INTRO: A good manager routinely sets a goal and then analyzes which alternative best meets that goal. Commentator Rick Hubbard thinks our Vermont political leaders should use this approach to improve delivery of our health care.

COMMENTATOR

Most of us would agree that the overall goal of health policy in Vermont should be to deliver quality health care to all Vermonters at the least cost.

Although little discussed to date, there are now at least two ways to reach that goal.

Currently, Vermont spends two point two billion dollars a year on health care. Our present competitive health insurance approach leaves over fifty thousand Vermonters without any insurance, ninety thousand more without adequate insurance, and leaves our government paying when low income Vermonters cannot afford insurance. Moreover, current administrative costs are astronomical. Over the last 30 years, the number of health administrators have increased nationally by almost 2,500 percent, the bulk of this over just the last decade of managed care.   By comparison, the number of doctors and nurses increased by only 160 percent.

Recently, our legislature commissioned a major study of health care in Vermont by the Lewin Group, a nationally respected consulting company. It concluded that channeling the same two point two billion dollars through a single money collecting and bill paying system is much more efficient. With this approach, every one of us would receive quality health care, privately provided by doctors, while still saving over $100 million dollars. In addition to dramatically increasing health care, these annual savings are the equivalent of almost five hundred dollars for every family in Vermont, a benefit for everyone, whether moderate, liberal or conservative.

This study provides us with a wonderful opportunity to debate whether our present competitive insurance approach or the more efficient alternative recommended by the Lewin Group, or still some other alternative, best meets the goal of delivering quality health care to all Vermonters at the least cost. Continue reading →

Vermont Public Radio Commentary 

INTRO: Commentator Rick Hubbard thinks Vermont voters lose something important when candidates refuse public financing.

In the 2000 election cycle, gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina qualified for public financing by raising funds from what was at the time, the largest number of individual contributors to a single political candidate in the entire history of the state of Vermont!  That totaled about thirty-eight thousand dollars in amounts of less than fifty dollars each from more than sixteen hundred Vermonters.

Governor Dean raised the bar further by qualifying for public financing with small contributions that totaled about sixty-two-thousand dollars from more than twenty-two-hundred Vermonters.  But Dean decided to forego public financing and went on to run a million dollar campaign, more than six-hundred-thousand dollars of which were contributed by just one-hundred and thirteen out of state contributors. Dean’s Vermont contributors outnumbered out-of-staters twenty to one, yet out-of-staters provided four and a half times more money.

Money from a wealthy few influences the election process. With more money, candidates can buy bigger megaphones to amplify their voices and drown out those of less-well-funded candidates. This discourages many good candidates who lack either the money or wealthy contacts. That gives us fewer choices. Continue reading →

Vermont Public Radio Commentary

Announcer: Recently commentator Rick Hubbard had knee surgery. His doctor suggested walking as therapy and since early September, he’s been walking about Vermont, taking his own informal opinion poll.

Whenever I take a break from my walking, which is pretty often, I try to talk to those around me. As you might expect, since September 11^th, the main topic of conversation has been “How can we bring those responsible to justice and most effectively reduce the threat of future terrorist attacks?”

I’ve spoken with a lot of people. 4 older hikers who’d gotten off the Long Trail at Cuttingsville to hear more of the news over dinner at a local restaurant, storekeepers in Peru and Mt Holly, a salvage dealer from Chester, a waitress and a shopkeeper from Ludlow. People in Landgrove, Londonderry, Windham.

On the afternoon of the attack, a Shrewsbury land planner had just given me permission to camp overnight in her pasture. As we stood outside on a brilliant fall day, she worried that it would be a mistake to feed the cycle of violence with an overly aggressive or too broad response.

Later the next day in Proctor, I sipped tea on a sunny front porch with a retired minister. He passionately argued that many of our international policies have been too self-centered and thus perceived as unfair by many throughout the world. This must change he stated, to effectively reduce future terrorism. Continue reading →

Vermont Public Radio Commentary 

Announcer:

“Today is the 4th of July when we celebrate America’s Declaration of Independence, and commentator Rick Hubbard is thinking about 91 year old Doris Haddock, a neighbor in Dublin, New Hampshire.”

You may remember Doris as Granny D, the great grandmother who, in her 90th year, walked over 3000 miles, coast to coast, to promote campaign finance reform.

A year ago on February 28th, Granny D reached the steps of Congress where she  presented petitions from thousands of Americans calling for comprehensive reform of the way we finance our political process. A few months later, on April 21, Granny D again mounted those steps and made her way into the Capitol’s rotunda.

There she began speaking about The First Amendment to our Constitution which says Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble to petition the Government for a redress of grievances which is just what she and 31 others accompanying her were doing. Continue reading →

VPR COMMENTARY

Aired February 12, 2001

INTRO: Rick Hubbard is concerned about recent proposals to empty Vermont’s campaign finance fund.

Have you heard about the current proposal to take all the money out of Vermont’s campaign finance fund? Some of our politicians want to use up to $1.2 million to meet other recession-era budget needs.

But without public financing, we’ll be right back where we started on campaign finance reform, with 96% of us not contributing a dime to any candidate or political party and with the vast bulk of the campaign cash coming from less than 3/10ths of 1% of us.

And lately, we’ve been getting an earful from Washington about what that represents. How many more Enron scandals do we want? Enron played the game the way most big corporations play it today. Spread lots of campaign cash around. Get much better access so you get your lobbyists in the door to help rewrite legislation, cut new tax breaks and generally have an edge to turn things your way. Enron was so effective at it that in spite of up to one hundred billion dollars in revenues, it avoided paying any taxes in 4 of the last 5 years. Enron, like many big corporations, even got millions more in tax rebates. Wouldn’t we all like that kind of access and influence? Continue reading →