Republican lawmakers say allowing businesses to enroll in the state’s health exchange directly through insurers is not enough to fix problems associated with Vermont Health Connect. The Shumlin administration announced on Tuesday that companies with 50 or fewer workers that had not yet purchased insurance could buy coverage directly through an insurer before the next deadline on March 31.
Representatives from the House GOP say individuals should not be required to enter the exchange because the state’s website, Vermont Health Connect, is not fully functional. Vermont is the only state in the nation that requires individuals and workers for small businesses to buy health insurance through the exchange.
House Minority Leader Don Turner, a Milton Republican, called on Gov. Peter Shumlin to delay all mandates associated with Vermont Health Connect and continue to allow the purchase of insurance outside the exchange until its website is fully functional.
Republicans have been calling for businesses’ continued ability to direct enroll for months, Turner said, but the administration’s announcement Tuesday doesn’t help individuals who still have to buy a health plan through the exchange.
Larson responded with a statement noting that, “Vermont Health Connect is working for individuals and families, nearly 27,000 have signed up so far.”
Signing up businesses through the exchange requires ushering a huge amount of data through numerous transactions, Larson said, and it’s going to take more work to ensure that information flows smoothly from Vermont Health Connect to its premium processor and on to the insurance companies.
Allowing small businesses to continue direct enrollment will give Vermont Health Connect the chance to focus on enrolling individuals through the exchange website, Larson said, many of whom have yet to sign up. Others are still waiting for their applications and payments to be processed.
Turner also asked that the state conduct a household insurance survey to be completed in September, contending that it would show an increase in the number of uninsured Vermonters.
“Ninety-six percent of Vermonters had some form of health insurance prior to implementation of these changes. We need to know if the reforms being made to health care are helping or making this problem worse,” Turner said in a statement.
Turner said state employees told him the next household insurance survey – typically conducted by the Department of Financial Regulation – isn’t due until 2015.
“I’m looking into the timing on the Vermont household survey,” Larson said in a statement. He too has said the household survey will give the most accurate picture of who is insured.
The GOP has launched a website, vthealthreport.com, to collect the experiences of Vermonters purchasing health care from the state’s exchange.
The site will allow the GOP to collect information about Vermonters’ experiences with the exchange that can then be passed on to legislative leaders, Vermont Health Connect and the press to humanize and clarify problems with the exchange, Tuner said.
“Frustrated? Confused? Uncertain? We’re listening and we want to help,” tweeted David Sunderland, chair of the state GOP, alongside a link to the new webpage.
