Vermont for Single Payer

04/26/2026

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/us/politics/doctors-insurers-arbitration.html?unlocked_article_code=1.c1A.UOB3.y-kajXOnoIYd&smid=em-share
“A single payer system would obviously prevent both the surprise billing the law was enacted to address, and the absurd unintended consequences of the law. Discussions about the "affordability" of single payer never seem to take account of these kinds of savings.”

A law meant to end surprise medical billing accidentally created a multibillion-dollar industry that is making doctors richer.

04/26/2026

04/25/2026

Online sign up form to testify: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=bNefLrdYQUubkNDvoQ9AHh6YP-cF7hxDhFcJXwyRBVRUOE1DOUpWQktDVFpDTFRaSk9LTjRXM0EyRy4u&route=shorturl
For more information, and/or to sign up for our newsletter, go to vermontforsinglepayer.org

04/25/2026

“The rising cost of health care is cutting into other business budgets, including payroll and hiring."
https://mainebiz.biz/article/costly-health-care-coverage-cutting-into-wage-growth/
“The rising cost of health care is cutting into other business budgets, including payroll and hiring.
“A survey of employers by the Healthcare Purchaser Alliance of Maine shows that rising health care costs are affecting wage growth, hiring practices and the long-term viability of employee health care coverage.
“The survey, with responses from more than 100 Maine-based companies in a range of sectors, found that 95% of respondents believe working Mainers find it difficult to afford health care. Additionally, 93% expressed support for state legislative action to address cost drivers.”

A survey of Maine employers by the Healthcare Purchasers Alliance of Maine found that 29% have curtailed wage increases as a way of coping with higher health care premiums.

04/24/2026

7 in 10 adults say they've received a medical bill they couldn't afford.

Our CEO Allison Sesso and VP of Policy Eva Stahl sat down with the American Hospital Association to talk about what's driving the medical debt crisis and what it actually takes to fix it.

One stat that stuck: 1 in 4 Americans carry medical debt of some kind. And it's about to get worse as coverage erodes.

The gap between what people owe and what they can pay? It's just too wide. And that's not a personal failure. It's a system that's failing people.

We work with hospitals to relieve debt, but relief alone won't solve this. We need coverage that actually protects people.

🎧 Full episode in comments.

04/24/2026

If a working household ended up in bankruptcy with a six-figure hospital debt that exceeded its annual income, the system failed at multiple points. Charity care either was not applied, was not offered in a meaningful way or was structured so poorly that it did not protect the family.

Financial hardship screening was clearly not effective, because a bill of that size does not land on a household already under strain if safeguards are working the way they should.

Any 340B revenue the hospital may have received was plainly not used to reduce this family’s exposure in a way that changed the outcome, and whatever collection practices were used were not aligned with the public purpose of 340B, because a program meant to support vulnerable patients should not end with a family pushed into bankruptcy by a hospital that benefits from federally discounted drugs.

04/24/2026

https://kffhealthnews.org/medicare/medigap-medicare-advantage-premiums-rate-increase-few-alternatives/
“In the supplemental market, following big increases last year, rates appear to be rising again. In early 2026 filings with state insurance commissioners from Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Humana, Mutual of Omaha, and UnitedHealthcare, rate increases for Plan G policies — the most commonly purchased supplement type — ranged from just over 12% to more than 26% in the first quarter, according to Nebraska-based consulting firm Telos Actuarial.
“’While this is a small dataset across a select number of states, it’s an indication that carriers are looking to correct their premium rates in light of upward pressure on their claims experience,’ said Brett Mushett, a consulting actuary with Telos.”

Millions of people rely on the supplemental insurance to offset the deductibles, copayments, and other costs faced by enrollees in the traditional Medicare program.

04/23/2026

Legislators holding an open hearing on primary care access on April 30 (next Thursday)!
Ellen Oxfeld, Middlebury, Apr 23, 2026
The House Healthcare Committee has just announced a public hearing on access to primary care to be held at the Statehouse (with a remote or in-person sign-up option) this coming Thursday, April 30th, 5 to 7 pm, Room 11 at the Statehouse!

It's the first opportunity for public testimony at the Statehouse on universal health care since 2018! You can participate remotely or in person, but you must sign up by Wednesday, April 29th if you would like to testify. Click here for details on how to sign up to testify. https://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Press-Releases/House-Health-Care-Public-Hearing-April-2026.pdf

The best testimonies tell a personal story and then link it to the need for universal primary care. We minimally want the House Health Care Committee to pass a financing and operational plan for Universal Primary Care this session! Note that each person will have 2.5 minutes, so please practice what you want to say!

Here are a few points on why we need Universal Primary Care now! [https://vermontforsinglepayer.org/why-we-need-universal-primary-care-now/]

Of course, you can also access this FAQ [https://vermontforsinglepayer.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/UPC-FAQ-2026-1.pdf] for more detailed information on Universal Primary Care but remember that your own story is also very powerful if you can relate it to the need for Universal Primary Care now!

04/23/2026

https://healthcareuncovered.substack.com/p/how-private-for-profit-health-insurance
“I’ve met with faculty members and spoken to graduate students several times over the years at the Booth School of Business. One of the things we’ve talked about is how the U.S. system of health insurance is as good of an example of market failure as you can find anywhere in the world and at any time in history. Or to be more precise, it is a failure for people who need health care. It is by no means a failure for health insurance company executives and shareholders.
…
“Americans are told, over and over, that the solution to whatever ails our health care system is more competition, more choice, more market forces. It’s a seductive argument — markets have proven to be powerful engines of efficiency and innovation in countless industries. But this argument rests on a fatal flaw that many economists, including many here at the University of Chicago, recognized decades ago: health insurance is not, and cannot be, a normal market. It is, in the precise technical language of economics, a case of market failure — and a nearly perfect one at that.”

How profit-driven incentives and structural market failures have shaped the U.S. health insurance system and why it continues to fall short for patients.