Psych Out
Over the years, I’ve had a few letters published in Seven Days. The following, in response to [“Advocates Push to Keep Berlin Psychiatric Center Open,” November 19, online], is one that I never dreamed I would need to write.
I’ve been an RN for over 45 years, most of them serving as a nurse practitioner, and have spent the past five years working in the fields of addiction and mental health. Five months ago, I joined the nursing team on the Central Vermont Medical Center psychiatric unit and have witnessed firsthand the absolutely essential service that this unit provides for some of our most fragile citizens. At a time when there are “no beds in the inn” (any “inn” — in the entire state) for people struggling with psychiatric crises, it’s unimaginable how the closure of this unit will affect our local emergency room, where more and more patients will need to be housed until a bed is found somewhere. Are other Vermont hospitals prepared to pick up the slack? Very doubtful. Where will our patients receive care?!
I credit the Seven Days staff, through well-researched articles over the past few years, for highlighting the broken mental health system in this state, which so often fails its most vulnerable citizens, landing them in jail — or worse. We can do better. Closing the CVMC psychiatric unit is a huge step backward in this effort. Keep in mind that this is a decision that lacks support from the Green Mountain Care Board. I encourage others to speak out before this is a done deal. We will all pay the consequences.
Rebecca M. Hill
East Montpelier
$378 Million Question
[“Urgent Scare: The Price of Health Care Plans in Vermont Has Doubled in Six Years. The Prognosis for Cost Containment Is Grim,” November 6] flatly states that “former governor Peter Shumlin’s yearslong pursuit of a single-payer model imploded in 2014 after he learned how much it would cost and abandoned the effort.” Is that true?
Shumlin’s description of single-payer as unaffordable referred to the amount of money that would have to be raised through taxes. It took no account of the offsetting savings in eliminating insurance premiums. Shumlin did make one statement that compared the overall “costs” of health care had single-payer been implemented: “At a growth rate of four percent, GMC would yield savings of $378 Million over the first five years of the program relative to current predicted trends.” And Shumlin acknowledged that this calculation had not even taken account of reductions in administrative costs under a single-payer plan.
The statement about saving $378 million was made in the announcement that Shumlin was aborting the single-payer plan. It’s a strange world in which saving $378 million over five years is too costly.
Lee Russ
Bennington
Learn From Other States?
[Re “Urgent Scare: The Price of Health Care Plans in Vermont Has Doubled in Six Years. The Prognosis for Cost Containment Is Grim,” November 6]: What can we learn from the most affordable states for health care, such as Massachusetts, Washington and Michigan? The projected Massachusetts population by age group appears to be similar to Vermont’s. According to a 2015 University of Massachusetts-Amherst Donahue Institute estimate, 23 percent of Massachusetts’ population will be 65 or older by 2035. What are the factors in the most affordable states — with similar population projections by age group — that allow for more affordable health care?
Bernie Paquette
Jericho
Whither ‘Insurance’?
[Re “Urgent Scare: The Price of Health Care Plans in Vermont Has Doubled in Six Years. The Prognosis for Cost Containment Is Grim,” November 6]: Insurance isn’t really insurance anymore. Once the government got involved, insurance became a bloodsucking vampire. You have limited choices, especially here in Vermont. You pay a fair amount for a family policy, and then you still have to pay a lot when you need doctoring.
You are not covered for a number of things and are often restricted to certain hospitals and doctors. You can’t figure out what your insurance will cover or how much of an event your insurance will cover until you get the bill. Plus, no one can explain to you what your insurance will cover.
What is guaranteed is that you will pay money every month. After that, nothing is guaranteed.
Clif Muller
Danville
Property Taxes Are Too High
[Re “Weakened Senate Dems Say Property Taxes Are ‘No. 1 Priority,’” November 16, online]: Since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, taxes have gone up for working people while wealthier people got tax cuts. Taxes should be paid based on ability to pay, without exceptions and loopholes helping high-wealth individuals.
Vermonters had double-digit increases in property taxes this year. Huge health insurance increases are coming. No one has offered a good solution — not the governor, not the legislative leadership, not my successor.
The governor has always blamed the problem on the legislature. After eight years in office, it is time for the governor to stop blaming and instead present an affordable solution.
We must fix our education funding system so that everyone pays based on their income, not just those with household incomes under $115,000. Our high-quality schools are key to attracting young people to move here, raise a family and build our workforce.
The governor can close many small schools, drastically increase class size, or cut teachers’ pay and benefits to where we can’t compete for good teachers. Or we can tell the wealthy to pay their fair share and lower the burden on working people. We can get serious about bureaucratic reforms to save money. We can require second-home owners (of expensive vacation homes, not hunting camps) to pay more.
Or the governor and the legislature can point fingers at each other while Vermonters become more bitter, more divided, more angry and less able to afford to live here.
David Zuckerman
Hinesburg
Zuckerman is Vermont’s lieutenant governor.
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2024.
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