Vermont for Single Payer

06/20/2026

Healthcare "Executive compensation continues to rise"
https://www.healthcare-brew.com/stories/executive-compensation-rise-healthcare-costs?fbclid=IwY2xjawSjl61leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeMvqS6PdowSsmz3dgWDKujpYq7WKUINM7O_VaZ2qdVq55Hecez9BoaxXCpMM_aem_UGTgaF1eI08sA-gcvkBbPw

06/20/2026

Healthcare is Eating Up School Budgets
https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-02-28/school-reform-talks-dominate-montpelier-many-ask-what-about-healthcare
“In 2018, health benefits made up less than 10% of school budgets, according to the Vermont School Boards Association. Now, it’s approximately 15%. At this pace, a fifth of Vermont’s education spending could be consumed by health costs in just a few short years, the association warned lawmakers in a January memo.”

Education officials argue that without intervention, health costs will only continue to cannibalize ever-larger shares of local school budgets — no matter what cost-containment measures Montpelier decides to impose on districts.

06/20/2026

06/19/2026

Major Medicare Advantage insurers appear to deny care for profit, federal watchdog finds
https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/medicare-advantage-prior-authorization-denials-hhs-oig-post-acute-care/822724/
“On Thursday, the HHS Office of the Inspector General published a pair of reports finding high rates of denials for post-acute care, with the largest MA insurers — UnitedHealth, Humana and CVS — refusing preapproval requests at a significantly higher rate than their smaller peers.
“Many of the denials were overturned on appeal, suggesting the requests for care should have been approved in the first place, the watchdog said.
“Improper claims denials are a massive problem, especially as MA continues to grow, experts say. Currently, about 51% of all Medicare beneficiaries are in the program, and that share is expected to grow to 56% over the next decade, according to government projections.
“A swelling population paired with high denial rates shakes out to tens of millions of American seniors facing barriers to care they’re likely entitled to receive.
“Still, insurance groups clapped back against the research, calling it skewed, outdated and incomplete.”

MA insurers commonly deny requests for post-acute care — but none more frequently than UnitedHealth, Humana and CVS, the HHS OIG said. Insurers were not happy about the findings.

06/18/2026

https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/coverage-denials-tied-medical-debt-among-privately-insured-adults
“Among privately insured adults, 21% said they or a family member had experienced a coverage denial for care recommended by a doctor in the past year. Thirteen percent reported a prior authorization denial, 8% reported a claim denial, and 1% reported both types of denials.
…
“The financial consequences were especially pronounced for patients who experienced claim denials. Nearly 70% of people who had a claim denial said it cost them or their household more money, and 43% said the denial led to medical debt they are still paying off. More than half said the original denied bill was $1,000 or more.”

Survey finds one in five working-age adults with private insurance say they or a family member have experienced coverage denials for doctor-recommended care in the past year.

06/17/2026

https://lowninstitute.org/i-want-a-proposal-that-delivers-true-freedom-policy-experts-debate-affordability-solutions-at-lown26/
Affordability in healthcare, moderated by Erin C. Fuse Brown, with a panel of:
• Michael F. Cannon, Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute
• Adam Gaffney, Past-President of PNHP
• Hayden Rooke-Ley, Brown University School of Public Health
• Avik Roy, Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity
The first 25 minutes presents the major proposals for each of the panelists.

Watch the video recording of the LOWN26 kickoff panel, "Competing policy ideas for affordability and the search for common ground."

06/17/2026

https://jarrardinc.com/jarrard-insights/quick-think/2025/02/the-state-of-play-reversing-the-trust-decline/
“…our latest survey from Jarrard Market Research & Insights finds steady erosion in Americans’ trust that hospitals and payers care more about taking care of patients than making money. For hospitals, the figure is down 50+ points since 2021. And the number of people who believe payers put patients over profits stands at a bare 16 percent.”

January’s survey shows that local organizations, nurses and doctors are in prime positions to fill the significant cracks in the system that have spread over the past five years.