Vermont hospitals submitted requests for budget increases this year that are much closer to the rate of inflation than they had been in the years before the Green Mountain Care Board had a role in controlling the cost of health care. But the chair of that board saysthe work is only partially done, and Vermont's health care system will be unsustainable if the state doesn't dismantle the fee-for-service payment model.
"If we continue to chase volume in health care, with the demographics of our state becoming more aged, we will never, never, get to a trend that we can live with,” says our guest Al Gobeille, the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board. He joins us to discuss where Vermont has made progress in bringing health care spending under control, and what big issues still need to be addressed. Among those topics? Preventative care to bring down costs, over-utilization of intensive health services, and the Medicaid and Medicare cost-shift.
Also in the program, Seven Days reporter Terri Hallenbeck updates us on the mad dash of candidates interested in Vermont's open governor's seat. Among the names being mentioned is Transportation Secretary Sue Minter. Minter will decide in September whether to run for governor, lieutenant governor, or neither office.
Broadcast live on Fri., Aug. 7, 2015 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
