Press conference focuses attention on Vermont’s ‘broken’ health care

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, held an airport press conference on Monday morning, May 19, to intensify the focus on Vermont’s health care crisis, driven by high costs and long wait times for appointments.

“Everyone knows that our health care system nationally and in the state of Vermont is broken, it is dysfunctional and it is wildly expensive,” Sanders said. “Nationally, the cost of health care per person, unbelievably, is $14,500 per person. In Vermont, it’s even higher than that. This outrageously expensive health care is economically unsustainable, and by the way, twice as much per capita as other major countries spend, which guarantee health care to all their people.”

Sanders was joined at the press conference by Sen. Virginia “Ginny” Lyons, chair of the Vermont Senate Health and Welfare Committee; Rep. Alyssa Black, chair of the Vermont House Health Care Committee; Owen Foster, chair of the Green Mountain Care Board; Lisa Ventriss, co-chair of Vermont Health Care 911 and former president of the Vermont Business Roundtable; Mike Fisher, Chief Health Care Advocate at Vermont Legal Aid, and Jacob Berkowitz, president of UVM Support Staff United.

Conspicuously absent from the press conference were any health care executives from the University of Vermont Health Network, or any other hospital in Vermont. UVM Health Network spokeswoman Annie Mackin attended the press conference as an observer only.

Not enough doctors, not enough nurses, not enough dentists

Sanders said that despite the huge expenditures on health care in Vermont, “many of our people are either uninsured or under-insured with high deductibles and copayments.”

“Further, we don’t have enough doctors, we don’t have enough nurses, we don’t have enough dentists, we don’t have enough mental health care providers or pharmacists,” Sanders continued.

Turning to BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont, Sanders pointed out the state’s largest health insurer has lost more than $150 million in the last four years and is “now on the brink of financial collapse, despite requesting premium increases of over 20% year after year just to stay afloat.”

“The bottom line is the status quo is unacceptable,” Sanders said. “We cannot continue to ignore this crisis. In Washington, under Trump and the Republican leadership, we’re moving in the wrong way. Here in Vermont, there are important initiatives beginning to address this crisis.”

Sanders especially decried the $715 billion in cuts being proposed for Medicaid, which he said would cause 8 million to 13 million people throughout the country to lose their health insurance, and would impact nursing homes, community health centers and hospitals as well.

Vermonters must be able to see inside health care’s ‘black box’

Lyons stood behind the lectern next, saying Vermont is “now finally recognizing we’re in a health care crisis,” and referring to a “black box” of agreements between hospitals and insurers regarding costs that no one is privy to in its entirety.

“The Senate and House are passing legislation that will open the black box for health care transformation,” Lyons said. “And believe me, it’s not difficult to understand our health care system and it’s time we educate our public and our constituents about the costs that are embedded int he black box of health care.”

Owen Foster, chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, which regulates hospitals and other aspects of the health care system in Vermont, gave a glimpse into that black box when he said Vermont hospitals have the highest upcharge in the United States on outpatient drugs.

Foster gave the example of a cancer drug called Neulasta, which is critical to chemotherapy and has an average cost of about $1,300 per year, but costs about $95,000 for a year’s supply at UVM Medical Center, of which Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont reimburses about $85,000.

“Vermonters with debilitating conditions such as Crohn’s disease, arthritis or even cancer not only suffer physically, but then financially,” Foster said. “At the same time, our primary care providers can barely financially survive. It’s backward and it’s wrong and it needs to change.”

UVM Health Network agrees that the status quo isn’t working

Mackin issued a statement before the press conference began, saying the UVM Health Network “shares the deep concern expressed by Senator Sanders about potential Medicaid cuts.”

“Any cuts to Medicaid will hurt millions of people nationwide who rely on it for their health, and will impact the safety net providers who care for them,” the statement said. “As a safety net provider for patients with Medicaid, as well as patients with Medicare, patients struggling to afford commercial insurance, and those who are uninsured, UVM Health Network agrees that the status quo isn’t working for Vermonters. Change that makes health care work better for our patients, our people and communities will require tough decisions from all stakeholders. As a leading provider of care in our region, we recognize the urgency of this moment and are taking action, beginning with a series of cuts and commitments aimed at improving sustainability and affordability for Vermonters totaling $158 million so far, and we are committed to the fight to protect Medicaid for the hundreds of thousands of people in our region whose lives depend on it.”

Vermont Legislature has bills to address the crisis

After the press conference, Lyons told the Burlington Free Press there are currently bills moving through the House and Senate that would address Vermont’s health care crisis. The Senate bill would begin to regulate and control hospital costs through reference-based pricing − bringing prices in line with national averages − and global budgeting for hospitals, so their budgets don’t escalate every year.

The Senate bill would also provide financial sustainability for up to half a dozen hospitals “desperately in the red across the state,” by shifting money from the state’s larger hospitals to its smaller, rural hospitals.

“The third part of the bill is to increase interoperability, so patients, payers and providers all have access to clinical data when they need it,” Lyons said.

The House bill focuses on saving Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, by reducing reimbursements to hospitals when their costs are too high.

“What we are trying to do is open up that black box,” Lyons said.

Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT.

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