Mike Mrowicki has served since 2007 in the Vermont House of Representatives, where he represents Putney and Dummerston in the Windham-4 district.
PUTNEY-Our health-care "system" in Vermont is teetering, while the actions - or lack of them - from the current president might just push it over.
Vermonters are paying more and more and feeling they get less and less. Access to health care is limited, evidenced by the wait times many experience to get an appointment.
In some cases, there just aren't enough providers, and many are overworked and stretched thin. In other instances, access is limited by what people can afford because of higher premiums, higher deductibles, and higher copayments.
And now, in most counties in the state, no insurer will offer a Medicare Advantage plan, affecting thousands of retired Vermonters who have used such coverage for accessing health care.
Add to the concerns how nine of our 14 hospitals in Vermont are losing money.
And Vermont's largest health insurance company, BlueCrossBlueShield of Vermont, had to borrow $30 million from Blue Cross Michigan to pay claims this spring. Another year of high increases for premiums is straining budgets at every level in homes, businesses, and government.
A crisis point might be coming sooner than later as pointed out by the head of the Green Mountain Care Board in testimony to the Vermont Legislature. Last year, he predicted that in five years we might see hospitals close in Vermont. He now feels it could be within one year.
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Legislators will be working hard in the coming session to make sure hospital closures do not happen, but we are a small state with limited resources. We are one of those states that get more back from the federal government than we pay out (thanks to our able congressional delegation).
But we really need a willing partner in Washington, and that seems unlikely.
That's because the current president seems more concerned with his vengeance campaign and unleashing masked, armed hordes of his private army on our streets. That is a higher priority than to fulfill his campaign promise that "prices will come down on Day 1." Far from it.
As prices continue to rise across the board, little has been done to bring down the cost of living to address the "affordability crisis," as the current president and his allies like to repeat.
And high prices could go up higher for health care very soon.
Without the tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, premiums will skyrocket, making health insurance unaffordable for millions of Americans - thousands of them in Vermont. Those notices will go out in November, so be prepared if you get your health insurance through the health care exchange.
Then, in the new year, the federal Big Bad Budget Bill will kick scores of Americans off of Medicaid.
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The ripples from these events will be broad.
Health needs will continue, and that's when people who are uninsured will start showing up in higher numbers at emergency departments, where hospitals are obliged by law to treat them even if they cannot pay. These expenses will have to be borne by hospitals that are already teetering.
If we see any economic downturn, lower tax revenues, and greater pressures on services, that's a recipe for higher state and property taxes or cuts to state services. Not a pretty picture, but a possible scenario we cannot ignore. (And for those who voted for the current president, especially grain farmers, a stark reminder of getting what you voted for.)
We can hope for the best, but the road ahead looks like a dirt road in mud season, with ruts that are hard to get out of without the help of a tow.
Will we get a tow from Washington, especially regarding health care?
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It's understandable if some don't see this as a major problem right now - especially if you're healthy and not currently needing health care. Until you're like that guy who saw something thrown and wondered what it was. Then it hit him.
Here's hoping the Democrats in Congress hold fast to get a deal on health care during the shutdown.
We need an agreement that will resonate right down to the state and local levels for the help that health care in Vermont needs.
This Voices Legislative Update was submitted to The Commons.
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