After 18 months of headaches caused by Vermont Health Connect, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced Friday that he’s prepared to replace the online health insurance marketplace if it fails to meet two new deadlines.
But the governor expressed confidence that his administration — and contractor Optum — will get the job done.
“We think that we’re going to deliver finally on an exchange that’s going to work for Vermont,” Shumlin said at an impromptu press conference Friday morning at the Statehouse. “If not, we want Vermonters to know what the contingency plan would be.”
That plan would be to adopt what’s known as a federally supported, state-based marketplace for those who buy private health insurance. Such hybrid systems — currently in use in Oregon, Nevada and New Mexico — make use of the federal exchange’s web platforms and call centers, but allow states to retain control over which plans are offered.
Shumlin said he would only deploy the contingency plan if Vermont Health Connect is unable to automatically process changes in account information by May or if it’s unable to smoothly reenroll users by October. Even then, the state would not adopt the new system until October 2016, in time for the 2017 open-enrollment period.
“Listen, there’s enough skepticism about Vermont Health Connect and frustration so that Vermonters should know what our plans are should we fail,” Shumlin said. “Now what I’m telling you as governor is: We expect it to work. We think it will work. But we also think it’s fair that people understand what we would do if it didn’t.”
Even as Shumlin outlined his latest contingency plan, his administration acknowledged that it would bring a whole host of new problems.
“This is not an attractive option,” Shumlin’s chief of health care reform, Lawrence Miller, said at the press conference.
For one thing, the outcome of a pending U.S. Supreme Court case could restrict users of such systems from enjoying $50 million worth of federal subsidies that make insurance more affordable. A hybrid system could also make it more difficult to deliver state subsidies to low-income Vermonters.
Creating a new mechanism to buy private insurance may prove more expensive, Shumlin and Miller acknowledged, because the administration would still have to maintain the old system to serve Medicaid recipients.
The notion of adopting a federally supported, state-based marketplace was first publicly proposed in January by a tri-partisan group of House members: Reps. Jim Condon (D-Colchester), Adam Greshin (I-Warren), Patti Komline (R-Dorset) and Heidi Scheuermann (R-Stowe). Miller attended a Statehouse press conference they held to describe their idea and said he would take their recommendation seriously.
But at Friday’s press conference, Shumlin denied that the group’s proposal inspired him.
“No, we got this idea from ourselves, and the feeling that, you know, when I get complaints about Vermont Health Connect — and I’m out talking to Vermonters all the time — they say to me, ‘What happens if it doesn’t work? What happens if you can’t fix change-of-circumstances?'” Shumlin said. “So, you know, let’s put it this way: Republicans, Democrats, independents and Progressives are all getting the same frustration, and we thought it was the smart thing to do.”
Speaking to reporters immediately after Shumlin’s announcement, the four House members joked about Shumlin’s response.
“Maybe he had the radio on while he was dreaming or something,” Condon hypothesized.
“The old saying goes: You can get an awful lot done if you don’t care who gets credit,” Greshin added.
All four said that while they were pleased the governor planned to investigate the feasibility of a hybrid system, they wished he would do so sooner.
“I’m a little disappointed he’s pushed it back to 2017,” Komline said.
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What, no comments? If we are shocked by this turn of events, I guess that explains it.
On the other hand, I think we’re just callous and used to our illustrious Gov doing the flip flop thang. At least this one is a step in the right direction, albeit with $150-200 million in wasted Fed tax money on his “nothing burger”.
I think Bill Boecher (Fletcher Allen) spent time in the slammer for lesser actions.
As someone who helped put Bill Boetcher away, I point out that he was caught lying to regulatory officials when he attested or was under a requirement to be telling the truth. Also, for providing fraudulent reports to the government while collecting Medicare and Medicaid funds for his hospital.
Unfortunately, politicians aren’t held by the law to these standards, that is unless they are formally “attesting” to the truth of their statements —-either under oath (the way various liars in Congressional hearings are caught up) or by signing a formal document with an attestation.
But a politician/government official standing up in front of a microphone for a couple years and saying something he/she knew at the time to not to be true? Well, there’s no law against that. Seriously, there’s no law against that.
It’s up to the press and determined citizens (protected by the First Amendment) to expose the lies, and for the voters (as long as they take their responsibility seriously, and their voting rights aren’t impaired) to punish the politician who lies.
Thanks Jeanne K for the outline of what Bill B did. From that, readers can decide how that offers a comparision to what our Gov has done. Legal issues aside, a lie or lies are just that. Is it too much to expect honesty from people who are selected or elected to be pillars of our community?
At least Bill B built a much needed parking garage…