By: Tyler Boronski; NBC5
BURLINGTON, Vt. — For years now, leaders in Washington have been sounding the alarm on the rising costs of health care in the U.S.
On Friday, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders met face to face with the insurance companies and hospital providers to talk and try to figure out if there’s anything that can be done to lower costs.
Sanders didn’t hold back when speaking with the likes of BlueCross BlueShield Vermont President Don George and UVM Medical Center’s President Steve Leffler, during a roundtable discussion.
He fired off a lot of direct questions about the increasing health costs and what they are doing on their part to fix the issue.
“What are you going to do about it?” Sanders would say on multiple occasions to the various health care players in the room.
The rising health care costs have had a major impact on Gina Akley’s small tool store “Trow & Holden” in Barre.
Akley said she’s under one of BlueCross BlueShield Vermont’s insurance plans.
Because her store is unionized, Akley has to offer her 16 employees their highest plan.
However since she believes the insurance costs are so high, Akley said it’s more cost-effective for her to pay her employees.
“If all my employees were covered, my costs would be $430,000,” said Akley. “With the 19% increase next year, if all my employees took it, my health care costs would be half a million dollars. I’m a $3 million dollar a year company.”
BlueCross BlueShield Vermont’s president Don George said one reason for the increase is because of what he describes as an alarming trend in chronic and complex medical issues since the COVID-19 pandemic.
George said those issues can cost up to four times more, which is why their premium increases are in the double digits.
“It’s causing an increase in the proliferation of prescription drugs, increase in use of medical services, and an increase in use in more intense healthcare services,” said George.
Sanders said while he understands this is a national issue, he feels healthcare leaders in the Green Mountain State are lacking the urgency to fight for improvements.
UVM Medical Center President Steve Leffler said they don’t have the leverage to combat the drug companies over prescription costs.
“Even though we’re big in the state of Vermont, we’re not even a blimp on the screen,” said Leffler. “That million-dollar drug we try to negotiate down, they told us, ‘Don’t buy it if you don’t want to.’”
Owen Foster, part of the Green Mountain Care Board, said hospitals also don’t have an incentive to fight because they’re profiting.
“If you have a retail pharmacy and you’re paying $170M for the drugs, you sell it to your patients for $240M, the hospital made $70M,” said Foster.
Sanders hopes progress can be made.
He’s afraid if it doesn’t, it will only add to the reasons to drive people out of Vermont.
“Speaking for the vast majority people in our state, the status quo is not working. We got to change it,” said Sanders.
The roundtable also discussed the nursing shortage, such as how to recruit and retain more of them to the Green Mountain State.
Leffler said investing in clinical educators, more clinical spaces, and making the testing process more accessible would help towards making progress.
He said overarching issues, such as the housing crisis and the lack of affordable child care, still makes it difficult to get younger healthcare workers in Vermont.
