Vermont residents could soon have alternatives to health insurance. Following concerns that healthcare in the state was spiraling out of control, lawmakers passed Act 128, commissioning a study on Vermont’s healthcare system. The legislature tasked a team led by Harvard professor Dr. William Hsiao with finding systemic solutions to reduce costs and improve access. Act 128 aimed to achieve universal health insurance coverage, to provide every Vermont resident with an adequate standard benefits package and equal access to health care, to control rapidly escalating costs, and to establish a primary care-based integrated health care delivery system that focuses on prevention and wellness.
Act 128 required the team of experts to design three options for health system reform and to determine which best achieved the goals. Option 1 was to be a government-administered, publicly-financed single payer health system. Option 2 was to be a government-administered public option that would compete with private insurers. Option 3 was to be the most “viable and practical” plan designed by the team.
The options are outlined in a newly released report. In the report, the team recommends Option 3 – a public-private single payer system with a full benefits package including dental, vision and long-term care, with minimal cost-sharing. Under the option, Medicaid and Medicare benefits would not change, but all payments for these programs, as well as those for Workers’ Compensation, would be paid through a uniform claims administration process. According to the report, “in addition to yielding the greatest cost savings, Option 3 is the most feasible as it is likely to be accepted by the broadest cross-section of Vermont stakeholders. Option 3 is both economically responsible and politically palatable. Option 3 focuses on providing access to care, maximizing cost savings and, where possible, relying on market-based efficiencies within a single payer system.”
Lawmakers have yet to act on the recommendation. NovaRest optained a copy of the full report – click here to read it.