Even Vermonters with insurance are worried

Published: Wednesday, October 26, 2005

By Nancy Remsen

Free Press Staff Writer





MONTPELIER -- While Vermonters enjoy one of the highest rates of health insurance coverage in the nation -- 88 percent -- a newly released poll suggests many people with insurance worry how they will pay for increasingly expensive coverage and medical care in the future.



That future is now for Hans and Susan Ohanian of Charlotte. The two freelance writers spend almost $4,000 a year for health insurance policies that require each of them to pay $10,000 out of pocket before their coverage begins.



"You have to think long and hard before going to the doctor," Susan Ohanian said. "My husband is supposed to have open heart surgery," she added. "We are holding off until he is 65, about a year from now." That's when his hospital care will be covered by the federal government's Medicare program.



Two-thirds of the 1,000 Vermonters surveyed in June for the Vermont chapter of the AARP said they strongly agreed everyone in the state should have access to the same basic medical coverage. The poll didn't define what that basic coverage would include.



Just more than half the respondents also strongly endorsed the concept that everyone -- employers, employees and the government -- should help pay for a system of basic coverage.



The poll suggests the public has high expectations for the Legislature, controlled by Democrats, and the Republican Douglas administration as they prepare health reform proposals for this winter's legislative session, said Greg Marchildon, state director of AARP Vermont. The poll showed a majority of voters would hold policy-makers accountable in the next election, he said.



Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they would favor future candidates who support a system that provides all Vermonters with basic health insurance.



"People are paying closer attention to this than they were a year ago," Marchildon said. "They are really interested in seeing the job get done."



National polls taken over the last 50 years show that the public strongly supports providing everyone with access to medical care, according to Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy at Harvard School of Public Health. "What you have is a deep commitment to the principle that people should be able to get the care they need."



Repeatedly, however, public support for universal access to health care eroded when people considered the personal trade-offs they would have to accept to change the current system, such as increased cost or waiting lists for care, Blendon said.



Marchildon admitted the AARP poll didn't answer the question of whether Vermonters could get by this long-standing stumbling block to health reform. "I think the survey indicates they are willing to be part of the financing," he said, "but they want to see what that means."



John Luehrs, AARP's national coordinator for health and long-term care, joined Marchildon on Tuesday to release the poll results. He suggested the health reform debate was shifting from being only about how to help the uninsured to how to fix the system to help everyone.



"People who are insured are scared," Luehrs said. "I think the drive for health-care reform will have its impetus from those who are insured but scared."



AARP Vermont has launched a campaign to help its members, age 50 and older, and the younger public, become involved in the debate. The first step was a mass mailing to 41,000 households to recruit "health care activists."



"Our role here is to serve as a catalyst and a reminder to the governor and the Legislature that working together is the only way to get this done," Marchildon said. "We are watching. We are watching closely."



Gov. Jim Douglas had yet to see the AARP poll data, but said he wasn't surprised it showed Vermonters with insurance worried about the cost of coverage. "Premiums have been rising so much." He noted his strategy has always been to try to lower costs for those without insurance and those with coverage.



Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington of Jericho was briefed about the survey. She said the results confirmed some principles that should guide policy-makers this winter: that everyone should have access to basic health coverage and everyone should contribute.



The poll leaves open how to achieve these principles, Symington said. "I don't take away from this any recipe for change," she said of the poll, adding, "I wouldn't underestimate the amount of work left to policy-makers in order to make progress."

Contact Nancy Remsen at 229-9141 or nremsen@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com

AARP poll AARP Vermont polled 1,000 Vermonters to determine their health care preferences. Among the responses were: Despite a low rate of uninsured, the poll showed many Vermonters with insurance have worries about the state of health care in Vermont:

8 percent see a crisis

40 percent see major problems

37 percent see minor problems

6 percent see no problems

8 percent didn't know

1 percent refused to answer Should all Vermonters have access to the same basic health care coverage?:

66 percent strongly agreed

20 percent somewhat agreed

3 percent neutral

5 percent somewhat disagreed

4 percent strongly disagreed

1 percent didn't know Should everyone -- employers, employees and the government -- contribute to basic health care coverage?:

52 percent strongly agreed

24 percent somewhat agreed

3 percent neutral

9 percent disagreed

7 percent strongly disagreed

3 percent didn't know

1 percent refused to answer

Regarding the likelihood of voting for a candidate who suppports a system giving basic coverage to all Vermonters:

59 percent more likely to favor such a candidate

26 percent said it wouldn't make a difference

8 percent less likely

6 percent didn't know

1 percent refused to answer To see the full report go to: http://www.aarp.org/research/health/privinsurance/vt_coverage.html