VERMONT CHAMBER ACTION NETWORK ALERT

  Vermont Senate to Act on Mandatory Health Exchanges

As early as Friday, the Senate Finance Committee will be voting on H.559; the bill regarding the Vermont Health Insurance Exchange as passed by the House of Representatives. H.559 currently requires all individuals and small businesses under 50 employees to purchase their health insurance only through the Exchange.

Moving the entire small group market and individuals to one Exchange in the next 18 months is a huge undertaking. Vermont is the only state that is proposing to make this mandatory instead of allowing this as a choice for small businesses. The Administration predicts that businesses that currently purchase insurance through an association plan like VACE insurance will see an estimated 18.4% increase in premiums before medical inflation. Mandating participation in an untested system without knowing the benefits of the plans to be offered or the costs of those plans could cause a major disruption for many employers.

Please contact members of the Senate Finance Committee members today. They are making decisions that will affect you and your employees!

Why the Exchange should be voluntary:

• Consumer and employer should have choices to ensure insurance options are available in the event that state health care exchanges do not prove viable.
• The market outside of the Exchange will promote competition and choice; provide access to broader plan designs and options, and permit innovation to occur.
• No other state has completely eliminated the marketplace outside of the Exchange in the manner proposed by the House bill.
• Congress allows states to have insurance markets outside the exchange.
• We don't know the cost or how the system will function or if it will be sustainable.

And it just makes sense to leave the existing system in place until the new system is operating smoothly with plans that employers want at prices they can afford.

The bill does NOT clearly address what the insurance plan offerings are, the estimated cost of the plans, or the cost or the financing of the system.

Please contact the following Senators and tell them that, "any Exchange created should be voluntary!"

Senate Finance Committee

Senator Ann Cummings, Chair, acummings@leg.state.vt.us, (802) 223-6043
Senator Mark A. MacDonald, mmacdonald@leg.state.vt.us, (802) 433-5867
Senator Sally Fox, sfox@leg.state.vt.us, (802) 860-6428
Senator Tim Ashe, timashe@burlingtontelecom.net, (802) 318-0903
Senator Randy Brock, rbrock@leg.state.vt.us, (802) 868-2300
Senator Dick McCormack, rmccormack@leg.state.vt.us, (802) 234-5497
Senator Richard Westman, rawestman@gmail.com, (802) 644-2297

Complete list of State Senators by district

Fax messages can be sent to: 802-828-2424 (include Legislator's name). 
Phone messages can be left at State House with the Sergeant at Arms: 828-2228, ask your Legislator to call you back.