Vermont passes health insurance reform plan

Doctors appreciate the program's promise to cut red tape and its focus on chronic illness.

By Elaine Monaghan, AMNews staff. June 5, 2006.

Washington -- Vermont physicians hailed their state's entry last month into a growing club of those that have bridged political differences to cover the uninsured.

Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, and the Democrat-led Legislature forged a compromise measure last month that is expected to cut the number of uninsured by nearly half in the short term, reduce costs and address the growing need for chronic care. They were guided in this effort by Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD, a former Clinton appointee and professor at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta.

At press time, the governor was expected to sign the bill into law May 25.

"There's a certain sense of pride that in our state everyone involved in the process seems more interested in the end result than in the politics," said Peter Dale, MD, president of Vermont Medical Society and an internist in Berlin, Vt.

"The result is a step in the right direction. A lot of people are using that language because we all realize there's a long way to go to make the health care system more rational and dependable when it comes to providing good patient care," Dr. Dale said.

Passage of Vermont legislation follows action in Massachusetts, which instituted an "individual mandate" that penalizes citizens who fail to accept subsidized insurance and charges some businesses if they don't cover their employees. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, has also expressed determination to tackle the problem of the uninsured in her state, where she'll have to work with a Republican Legislature to get anything passed.