From NBC News Channel 5

Bipartisan coalition calling for lower health care costs

https://www.mynbc5.com/article/bipartisan-coalition-calling-for-lower-health-care-costs/63610749

MONTPELIER, Vt. —

We've heard it time and time again: Vermont's health care is too expensive.

Some school districts have pointed to it as a reason their budgets have seen those double-digit tax increases.

Now a coalition is forming to fix the issue. Vermont Healthcare 911 sounded the alarm on the state's high cost of health care today.

Pointing to public data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the group said health insurance premiums for families in Vermont went up 92% since 2018.

"You'll find the University of Vermont Medical Center spending 71% on salaries on administration and oversight overhead," said a former state senator and current chair of the coalition, Chris Pearson. "Competitors are spending 43%, and these are apples-to-apples comparisons."

This goes beyond numbers on a page for businesses like OnLogic in South Burlington.

"They force companies to make tough decisions about salaries, benefits, and growth. They burden our schools and our towns, the impact of property taxes and the services we all rely on. They contribute to an image of loss as a place as unaffordable for working families and unfriendly to business," said Lisa Groeneveld, one of the company's co-founders.

Groeneveld also said the high costs dissuade companies and people from moving to Vermont.

However, even if the coalition's solution is to lower hospital budgets, they said that doesn't mean they want to compromise patient care.

"Patient care is a priority for hospital workers and this coalition. The data demonstrated here today shows that there is room to save, such as reducing excessive administrative load in our hospitals without hurting care," explained the president of AFT Vermont, Nicole DiVita.

Meanwhile, some of Vermont's hospitals said they do need to limit care to reduce revenue.

In November, the UVM Health Network announced it would cut some of its services in order to comply with budget requirements.