Vermont for Single Payer

09/20/2025

THE ONLY CLEAR OUTLIER IS THE U.S.
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2024/sep/mirror-mirror-2024?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social_ad&utm_campaign=Improving+Health+Care+Quality&utm_id=6793980715462&utm_content=6793980715062&utm_term=6793980715262&fbclid=IwY2xjawM1ND9leHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQAAAYv8xhi_gEev_zQt-yKdofcRSAJes0dI1Ecgr0Du5et_SSA_OtGRnygYIYAtM6qLhYMEW8_aem_soHY9lErfMbe7BScbQX9Xg
Key Findings from an analysis of 70 health system performance measures in five areas: access to care, care process, administrative efficiency, equity, and health outcomes:
“The top three countries are Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, although differences in overall performance between most countries are relatively small. The only clear outlier is the U.S., where health system performance is dramatically lower.”

Analyze the 2024 "Mirror, Mirror" report to understand global health system performance and insights for improving health care quality and access.

09/20/2025

09/19/2025

Enough Already, Change Healthcare System
“So, what is a better approach to affordable and accessible health care for all Vermonters? Ironically, even the lobbyists for our hospitals has admitted that we have a “very flawed way of paying for health care.”
“She is correct. Most countries pay for hospital care as a universal public good. They pool publicly raised funds and finance their hospitals with global operating budgets that take account of local needs and levels of care required in each facility. Such systems have better control over hospital costs and more effective public oversight than we do. Hospital care is also accessible to all in such a system.
“Yet this legislative session, a bill (H.267) that would have created a publicly financed hospital system languished in House Health. No testimony was taken. The same is true of bills that would have created universal primary care (H.433 and H.185). We also know that universal primary care is essential for overall population health and can also help contain costs because people get care earlier and before their conditions are more expensive and difficult to treat.
“So, can our relevant House committees take testimony on these bills next session? We can keep trying to put out forest fires, or we can start the work of systemic reform. Let’s prevent the fires from ever starting.”
Ellen Oxfeld, St.Albans Messenger, July 4, 2025

09/18/2025

This doesn't account for people unable to afford the deductibles and copays, and counts you as "insured" if you had insurance at any point in the year.

09/16/2025

“UVM Health Network is ‘physically and spiritually distant’ from its mission and from Vermonters’ needs”

UVM Health Network, the parent company of the state’s largest hospital, is “physically and spiritually distant” from its mission and from Vermonters’ needs, said the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board.

09/16/2025

Vermont Will Be implementing Yet Another Healthcare Experiment starting in 2026: The “AHEAD” Program
This is a short, clear description of the main features of the AHEAD program, from The Association for Health Care Journalists,.

AHEAD, which stands for States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) Model, is a total cost of care (TCOC) payment method.

09/15/2025

https://www.wcax.com/2025/09/12/vermont-health-care-regulator-finalizes-fy26-hospital-budgets/
"Most hospitals’ revenue caps, commercial insurance reimbursement rates, and operating expenses were approved at or just below what they submitted. But the UVM Medical Center was a major exception. The hospital was hoping to make 2.3 percent more from their services than they did last year, but the GMCB ruled that they’ll be getting reimbursed 7 percent less than they did last year. On top of that, the board ruled that the revenue they earn must be $88 million less than they requested."

Vermont health care regulators on Friday completed their review of Vermont hospital budgets, voting on the budgets for the state’s 14 hospitals.