Vermont for Single Payer

10/09/2025

When Healthcare Has No Overall System....You Get Failure of Separate Pieces
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-deadly-consequences-of-rural-hospital-closures/ar-AA1O4gSn?uxmode=ruby&ocid=edgntpruby&pc=U531&cvid=68e685c8a14c4afda779a3ca0a2d66ff&ei=9
“Dr. Brady Didion, a family physician who used to practice at St. Joseph's, remembers the cascading fallout after the hospitals closed.
"'People missing out on care, people having delayed care, diagnoses weren’t made. Appropriate imaging lab and surgical services weren’t made,' he said. 'A lot of people and families suffered.'
“Didion later left the area and now practices at a rural hospital 50 miles away, where he still feels the impact. The closure of Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s means fewer places to transfer critical patients, with the remaining hospitals past capacity.”

Rural hospitals are vanishing, and Medicaid cuts could accelerate the collapse.

10/09/2025

10/08/2025

https://vtdigger.org/2023/04/12/letter-to-the-editor-who-pays-for-that-we-do/
When they say universal health care “costs too much,” what they mean is that it costs them too much. And the reason it costs them more is because it costs us less.
Whether it’s premiums, taxes, or the prices we pay directly, every dime these people spend on themselves and their interests comes from us.
Hospital executives make big, big salaries. Who pays them? We do.
Insurance executives make big, big salaries. Who pays them? We do.
Drug company executives make big, big salaries. Who pays them? We do.
Drug companies and insurance companies and private equity owners of health care facilities make big profits. Where does that money come from? Us.
The health care industry pays huge amounts of money to lobbyists. Where does that money come from? Us.
The health care industry contributes huge amounts of money to political candidates. Where does that money come from? Us.
Who benefits from all that money that comes from us? Them.
The health care industry contributes huge amounts of money to political candidates. Where does that money come from? Us.
Who benefits from all that money that comes from us? Them.
Please remember that when the opponents of universal health care claim “we” can’t afford it.

When they say universal health care “costs too much,” what they mean is that it costs them too much. And the reason it costs them more is because it costs us less.

10/07/2025

Only 5 of Wyoming’s Hospitals Are Generating a Profit
https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/open-spaces/2025-10-03/wyoming-hospitals-finances-teeter-as-state-and-federal-cuts-pile-up
It's not just Vermont. It's the commercial "system" that considers the health of the people secondary to financial concerns.

Multiple actions taken at the state and federal levels are hurting the already fragile financial system of these health care providers, including what has been at the heart of the federal government shutdown. However, all in the industry are eyeing a new bucket of federal money that they hope will h...

10/07/2025

The Price of Everything You Buy Includes an Amount For the Health Care of Every Person That Produced, Distributed and Sold That Product
https://vermontforsinglepayer.org/letters/healthcare-the-reason-everything-costs-so-much/
“There has been a lot of discussion about how rising healthcare costs are indeed driving up property taxes. I haven’t seen any recognition that these costs are a major reason that everything costs so much. The price of everything you buy includes an amount for the health care of every person that produced, distributed and sold that product. The cost of replacing the roof on your house includes an amount for the health care of every person who made the roofing materials, distributed them, sold them and installed them on your house.
“People really need to understand that they ultimately pay these rising costs through taxes, the cost of goods and services, and their own insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pays, et cetera. Since everybody benefits if we get the healthcare costs down, and everyone suffers if we don’t, we should be diligently and objectively examining why healthcare costs are so high.
“There is a ton of objective evidence that the major reason is the absurd amount of money we waste simply administering the convoluted commercial insurance system that controls healthcare. In 1991 the GAO concluded that if we adopted a single payer system “the savings in administrative costs alone would be more than enough to finance” universal coverage. Why? Well, for example, U.S. insurers and providers spent $812 billion on administration in 2017, amounting to $2,497 per capita versus $551 per capita in Canada.”

Caledonian Record To the Editor: There has been a lot of discussion about how rising healthcare costs are indeed driving up property taxes. I haven’t seen any recognition that these costs are a major reason that everything costs so much. The price of everything you buy includes an amount for the h...

10/04/2025

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/colorado-wage-garnishment-health-care-medical-debt-collections-medicaid/?utm_campaign=KHN%20-%20Weekly%20Edition&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_HuUqyu3r8-BPfNNll3SUj8WZX1x2r44x-OdnroHaqGM14y4Ecu4C-lm71FOS3Ex5Vr0vGedo7r-pJgJbGwp3X2cdskQ&_hsmi=383541775&utm_content=383541775&utm_source=hs_email
“KFF Health News reviewed 1,200 Colorado cases in which judges, over a two-year period from Feb. 1, 2022, through Feb. 1, 2024, gave permission to garnish wages over unpaid bills. At least 30% of the cases stemmed from medical care — even when patients’ bills should have been covered by Medicaid, the public insurance program for those with low incomes or disabilities. That 30% is likely an underestimate since medical debt is often hidden behind other types of debt, such as from credit cards or payday loans. But even that minimum would translate to roughly 14,000 cases a year in Colorado in which courts approved taking people’s wages because of unpaid medical bills.
…
“Colorado has company. It is one of 45 states that allow wage garnishment for unpaid medical bills. Only Delaware, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas have banned wage garnishment for medical debt.

Health care providers and debt collectors are biting from people’s paychecks to cover old medical bills. A KFF Health News investigation in Colorado shows that this aggressive collection practice is widespread even in a state considered to have strong consumer protections.