Rick Hildebrant: Green Mountain Care Board fail
It has become increasingly clear the Green Mountain Care Board has failed to fulfill its mission to drive system-wide improvements in access, affordability and quality of health care in Vermont. If we do not take swift and decisive action to dismantle the GMCB and establish a more effective alternative, we risk the financial collapse of health care in our state.
Created in 2011 under Act 48, GMCB was an ambitious effort to control rising health care costs in Vermont. With broad regulatory authority over hospital budgets and insurance rates, it was hoped the Board would help position Vermont to care for its aging population. The idea was bold, but the experiment has failed.
Later in the year, the GMCB approved Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont’s request to raise premiums by 22.8% for small groups and 19.8% for individuals. This change was due to a report by BCBSVT, which indicated a $47 million decline in its reserve fund over the past two years and the risk of insolvency without drastic measures. In the 13 years since the creation of GMCB, Vermont has become the state with the highest insurance premiums in the country, with insurers hemorrhaging money with fear of insolvency and hospitals with negative margins facing bankruptcy.
This crisis reminds me of a lesson from a population health conference I attended years ago: When trying novel approaches, be bold and innovative — but if the strategy isn’t working, fail fast.