Healthcare advocates ponder Trump impact on illegal immigrant healthcare coverage
By Guy Page
Former Gov. Jim Douglas was in the State House Wednesday, January 29 to sound the alarm on Vermont’s tops-in-the-nation healthcare insurance costs. He was the headliner in an afternoon press conference for a new advocacy organization called Vermont Healthcare 911.
As he was exiting the State House coatroom, Douglas showed VDC a troubling graph about the steep rate of health care premium increases (about 20% this year). Even Maine – with similar age and other demographics as Vermont – is considerably lower and more in line with the national average. Douglas hopes his non-partisan, non-political, POV-inclusive organization can help turn Vermont’s climbing cost vector into a flatline – which in this health care situation, would be a good thing.
VDC will have detailed coverage of the press conference tomorrow.
Medicaid for illegal immigrants, transgender treatments under Trump? – Advocates for several Vermont health care advocacy groups met today to ponder what the Trump administration executive orders will mean for health care access for transgender and illegal immigrants.
A bill introduced this week would provide Medicaid payment for transgender treatment (see story in today’s VDC.) Vermont’s Dr. Dynasaur program provides Medicaid coverage for juvenile illegal immigrants. Pregnant women may receive state-funded healthcare regardless of immigration status.
Health care access advocates are concerned Trump’s executive orders will reduce or eliminate some or all federal funding on which Medicaid relies, if either or both transgender treatments or illegal immigrant medical services are covered by Medicaid. See Mike Bielawski’s news story for more information.
Not here, Kurt – Before today, it had been a few years since former Burlington legislator and current WVMT talk show host Kurt Wright had visited the State House on a winter day. We know this because he tried to leave his coat in House Appropriations – a spacious, ground floor room that for decades was a coatroom. The new coatroom is back near the Legislative Council and police offices.
Busa weighs in on Battle of Bennington-1 – Republican candidate Bruce Busa estimates the actual difference in the 2024 Bennington-1 House election is one vote, Republican candidate Bruce Busa told House Government Operations this morning.
“If the other 55 people get polled, I think the vote would be real close,” Busa said. “I went house to house.”
If the affected voters, or the entire district, are allowed to vote, “I think I have a shot at winning,” Busa said.
The seat is now occupied by Democrat Jonathan Cooper, who according to Election Day vote totals won by 56 votes. Days after the election, local officials discovered some District members had been sent ballots for an adjacent district.
Busa also questioned the voter turnout impact of the 2024 law prohibiting carrying firearms at the polls. “You can have your right to vote or your right to carry firearms, but you can’t have both.”
Busa told the committee he appreciates the committee’s slow, methodical approach to the election dispute. It’s more important to get it right than to hurry, he said.
When all testimony is taken, House Government Operations will vote on whether to seek a revote or recommend the full House resolve the election, as provided by the state Constitution. One member said a decision could be as soon as late next week.
Read more in Rob Roper’s Behind the Lines column today.
Gone but never forgotten – The House of Representatives held a moment of silence Friday for two popular, longtime members of the House who have passed away recently: Republican Ed Zuccaro (R-St. Johnsbury, 1981-1988) and Democrat Richard Howrigan (D-Fairfield, 1995-2012.)