Ask Your Representatives to Support S.53 - Universal Access to Primary Care
S.53 is going to once again need the support of Vermonters like you to let Montpelier know that universal access to primary care is important to us.
S.53 - An act relating to recommendations for achieving universal coverage for primary care in Vermont - is now in the House Appropriations Committee and will be moving swiftly from that committee to the Floor of the House of Representatives for a vote.
Please contact your House Representatives today to let them know you support Universal Access to Primary Care! When you contact them, be sure to ask for two things:
- Ask your legislator to express support for S.53 - Universal Access to Primary Care to the members of the House Appropriations Committee
- Ask your legislator to vote favorably on the bill when it comes to the House Floor.
We're nearing the end of the 2018 Legislative Session, so things will be moving fast. We're not sure exactly when the House Appropriations Committee will be voting, so be sure to contact your representatives today for the biggest impact.
Click here to find your legislators' contact information - you can search by name or town.
90% of emergency room visits don’t result in a patient being admitted to the hospital. Many of those patients could have been seen by a primary care or urgent care provider at a much lower cost. Shifting these visits to a lower-cost-incurred environment would have a big impact on costs for not only the consumer’s health care premiums but for the hospitals and insurance companies as well.
The average emergency room visit costs somewhere between $500 and $3000. For individuals visiting the ER for treatment that could be provided by a primary care provider, the average cost is roughly $700-800. A visit to urgent care or a primary care provider for the same treatment would cost about $175-200. This means that shifting treatment to urgent or primary care facilities would result in an $500 savings, on average, per visit. It is estimated that about 87,600 Vermont ER visits a year could be moved out of the emergency room to urgent or primary care, which would translate to close to $45 million in cost savings annually.
S.53 is an attempt to provide better access to primary and urgent care in Vermont to realize these potential savings. Thanks to the grassroots efforts of people like you, the bill has made its way from the House Health Care Committee to the House Appropriations Committee and will soon be on the Floor of the Vermont House of Representatives. Please contact your representatives to ask them to support S.53, Universal Access to Primary Care, to the members of the Appropriations Committee and to vote for it on the floor.
Thank you!
Click here to find your legislators' contact information - you can search by name or town.