I am writing to you regarding the Green Mountain Care Board decision to again approve a double digit increase for Blue Cross (12.4 percent) and MVP (10.1 percent) on Thursday.
These increases in insurance rates make it impossible for families living on a fixed income to afford insurance. So it’s a choice between being insured and basic essential needs like food and housing, so we go without insurance.
What is the solution you ask? In 2011 Vermont passed a groundbreaking universal healthcare law that would guarantee healthcare as a public good for everyone in our state. But as long as we rely on health insurance companies for our health care we will continue to see rising costs year after year.
Our elected officials need to address this crisis by continuing the work of implementing a universal, publicly financed healthcare system in Vermont.
Marie Townsend
Middlebury