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Vermont
Related: About this forumIn Vermont, Where Almost Everyone Has Insurance, Many Can't Find or Afford Care
https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/vermont-low-uninsured-rate-high-costs-long-waits/On a warm autumn morning, Roger Brown walked through a grove of towering trees whose sap fuels his maple syrup business. He was checking for damage after recent flooding. But these days, his workers health worries him more than his trees.
The cost of Slopeside Syrups employee health insurance premiums spiked 24% this year. Next year it will rise 14%.
The jumps mean less money to pay workers, and expensive insurance coverage that doesnt ensure employees can get care, Brown said. Vermont is seen as the most progressive state, so how is health care here so screwed up?
Vermont consistently ranks among the healthiest states, and its unemployment and uninsured rates are among the lowest. Yet Vermonters pay the highest prices nationwide for individual health coverage, and state reports show its providers and insurers are in financial trouble. Nine of the states 14 hospitals are losing money, and the states largest insurer is struggling to remain solvent. Long waits for care have become increasingly common, according to state reports and interviews with residents and industry officials.
The cost of Slopeside Syrups employee health insurance premiums spiked 24% this year. Next year it will rise 14%.
The jumps mean less money to pay workers, and expensive insurance coverage that doesnt ensure employees can get care, Brown said. Vermont is seen as the most progressive state, so how is health care here so screwed up?
Vermont consistently ranks among the healthiest states, and its unemployment and uninsured rates are among the lowest. Yet Vermonters pay the highest prices nationwide for individual health coverage, and state reports show its providers and insurers are in financial trouble. Nine of the states 14 hospitals are losing money, and the states largest insurer is struggling to remain solvent. Long waits for care have become increasingly common, according to state reports and interviews with residents and industry officials.
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In Vermont, Where Almost Everyone Has Insurance, Many Can't Find or Afford Care (Original Post)
erronis
Nov 6
OP
GiqueCee
(1,321 posts)1. I am not a native Vermonter...
... but I got here as fast as I could (48 years ago), and I've been a patient with the same primary clinic for 38 years. But I know people who cannot get care because most practices won't take on any new patients.
The putrid stench of private equity pervades the healthcare landscape nationwide, and the Green Mountain State is not immune. Those people and I use the term loosely adopted their business model from the Mafia, and they're no different than those they chose to imitate; they just have better tailors, and employ lawyers instead of leg breakers.
mahatmakanejeeves
(60,915 posts)2. Adding a link
Health Brief
Nearly all Vermonters have health insurance, but care is tough to find
Analysis by Phil Galewitz and McKenzie Beard
November 20, 2024 at 7:27 a.m. EST
Health Brief
The Washington Posts essential guide to health policy news
Good morning! Im Phil Galewitz, a senior correspondent at KFF Health News who writes about Medicaid and state health insurance coverage trends. Please send story tips to pgalewitz@kff.org.
Todays edition: A look at President-elect Donald Trumps pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The unusual legal skirmish unfolding behind the Biden administrations push to loosen federal marijuana restrictions. But first
Vermonts high coverage rate doesnt necessarily equal affordability
Policymakers have long focused on increasing the number of residents insured, thinking it would help Vermont hospital finances and patient care. It hasnt always worked. (iStock)
Almost all people have health insurance in Vermont, a state famed for its maple syrup and Ben & Jerrys ice cream, yet residents pay the nations highest insurance premiums for individual coverage and endure months-long waits for care and most hospitals here are losing money, according to state reports and interviews with residents and industry officials.
{snip}
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
{snip}
Nearly all Vermonters have health insurance, but care is tough to find
Analysis by Phil Galewitz and McKenzie Beard
November 20, 2024 at 7:27 a.m. EST
Health Brief
The Washington Posts essential guide to health policy news
Good morning! Im Phil Galewitz, a senior correspondent at KFF Health News who writes about Medicaid and state health insurance coverage trends. Please send story tips to pgalewitz@kff.org.
Todays edition: A look at President-elect Donald Trumps pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The unusual legal skirmish unfolding behind the Biden administrations push to loosen federal marijuana restrictions. But first
Vermonts high coverage rate doesnt necessarily equal affordability
Policymakers have long focused on increasing the number of residents insured, thinking it would help Vermont hospital finances and patient care. It hasnt always worked. (iStock)
Almost all people have health insurance in Vermont, a state famed for its maple syrup and Ben & Jerrys ice cream, yet residents pay the nations highest insurance premiums for individual coverage and endure months-long waits for care and most hospitals here are losing money, according to state reports and interviews with residents and industry officials.
{snip}
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
{snip}