In 1986 it was estimated that the cost of obesity in the United States amounted to about 5 percent of total health care spending. Today, that figure has more than tripled to 15 percent, meaning it costs us $350 billion a year to treat.
That’s bad enough. Worse is the prospect that the costs will continue to escalate and that Type 2 diabetes is becoming prevalent among children and teens.
George Till represents the town of Jericho. He is a Democrat by choice and a doctor by trade. Presumably, he thought his professional background would be an asset as the Legislature dealt with health care reform and its many variants.
He is experiencing, first-hand, the frustration that results from a commonsense objective being thwarted by the politics of money and the difficulty of individuals assuming responsibility for their own health.
When Central Vermont Public Service was granted an emergency rate increase in 2001, the deal struck was that the utility would repay the difference to ratepayers when, and if, the utility was sold. The amount was an estimated $21 million.
CVPS is I the process of being acquired by Gaz Metro, the Quebec Company that owns Green Mountain Power and Vermont Gas. It took a nanosecond before the question of the $21 million took center stage.
