Using some spending benchmarks, we are more expensive, and using others we are less. It is not apparent that there are excesses that need to be reined in. A moratorium cannot halt the aging of equipment and facilities. While we might have a cheaper health care system if we had a moratorium in place for the past eight or 10 years, we don't think Vermonters would be satisfied with that system. MRIs, CT scanners, kidney dialysis services throughout the state, new nursing homes in Randolph and Townshend, a linear accelerator at Fletcher Allen, and many more improvements are all in place because we have decided we need and want them.
Health care is expensive and recent insurance premium increases are shocking.
But the major drivers of high health care costs are how much care is used, expensive pharmaceuticals, and cost shifting from Medicare and Medicaid. Let's concentrate our efforts in those areas to affect the largest change. A recent report from the Institute of Medicine describing the problem of medical errors has set off a flurry of activity across the country. This month Senator James Jeffords held a public hearing in Montpelier on the subject. Estimates range from 3 to 5 percent of hospitalized patients suffering some kind of adverse event.