In addition to election politics, the governor this week found himself defending the potential of a single-payer health care system to fellow Democrat, Senator John Campbell. The administration was also urging Vermonters to sign up for Vermont Health Connect ahead of the Monday enrollment deadline.
In North Adams, Massachusetts, the community was unsettled by an announcement that its hospital would shut its doors immediately. Vermont first responders weighed the benefits of carrying an drug overdose kit with them. Immigrants and farmers worked together to create a market for goat meat in Vermont.
And people around the world remembered the work of journalist Matthew Power of Cornwall, who died on assignment in Uganda.
These were some of the voices in the news this week:
Shumlin: 'Don't Quit' On Single Payer Before Work Begins
(Sen. John Campbell) “That may not be something that would be politically viable in this legislative body due to the cost involved,” said Campbell. “I want to make sure that we have a place to go if this doesn’t work out, this single payer itself.”
(Gov. Peter Shumlin) “What I would argue strongly is don’t quit before we start. Don’t quit before we start!”
Key Health Insurance Deadline Approaching
(DVHA Commissioner Mark Larson) “Many will qualify for financial help which is making coverage more affordable for many who are signing up. And so we welcome them to sign up on line, by phone, or with an assister.”
Mass. Gov. Patrick Hopes North Adams Hospital Stays Open
(North Adams Mayor Richard Alcombright) “As of Friday, we have no care services here. None. It’s gone, everything’s gone. Can we do something, even minimally, to keep our Emergency Room open?”
Overdose Recovery Drug Becomes More Widely Available
(Mike Leyden, Vermont Department of Health) “A patient that dies from an overdose never makes to recovery. Right? They never get across that bridge of treatment into recovery.”
Goat Local? Meat For Refugees, And The Rest Of Us
(Karen Freudenberger, project manager at Pine Island Farm) "We found that 3,000 goats are being imported to Vermont as frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand every year. And that seemed, on one hand, a travesty in a state that's trying to maintain its working landscape, but on the other hand a huge opportunity."
Remembering Vt. Journalist Matthew Power
(Friend and colleague Richard Hodge) "What made him so gifted, and such a wonderful writer, was that he was never preachy, he was never hectoring... he didn't tell you what to think."
