Senate panel looking at complex nature of health care costs

Wednesday February CLASSIFIEDS Jobs in Vermont Real Estate Rent Real Estate Sale Autos Place an Ad SHOPPING NEWS HOME Search Archives More Top News Local Regional Legislature Sports High School Sports Forums Obituaries Business Calendar Submit an Event Weather FEATURES Talk of the Town InViTe Food shingles sent people to emergency rooms in the state last year and Vermont is only budgeted to spend half of what the federal government recommends on smoking control next year. But between the bad news from state officials and health advocates who testified before the Senate Health and Welfare Committee Tuesday were some clear ways to cut health care costs although almost all of those options cost upfront money and don t pay off for several more years. Sen. Doug Racine D Chittenden the chairman of the health care committee said he called the hearings to determine where best to put state funds toward health prevention and education efforts to cut costs across the system. But even h! e gave a stark analysis of the system both nationally and in Vermont as he kicked off the hearing. There is a serious concern that our health care system is not sustainable he said. When costs continue to escalate at double digit rates and wages don t keep pace we will eventually see the system fall apart. Vermont spends about . billion annually on health care according to Department of Health Commissioner Sharon Moffatt with about percent of that spent on people with chronic conditions. Nationally one third of all health care costs are linked to diseases associated with obesity she added a trend that costs Vermont about million annually. Vermont is one of the healthiest states she said. But with more than percent of Vermonters overweight we still have a ways to go. The state s successful health prevention efforts are small but real. Moffatt pointed to the healthy living classes under the state s Blueprint for Health. The six week course teaches people with chronic diseases! to set personal health goals and the effort has cut in half emergency room visits from people who have finished the course she explained. Educating Vermonters on the need for regular checkups and tests to catch diseases such as diabetes or cancer earlier when treatment is easier and less expensive will help curb long term costs Moffatt continued. But she also focused on what she called the three real causes of death in Vermont tobacco lack of physical activity or nutrition and substance abuse. Much of the state s Medicaid budget is consumed by a small number of older Vermonters with serious health issues but that overall elderly population is trending upward in the state with the state s senior citizen population expected to increase by percent in the next two decades according to Joan Senecal commissioner of the Vermont Department of Disabilities Aging and Independent Living. Simple efforts such as educating senior citizens about the importance of a good diet or engaging them in regular strength training can mean the difference between a per! son being in a wheelchair or walking by themselves with a cane she told the committee. It s not the aging itself that is causing all these health problems Senecal said. What we are seeing instead are older Vermonters who are not practicing healthy lifestyles. Meanwhile members of the Vermont Tobacco Evaluation and Review Board urged lawmakers to continue its smoking cessation efforts. Tobacco Board chairman Dr. Theodore Marcy testified by telephone Tuesday because he was needed at the Burlington hospital to drain fluid from the chest of a lung cancer patient. I know this is a challenging year for the budget but we wouldn t be doing our jobs if we didn t recommend program changes said Marcy who was highly critical of Gov. James Douglas proposal to level fund the cessation program next year. He pointed to California as the leading example of a state controlling health care costs through reduced smoking. Efforts undertaken there in the late s have saved the state an estimated ! billion in health care costs in the s Marcy said. Vermont has also been successful in this area he added such as now having fewer people smoking than there were just seven years ago. We are probably spending million to million less in Medicaid payments this year than we would had these people not quit he said. Toward the end of Moffatt s testimony Tuesday Racine posed a hypothetical question to her What would you do if you had another million dollars Without missing a beat Moffatt said what she does not need is more staff or programs at the state level. W hat she would spend the money on is outreach across the state she said suggesting resources could be spent on building walking trails in communities or building safe routes to local schools. But she added resources would be needed all over because there are Vermont children who are not exercising as much because their family can t afford sneakers or the sports uniform to get them on the local school sports team. I don t want another person. I don t want another program she said. I want to rea! ch more Vermonters. Contact Daniel Barlow at daniel.barlowrutlandherald.com . Discuss this article Topics Replies Author Last Post No messages

Source: http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080206/NEWS02/802060356/1003/NEWS02


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