Sanders, Lyons decry health insurance costs
Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was getting ready to hop on a plane Monday morning, but first made a pit stop at the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport to discuss Vermont’s health care system with other state leaders.
The alarm bell has been ringing across the state for years, but now state leaders are in a crunch to remedy the situation, especially as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont asks state regulators for another year of double-digit premium rate increases, a pattern that has been consistent over the last three years.
In a filing to the Green Mountain Care Board last week, Vermont’s largest insurer is seeking to raise the cost of its premiums by an average of 23.3 percent for individual plans and 13.7 percent for small group plans next year.
“I’m not sure how anybody is going to be able to afford that,” Sanders said Monday.
Over the last four years, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont has lost over $150 million, and are arguably on the brink of financial collapse. According to data from the insurer presented to lawmakers earlier this month, the company ended 2024 in the red by nearly $62 million.
While the board has the ultimate say in those premium hikes, regulators say they have little choice but to approve them.
“If the Green Mountain Care Board doesn’t give the premium increases that the insurance carriers expect that they need to cover the healthcare costs, they will bail out of the market,” board member Jessica Holmes told lawmakers in April. “They do not have to participate in the quality health plan market. And the quality health plan market will collapse,” leaving tens of thousands of Vermonters without access to health insurance.
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