Sue Minter Would Expand Unaffordable & Mismanaged Vermont Health Exchange

Last year, it was revealed Sue Minter and her mentor Peter Shumlin spent nearly $200 million to create Vermont Health Connect – a healthcare exchange system originally designed to reduce costs that total more than $5 billion a year and accounts for 20 percent of Vermont’s economy.

Instead, Vermont Health Connect became a dysfunctional system that has wasted money and increased costs. The system has overspent and underperformed, costing taxpayers millions, and added to Vermont’s unaffordability crisis. Sue Minter says she wants to keep Vermont Health Connect, despite its unaffordability and mismanagement. Minter proclaims she wants to reform the exchange in her new TV ad, but even though she was a part of its creation, she still refuses to take responsibility for its failures.

Now, after millions has been spent, a new report shows Minter and Shumlin did not properly allocate millions of federal dollars when the health exchange was established, further adding to its poor reputation as extremely mismanaged.

Vermont can’t afford two more years of mismanagement by Sue Minter and her mentor Peter Shumlin.

“Vermont did not properly allocate millions of dollars in federal grants when establishing its marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act, a report released Tuesday by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said. Vermont’s Agency of Human Services did not always follow federal requirements for allocating costs to establishment grants to establish its marketplace or for drawing down establishment grant funds, the report says.”(Mary Ellen McIntire, “Vermont Improperly Allocated Federal Funds For Marketplace,” Morning Consult, 9/27/16)

Background:

Vermont Health Connect Is A Dysfunctional System. “The dysfunctional Vermont Health Connect website has burned up some of the Shumlin administration’s political capital and could jeopardize millions in ongoing federal funding for health care in Vermont.” (Morgan True, “Special Report: What Went Wrong With The State’s Health Exchange And Why,” Vermont Digger, 3/21/2014)

Unexpected Costs Continue To Plague Vermont Health Connect. “Unexpected costs have riddled the program, making it difficult to know exactly how much has been spent. In only its second year of operation in 2014, Vermont had to seek additional federal funding, blowing through the original $171 million allocated for the program.” (Emma Lamberton, “New Study, Old Problems For Vermont Health Connect,” Watchdog.org, 9/19/16)

Vermont Health Connect Has Underperformed, Costing Taxpayers Millions.“Vendors have consistently overspent and underperformed, costing taxpayers millions of dollars.” (Emma Lamberton, “New Study, Old Problems For Vermont Health Connect,” Watchdog.org, 9/19/16)

Sue Minter Wants To Keep Vermont Health Connect. “Minter said she wanted to fix the current website. She pushed back on Scott’s desire to move away from Vermont Health Connect and worried that 19,000 Vermonters would lose subsidies. Scott said 30 states don’t have their own exchanges and said the state could provide subsidies directly.” (Mark Johnson, “At Forum, Scott and Minter Debate Future of Vermont Health Connect,” Vermont Digger, 9/24/16)

Vermont Improperly Allocated Federal Funds For Marketplace. “Vermont did not properly allocate millions of dollars in federal grants when establishing its marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act, a report released Tuesday by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said.” (Mary Ellen McIntire, “Vermont Improperly Allocated Federal Funds For Marketplace,” Morning Consult, 9/27/16)

Vermont Health Connect Was So Dysfunctional, Peter Shumlin Was Forced To Abandon His Plan For Single-Payer Healthcare In Vermont. “The online insurance marketplace that Vermont built to enroll people in private coverage under the law had extensive technical failures. The problems soured public and legislative enthusiasm for sweeping health care changes just as Gov. Peter Shumlin needed to build support for his complex single-payer plan. Finally, Mr. Shumlin, a Democrat, shelved the plan in December, citing the high cost to taxpayers. He called the decision “the greatest disappointment of my political life.” (Abby Goodnough, “In Vermont, Frustrations Mount Over Affordable Care Act,” New York Times, 6/4/2015)