We don’t need the outrageous expense of paying for insurance premiums, deductibles and copays with their endless cost increases. We don’t need to pay exorbitant salaries and benefits for executives and massive profits for multiple insurance companies and the wasteful cost of unnecessary paperwork boondoggle.
Insurance costs continue to rise, putting extreme pressure on businesses, individuals, and state subsidy programs. We can change it. We can reduce the cost of healthcare by establishing a universal health care system administered by the state. This would also allow us find ways of funding essential health care services that improve outcomes and reduce costs, as they have done in many other countries in the world.
Vermont has a law guaranteeing universal health care through a publicly funded system, but it hasn’t been implemented due to the influence of corporations that profit from health care spending and whose executives benefit from the current system. If we implemented Universal Health Care it would cost less than the current system and eliminate waste. The Vermont Worker’s Center has put forward a funding proposal for this that would be a good “ how to” starting point. I would like to implement it and expand it to include having birth to death coverage in one system. The link for the Worker’s Center Plan is: https://workerscenter.org/equitable-financing/