Vermont Health Insurance

How healthy is living
in Vermont?

Vermont is #1: it's the nation's healthiest state according to the 2012 America's Health Rankings® by the United Health Foundation.

The good news:

• Vermont has a low uninsured rate and a high level of public health funding.
• Nearly nine in ten students completes high school in four years.

The bad news:

• Vermont ranks below the mid-point for binge drinking (27th) and cancer deaths (28th).
• The infant mortality rate jumped by 12 percent from 2011 to 2012, rising from 4.8 to 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Vermont's best and worst category rankings:

• Infectious Disease – 1st
• Geographic Disparity – 1st
• High School Graduation Rate – 2nd
• Low Birth Weight – 2nd
• Premature Death – 2nd
• Cancer Deaths – 28th

more details

• See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Vermont.
• Trust for America's Health ia another source for key Vermont health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts Vermont here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for Vermont, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

Does Vermont have a health insurance high risk pool?

Vermont does not have a state risk pool. The state has guaranteed-issue meaning all citizens will be accepted at the same premium regardless of their health. Thus New Yorkers are lucky to have access to health insurance that is much better than a risk pool (which almost always charges a higher-than-the-going-rate because it is made up of uninsurable people).

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, Vermont started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about Vermont's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

Non-profit sources of health insurance information for Vermont

• The Foundation for Health Coverage Education's mission is to provide simplified public and private health insurance eligibility information in order to help more people access coverage. Here is its guide on how to find health insurance in Vermont.
• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is tracking the progress of health insurance reform in each state. Its page for Vermont can be found here.
• The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers. Search for Vermont health insurance plan report cards.

Vermont state government health insurance resources

Vermont’s health care reform —  The place to go to find out how America’s most progressive state is implementing health care reform, both the Affordable Care Act and its own single-payer health care initiative.

Department for Children & Families, health insurance programs —  The State of Vermont offers free and low-cost health care programs under the umbrella of Green Mountain Care.

Filing a complaint —  The Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration’s Consumer Services section — help for consumers who would like to file  a complaint about an insurance company.

How did Vermont officials vote on health reform?

H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14

Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting

HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]

Our
Pick

No (1)

• Peter Welch