Last month, Education Secretary Zoie Saunders to discuss the latest details of Gov. Phil Scott鈥檚 sweeping plan to overhaul Vermont鈥檚 pre-K-12 system. As legislators peppered her with questions, one asked: How would the governor鈥檚 proposed funding formula address the rising cost of health care in schools?
鈥淚 keep getting asked to fix the health care system!鈥� Saunders replied jokingly, before adding that state officials were well aware that such issues were interconnected.
The Scott administration, she said, was committed to 鈥渓ooking at this work holistically.鈥�
But Scott himself has acknowledged that while housing reforms, alongside education, are top of the agenda for him, health care isn鈥檛 a priority this year.
鈥淲e can only handle so many crises at once,鈥� the governor earlier in February. Besides, Scott continued, others could take the lead.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not the only ones who can work on this, right? I mean, the Legislature can work on this,鈥� Scott added. 鈥淭he Green Mountain Care Board can work on this. We have hospitals and the UVM medical network that鈥檚 working on this. Blue Cross Blue Shield is working on this. It鈥檚 not as though we鈥檙e not addressing this at all.鈥�
Vermont has the highest premiums for employer-sponsored health care plans in the country, and some of the highest hospital prices. Mirroring trends in the state鈥檚 commercial market, for the third straight year in a row, health care premiums for school employees in Vermont are set to rise by double-digits next year.
Education officials argue that without intervention, health costs will only continue to cannibalize ever-larger shares of local school budgets 鈥� no matter what cost-containment measures Montpelier decides to impose on districts.
Bottom line: Healthcare is squeezing out other education initiatives.Vermont School Boards Association
In 2018, health benefits made up less than 10% of school budgets, according to the Vermont School Boards Association. Now, it鈥檚 approximately 15%. At this pace, a fifth of Vermont鈥檚 education spending could be consumed by health costs in just a few short years, the association warned lawmakers in a January memo.
鈥淏ottom line: Healthcare is squeezing out other education initiatives,鈥� the VSBA wrote.
Education and health care reforms must be 鈥渄one in tandem,鈥� said Rep. Kate McCann, a Democrat from Montpelier, who sits on the House Committee on Education and teaches at U-32 High School.
Between 2020 and 2025, premiums for school employees have skyrocketed by more than 65%. The Vermont Education Health Initiative, which manages insurance for educators, forecasts that collective plan costs for schools and their employees will surpass $383 million next year. Roughly 20% of this sum is paid by workers, who contribute to their premiums according to the terms of a statewide health care contract.
In Essex Junction, for example, the local school district is planning to shutter an elementary school, which is estimated will save a little over $1 million. That鈥檚 roughly on par with the money the school district will have to pay next year in added health insurance costs.
鈥淚t's overrun costs that we are having to absorb year over year, and in essence, replace other parts of our budget just to cover health insurance,鈥� Robert Carpenter, the school board chair, told 开云体育 earlier this week.
House Majority Leader Lori Houghton said Democrats are considering certain health care reforms, including exploring reference-based pricing, which would cap what providers can charge for procedures.
But she also sought to manage expectations 鈥� and pointed the finger back at Scott.
鈥淲e need the governor to come forward with a plan, because unlike education, where money is coming out of taxpayers, property taxes, it's a not-for-profit industry,鈥� the Essex Junction Democrat said. 鈥淭hey are their own businesses, and there is very little the Legislature can do to help transform a hospital.鈥�
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