system of premiums based on people’s income. The committee’s goal is to draw people into the insurance system through the subsidized premiums.
The committee also is aiming to improve the care that is delivered by adopting the governor’s chronic care initiative, which coordinates the care given to people suffering from heart disease, diabetes, and other types of ongoing diseases.
The chronic care initiative would be expanded to state employees and people enrolled in public health insurance.
Although critics welcome the initiative, they argue that much more needs to be done if the bill can accurately be described as health care reform.
Dr. Marvin Malek of Barre said a Canadian-style system would be real reform and he and others at the rally urged the Health Care Committee to continue working until they were able to get closer to such an ideal.
“We have to keep letting the Legislature know we can do better,” he said.
