MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Gov. Phil Scott is blaming rising health care costs on Vermont’s declining demographics driven by a housing crunch.
“These are tough decisions, there’s no doubt about it, but it all goes back again to our demographics,” Scott, R-Vermont, said in describing the road ahead for Vermont families’ health care after sweeping cuts at the University of Vermont Health Network.
Mental health, dialysis and inpatient services are all on the chopping block to save money in the health care system.
It’s a problem years in the making, with skyrocketing health care costs borne by an aging population no longer working.
The governor blames the ballooning cost of health care on our declining demographics driven by the housing crunch. And he says there will be difficult decisions in the years ahead in which services should be offered in certain communities.
“These decisions are not going to be palatable for some. But if we’re going to survive and make for a more better and affordable Vermont, we have to face them head on,” Scott said.
The governor says the issue is similar to the challenges Vermont schools face with fewer students and rising costs.
But he says Vermont can reverse the tide by bringing more young people into the state.
