Health care is a right
Toolbox
Published: April 23, 2009
As a Selectman in Moretown, I would like to bring folks up to speed on a big issue that is affecting all of us: health care. In Moretown, we cover 100 percent of the health-care premiums for our full-time town employees. I am proud of this fact, and I believe that it is the right thing for an employer to do. After all, I for one know how hard our road crew works, and would not be able to face myself if I knew they were not taken care of if and when they got sick. I trust most of you folks would agree.
That said, this last year Moretown was facing a 60 percent increase in our health care costs if we stayed with Cigna. Therefore we switched providers to Blue Cross, and are now only dealing with a 25 percent increase. Still, a 25 percent jump in one year is highway robbery! The fact is our current health care system is geared toward making record profits for insurance providers, while average working people are increasingly forced to go without, or to pay exponentially higher premiums. This is both unacceptable and immoral.
This May 1, at noon, thousands of Vermonters will be converging on the Statehouse in Montpelier to say, "Health Care is a Human Right." This historic rally will be aimed at establishing a Vermont- based public health care system whereby we are all covered and all have the same quality, affordable insurance that folks like our governor already enjoy.
In addition to the rally, the Vermont Workers' Center is asking people to "call in sick" and for small owned businesses to voluntarily close down for the day. The Vermont AFL-CIO is calling on its 10,000 members to "use a personal day" and to converge on Montpelier on May 1. All that said, I hope to see you there.
David Van Deusen
Moretown
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