GOP presser Part 1
GOP presser Part 2
Rep. Don Turner, R-Milton, the minority leader of the House, urged the governor to shut down the state exchange, which has cost $100 million and still does not work properly, as soon as possible.
Turner said this “urgent matter” could not wait. He said leaders in the House and Senate must draft legislation immediately because “the chaos and mismanagement continues.” Turner vowed to work with Democrats and Progressives to develop a bipartisan proposal that would be taken up the first week in January and signed into law before the budget address.
The federal exchange has been a viable alternative in New Hampshire, Turner said. The Granite State program cost $8 million and the federal exchange, he says, “offers more coverage and options at more affordable prices.”
Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, who was re-elected in a landslide on Tuesday, said 27 states have utilized the federal exchange at this point, and leaders have an obligation to offer Vermonters stability and certainty. “It’s not as though we have an exchange that is functioning right now, so the alternative is something that is workable,” Scott said.
Scott said the solution that seems “obvious” to the Republicans, and he said it’s likely that Democrats and Progressives are considering pulling the plug on the exchange, too. Scott said it’s “hard to believe” that the governor hasn’t thought about abandoning Vermont Health Connect and moving the state onto the federal exchange. “That may be a conclusion he reaches on his own,” he said.
The next Vermont Health Connect enrollment period starts Nov. 15. The state’s website has been offline for more than a month as contract IT companies scramble to fix problems with basic functionality. It is not clear whether the website will be ready for new enrollees by the deadline. People who already have insurance through the exchange have been encouraged to re-enroll by snail mail.
“We believe Vermonters who have been forced into this failed system and many against their will by the Shumlin administration and the previous Legislature have a right to the benefits of lower costs and basic customer service they have been promised by the federal Affordable Care Act,” Turner said.
Vermont is the only state that has made participation in the exchange mandatory for individuals, sole proprietors and employees of businesses with 50 or fewer workers. Republicans have repeatedly called on the Legislature and the Shumlin administration to eliminate the requirement, but those efforts failed in previous legislative sessions.
Meanwhile, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont is offering an exchange product for small businesses that allows employees to choose the coverage plans they prefer through a Web portal.
If the Shumlin administration went to the federal exchange, the state could no longer offer subsidies through the Vermont Premium Assistance Program, according to Peter Sterling of Vermont Leads, a single payer advocacy group.
The Republicans did not offer information about how the switch to the federal exchange would affect low-income Vermonters who receive subsidies.
Sterling says the Republicans’ plan is “reckless.”
“This is not a serious proposal,” Sterling said. “It’s a PR stunt because they didn’t do their homework. They haven’t looked at how it would impact consumers. This is a reckless proposal that would increase the cost of health care to low income Vermonters without any tangible benefit.”
Turner insisted several times during the press conference that the state could restore the Catamount Health program, but Sterling says Catamount, which was funded by an employer tax, is not feasible under the federal Affordable Care Act. “No one anywhere will tell you that Catamount can come back,” he said. “They’re either lying or they didn’t do their research.”
Correction: An earlier version of the story indicated that Blue Cross’ exchange product for small business allowed access to outside insurers. It does not.
