PHIL SCOTT ATTACKS RETIREE HEALTH CARE WITH PRIVATIZATION PLAN
Montpelier, VT – Among the many declarations Governor Phil Scott gave in his recent annual budget address, one of the more harmful is his Medicare Advantage plan. Scott claims that private Medicare Advantage plans would be a “win” for retirees, ignoring the fact that these plans make their money by denying health care coverage to their customers.
“Phil Scott’s privatization plan is a direct attack on state workers and Vermont seniors,” said VDP Executive Director Jim Dandeneau. “If he cared about either of these groups, he would not have proposed this plan, and would make more of an effort to work with Democrats to improve our healthcare system. He’s still got time to walk his plan back and do what’s best for Vermonters.”
Democratic lawmakers have vowed to block this proposal, doing everything they can to protect senior citizens in Vermont from mistreatment of private insurance. Governor Scott might be fine toying with the health and security of our senior citizens, but our Democratic majority is not. They stand with various public employee unions who also have stated their dislike for this proposal and have made clear their intention to fight it.
"Shifting the decision-making power to the private insurance industry, without support of state retirees, undermines the decades of protections that state retirees have enjoyed as a result of the state employees’ collectively bargained contract,” said President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth and Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski in a joint statement. “State retirees have dedicated years of service to the State of Vermont and they deserve the assurance that the healthcare benefits they were promised will be protected.”
It has never been more important to pay attention to the plans Governor Scott and his administration put forward. Scott might claim to be a moderate, but the agenda he is pushing is more Republican than he wants you to believe. We are living in unprecedented times, and it is critical to stand up against extremism in any form, including dangerous health care schemes put forward as “reforms.”
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