VT State Report Estimates $1.8B Savings from Single Payer Health Care System

[garybeck]

Health care report projects major savings

MONTPELIER — New projections by the state of Vermont say a public, universal health care system would cost between $8.2 billion and $9.5 billion a year — roughly $13,000 to $14,000 per resident — by 2020, but that sticking with the current system based on private insurers would cost even more.

Without a health care overhaul approved by lawmakers this year, including a new law that could move Vermont closer than any other state to a Canadian-style single-payer system, costs would surpass $10 billion by 2020, the report said.

Lawmakers asked for the cost estimates by Nov. 1, but they still must determine how to pay for the new system. Officials said residents will get a chance to offer ideas at a series of forums to be held in November and December.

No final decision is expected until early 2013 — a date that critics of Vermont’s health care legislation note comes after the 2012 elections.

With or without the changes, spending on health care is expected roughly to double in the current decade from the $4.7 billion Vermonters spent in 2009, said a joint report issued Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin’s administration and legislative researchers.

Health care represented 10 percent of the state economy in 1992 but had nearly doubled as a share of the economy, to 19 percent, by 2009, the 45-page report said.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20111101/NEWS03/111101014/Report-Vermont-could-cut-1-8B-off-10B-health-bill-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[dkf]

1. Nice!

[Firebrand Gary]

2. WTF? 18 Billion from little Vermont?

Our government is not controlled by the people. Face palm, this makes me sick.

[garybeck]

3. oops sorry. decimal point missing. still a lot at 1.8B.

[Firebrand Gary]

4. That is still massive! Using the same math I applied it to California

Vermont population 625,000 at 1.8 Billion in savings I got 2880 per person. California @ 2880 person x 30 Million people is 86.4 Billion in savings for California. Nationally that would be 864 Billion in savings.

Edited for math, lol.

[Festivito]

5. They were paying $7200 per capita. The national average was $7500 as I recall.

So, they're talking 13-15 thousand dollars per capita, are we going to be talking 14-16 thousand dollars per capita!

Yikes.

Canada does it for 3.5-thousand American dollars per year per capita.
UK does it for less than 3 thousand, and that keeps Stephen Hawking and Madonna happy.

Yikes.