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Health Care For AllVPIRG believes all Vermonters deserve access to quality health care at a cost they can afford. Vermont is a national leader in health care. However, our current system is just the first step on the path towards quality, affordable health care. We've led the nation on health care reform before by creating programs like Dr. Dynasaur. Now it's time to continue that work by making health care affordable for all Vermonters. VPIRG Leads National Health Care Reform Coalition Efforts In Vermont Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is being launched by 95 national and local groups that represent labor, community organizations, doctors, nurses, women, small businesses, faith-based organizations, people of color, netroots activists, and think tanks. Health Care for America Now is organizing to assure that the first order of business of the next President and Congress is to pass legislation in 2009 that guarantees quality, affordable health care for all. The campaign is spending an initial $1.5 million on national television, print, and online advertising and is sending out an email blast to more than 5 million people. Over the next five months, Health Care for America Now plans to spend $25 million in paid media and have 100 organizers in 45 states. Health Care for America Now offers a bold new vision for health care reform: Americans can keep the private insurance they have, join a new private insurance plan, or choose a public health insurance plan. The campaign also calls for a government role in setting and enforcing rules on the insurance industry which consistently charges whatever it wants, sets high deductibles, denies coverage based on pre-existing conditions, and drops coverage when people get sick. Read the full press release by clicking here. Join us in taking action to change the way we treat the ill in America by clicking here. Read Times-Argus coverage of the story here.
Overview
With the passage of the Catamount Health Plan, Vermont now leads the nation in controlling the cost of health care. Catamount will lower the cost of health care for all Vermonters by covering our uninsured. But Catamount is only a first step. We must continue controlling the cost of health care by allowing those paying too much for Consider the following: With premiums ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 or more, part-time workers, the self-employed, farmers, and small businesses simply don't have the money to maintain coverage. VPIRG is Working to Reign in the Cost of Health CareVermont is a national leader in health care, but we haven't reached the finish line yet. Our current system is but one step on the path towards quality, affordable health care for all Vermonters. The expansion of Catamount to new groups such as farmers, small businesses, and self-employed will cut costs even further and help our economy grow. We've led the nation on health care reform before by creating programs like Dr. Dynasaur. Now it's tie to continue the work of making health care affordable for all Vermonters by: Drug Lobby: Profit over Research.One of the leading reasons health care costs are rising is the cost of prescription drugs. Vermonters pay a higher price per pill on average than the rest of the country. And the cost of prescriptions is rising at a rate three times faster than inflation.
Sadly, R&D is actually a much lower priority for drug companies than they suggest. The government funds a substantial portion of the research and development required to produce any given medicine. Furthermore, the pharmaceutical companies are averaging some of the greatest growth of any industry with profits sometime more than quadrupling in a single year. In fact recent evidence, brought to light by the former Editor-In-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that major drug companies spend twice as much on marketing and administration than they do on R&D.
Take Action Now!We all need to work together to make affordable health care for all a reality. Every voice counts and you can make a difference: Be part of the solution: Write a Letter to the Editor: Host or attend a local lobby meeting: Attend a lobby day at the Vermont State House: |
Joining a new coalition with nearly 100 other organizations nationwide, VPIRG announced it would be taking the lead in organizing efforts for dramatic health care reform here in Vermont. 
Check out VPIRG's newest report
, entitled 
too little health insurance the ability to buy into a better system at a fair price. 
Health care spending in Vermont totals more than $2.8 billion every year, or more than $4,500 per Vermonter. 
The pharmaceutical industry claims that its high prices are justified by the amount of money they spend in researching and developing new medications. However, that just doesn't make sense when Vermonters could easily cross the border and buy drugs at a cost three times cheaper than they are here in America.