Office of Medical Communications

Stephen Leffler, M.D.’90, president and chief operating officer of the UVM Medical Center and professor of emergency medicine at the Larner College of Medicine

(AUGUST 28, 2024) Stephen Leffler, M.D.’90, president and chief operating officer of the UVM Medical Center and professor of emergency medicine at the Larner College of Medicine, was quoted by the (West Lebanon, New Hampshire) Valley News in an article on Vermont’s ever-escalating health insurance prices.

Health insurance prices in Vermont are high—and getting higher. Average premium prices for individual marketplace plans in Vermont are among the highest in the country, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, costing more than double the national average, even when federal subsidies are accounted for.

And as Vermont’s population ages, residents have presented with more complex and serious medical needs, requiring more frequent and more expensive care.

“We need more younger Vermonters who need less health care, are not on meds, don’t have chronic illnesses,” Leffler said this spring in a meeting with health care administrators and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. “We’re seeing and feeling that every day.”

Even worse news could be on the horizon. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government expanded eligibility for subsidies for premiums, allowing people with higher incomes to access federal money to pay for marketplace plans. But, without action from Congress, those expanded subsidies are due to expire at the end of 2025.

This story was also featured in VT Digger.