In his feistiest exchange with the press in months, Gov. Peter Shumlin on Thursday sought to reassure Vermonters that his administration is doing everything possible to remedy problems plaguing its new online health insurance portal.

But even as he expressed confidence that Vermont Health Connect’s performance is improving every day, Shumlin avoided making specific promises about when the system would be fully functional.

“The bottom line is that I can’t stand here truthfully, look you in the eye, and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got this figured out right on a tight schedule to the moment, as we would with a road project,'” the governor told reporters at a press conference in the Pavilion State Office Building. “We’re doing everything in our power to improve the structure that we have in place. I’m confident that we’re going to get there. If we don’t, I can assure you that we will have a path that will get us where we need to go.”

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Paul Heintz was part of the Seven Days news team from 2012 to 2020. He served as political editor and wrote the "Fair Game" political column before becoming a staff writer.

4 replies on “Shumlin Defends Implementation of Health Insurance Exchange, Sees Signs of Progress”

  1. It is just my 2 cents worth, of course, however in terms of putting Vermont Health Connect funding into perspective, it comes to mind about how, …
    $175 Million in federal taxpayer funds for Vermont Health Connect divided by 100,000 VT households or individuals equals $1750. per household or individual.
    Although $175 Million certainly sounds like a humongous amount of money to be spending on Vermont Health Connect, it is quite possible that spending $1750.00 per household or individual might not; particularly when factoring in both the timeframe this is being attempted as well as the extent of what is being created and set up.
    That said, if these were state general fund dollars at play, one can bet this would have been done very differently and at a much lower cost, including not wasting lots of money on what appears in some instances to be questionable contracts as well as activities and so on.

  2. Not to even mention about how much actual healthcare provision could have been leveraged using these very same dollars instead.

  3. On Dec. 1st this bill should be put to rest and set aside for at least one year so they can get right. The overall costs to individuals is outrageous. Vermonters who work for a living can not afford this kind of solipsism, that we the working class should pay for those who chose not to work.

  4. Paul. Are you covering todays press conference on heath care? If they do not let you in it is Halloween so you have other options.
    Dale

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