Monday, May 7, 2007
Welch Signs on to HR 676
Rep. Peter Welch has signed on as a co-sponsor to HR 676, Rep. John Conyers-D-Michigan, Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act. In addition, Welch has also signed on to three other bills aiming to promote universal health care. They are HR 1841, HR 15 and HR 506.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Legislative Update
The first year of this legislative biennium will be coming to an end soon. The big question is, “What happened to move health care reform forward?”. The simple answer, “Not much.”
Health care committees dealt with bills to fine tune the Catamount health bill that passed last year. It was their belief that the best they could do this year was to set the stage so that the plan has a chance to work.
Susan Besio, the state director of implementation for the plan, is doing a superhuman job of coordinating and executing all of the pieces. If you want to keep updated check out the web site: www.hcr.vt.gov.
Jim Hester, former Vermont boss for MVP health insurance, was appointed director of the Health Care Commission. He is a consummate list maker and detail person. Hester seems to have a solid grip on things and he has a vision of how things should play out. He is making an effort to reach out to all the players in the Catamount drama. Stay tuned.
As a side note, as of this writing, it is not clear if the pharmaceutical bill making its way through the legislature will pass. Even if it passes, I suspect the Governor will veto it. The bill is a remake of the comprehensive bill that many of us worked on a few years ago; the bill to control drug prices and the practices of pharmaceutical companies. If it passes it would be landmark legislation. Sadly, the press has pretty much ignored this critical piece of health care reform.
The Catamount insurance product is slated to go into effect on October 1 and the timeframe for enrollment will begin about 4-6 weeks prior to that. The cost of the policy is still a moving target but we do know that the full cost of an unsubsidized policy will be very close to $400 a month per person.
Benefit details have not been revealed but we do know they have to be at least as good as what Medicaid offers. That is good coverage.
Even though coverage may be good it won’t help all of those Vermonters who still won’t be able to afford insurance under Catamount. That is why VCCH and others are pushing for changes to the plan. We want to see the one year waiting period eliminated. The plan forces you to be uninsured for a year before you are eligible. We also want to allow self-employed people such as farmers and artists to be able to buy in or be subsidized.
Will we get what we want? Maybe. Here’s where the hope lies. The Health Care Commission held a public meeting on April 24 to hear what the public wants for next steps for Catamount. About 50 people attended the hearing and the usual spectrum of opinion was aired, but with a twist. VCCH brought two of the people it featured in its newspaper ads (view them on our web site: www.universalhealthvt.org). It was a refreshing wake up call for legislators to hear from “real people”.
The Commission plans to hold similar hearings around the state this summer and fall to hear what Vermonters want changed in the Catamount plan. We will keep you updated with schedules and information on our web site.
The best case scenario is that all of the information gathered at these hearings will be turned into legislation to expand Catamount. That legislation will be introduced at the start of the 2008 session and be ready for implementation by the end of the first year of the life of Catamount.
Don’t forget that we still have a formidable obstacle to expanding Catamount and making it work. For all of his rhetoric, Governor Douglas will only support measures that conform to his right wing ideology. Catamount expansion will not make him happy. That means we may have to wait until the next election before Catamount will be able to fulfill its promise to become more than what it is now.
Your voice will be important in the process. VCCH hopes we can help your voice become strong by all of us working together.
Health care committees dealt with bills to fine tune the Catamount health bill that passed last year. It was their belief that the best they could do this year was to set the stage so that the plan has a chance to work.
Susan Besio, the state director of implementation for the plan, is doing a superhuman job of coordinating and executing all of the pieces. If you want to keep updated check out the web site: www.hcr.vt.gov.
Jim Hester, former Vermont boss for MVP health insurance, was appointed director of the Health Care Commission. He is a consummate list maker and detail person. Hester seems to have a solid grip on things and he has a vision of how things should play out. He is making an effort to reach out to all the players in the Catamount drama. Stay tuned.
As a side note, as of this writing, it is not clear if the pharmaceutical bill making its way through the legislature will pass. Even if it passes, I suspect the Governor will veto it. The bill is a remake of the comprehensive bill that many of us worked on a few years ago; the bill to control drug prices and the practices of pharmaceutical companies. If it passes it would be landmark legislation. Sadly, the press has pretty much ignored this critical piece of health care reform.
The Catamount insurance product is slated to go into effect on October 1 and the timeframe for enrollment will begin about 4-6 weeks prior to that. The cost of the policy is still a moving target but we do know that the full cost of an unsubsidized policy will be very close to $400 a month per person.
Benefit details have not been revealed but we do know they have to be at least as good as what Medicaid offers. That is good coverage.
Even though coverage may be good it won’t help all of those Vermonters who still won’t be able to afford insurance under Catamount. That is why VCCH and others are pushing for changes to the plan. We want to see the one year waiting period eliminated. The plan forces you to be uninsured for a year before you are eligible. We also want to allow self-employed people such as farmers and artists to be able to buy in or be subsidized.
Will we get what we want? Maybe. Here’s where the hope lies. The Health Care Commission held a public meeting on April 24 to hear what the public wants for next steps for Catamount. About 50 people attended the hearing and the usual spectrum of opinion was aired, but with a twist. VCCH brought two of the people it featured in its newspaper ads (view them on our web site: www.universalhealthvt.org). It was a refreshing wake up call for legislators to hear from “real people”.
The Commission plans to hold similar hearings around the state this summer and fall to hear what Vermonters want changed in the Catamount plan. We will keep you updated with schedules and information on our web site.
The best case scenario is that all of the information gathered at these hearings will be turned into legislation to expand Catamount. That legislation will be introduced at the start of the 2008 session and be ready for implementation by the end of the first year of the life of Catamount.
Don’t forget that we still have a formidable obstacle to expanding Catamount and making it work. For all of his rhetoric, Governor Douglas will only support measures that conform to his right wing ideology. Catamount expansion will not make him happy. That means we may have to wait until the next election before Catamount will be able to fulfill its promise to become more than what it is now.
Your voice will be important in the process. VCCH hopes we can help your voice become strong by all of us working together.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
From Rep. John Conyers
From Rep. John Conyers Blog:
We Need Real Universal Health Care Coverage
Submitted by JC on April 23, 2007 - 11:54pm.
The health care crisis we face today affects everyone, overwhelming America's workers and businesses. Many low-wage earners do not receive health benefits and cannot afford insurance. Higher salaried workers know that the cost of their health insurance may lead to the next round of layoffs.
More than 46 million Americans lack basic health care coverage. Millions more face high deductibles and staggering costs leaving essential care out of reach.
We can no longer seek gradual reforms or provide insurance companies with financial incentives to solve the problem. The time has come for a single payer national health care system that provides complete care to all Americans.
Since the 2006 elections, we have heard plenty of new voices calling for universal health care. Unfortunately, many of these claim to be universal health care, but are merely bandaids to the problem.
One proposal has the federal government giving billions of dollars to insurance companies to cover the uninsured. Other proposals only cover children or shift the entire burden of healthcare to employees in the form of health savings accounts.
Unfortunately, patchwork fixes like these will not work. The only way to provide a lasting solution to our health care crisis is through single payer universal health care. We must not let the movement toward universal health care be co-opted by proposals that serve to enrich those seeking to extend the status quo at the expense of true reform.
To address this need, I have introduced H.R. 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act. My bill would create a single payer universal health care system by strengthening and extending the Medicare program to cover all Americans.
Please help me enact this important legislation by signing this statement of support. We must have real reform through a single payer universal health care program if we are to solve our nation's health care crisis.
We Need Real Universal Health Care Coverage
Submitted by JC on April 23, 2007 - 11:54pm.
The health care crisis we face today affects everyone, overwhelming America's workers and businesses. Many low-wage earners do not receive health benefits and cannot afford insurance. Higher salaried workers know that the cost of their health insurance may lead to the next round of layoffs.
More than 46 million Americans lack basic health care coverage. Millions more face high deductibles and staggering costs leaving essential care out of reach.
We can no longer seek gradual reforms or provide insurance companies with financial incentives to solve the problem. The time has come for a single payer national health care system that provides complete care to all Americans.
Since the 2006 elections, we have heard plenty of new voices calling for universal health care. Unfortunately, many of these claim to be universal health care, but are merely bandaids to the problem.
One proposal has the federal government giving billions of dollars to insurance companies to cover the uninsured. Other proposals only cover children or shift the entire burden of healthcare to employees in the form of health savings accounts.
Unfortunately, patchwork fixes like these will not work. The only way to provide a lasting solution to our health care crisis is through single payer universal health care. We must not let the movement toward universal health care be co-opted by proposals that serve to enrich those seeking to extend the status quo at the expense of true reform.
To address this need, I have introduced H.R. 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act. My bill would create a single payer universal health care system by strengthening and extending the Medicare program to cover all Americans.
Please help me enact this important legislation by signing this statement of support. We must have real reform through a single payer universal health care program if we are to solve our nation's health care crisis.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Health Care Financing Study
A health care financing study was published in early March as part of the mandate for studies in the health care bill related to Catamount. It is dense, boring and not worth a lot but it does offer some very interesting statistics relating to health care finanacing and to a single payer plan specifically. This is the study that Gov Douglas refused to participate in and there is a letter in the documents confirming that. The report is at the Health Care Commission web site: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/CommissionOnHealthCareReform/Memo-Health%20Care%20Financing%20Review%20-%20Final%20Draft%20031307.pdf
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