http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100921/NEWS02/709219887
Published September 21, 2010 in the Rutland Herald
Rep. Peter Welch touts new health care changes
By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Rep. Peter Welch said thousands of Vermonters will benefit from changes going into effect Thursday thanks to landmark health care legislation passed earlier this year.
“This week is very meaningful for Vermonters,” said the Democratic congressman.
Welch said 45,000 young people in the state would now be eligible to stay on their parents’ health-care insurance until they are 26 years old.
And he said 7,000 Vermonters would benefit from other changes, such as eliminating pre-existing medical conditions as a reason to deny medical coverage.
“That’s been brutal,” said Welch, who added the changes were “long overdue.”
Welch said it was a significant development that would help put thousands of parents’ minds at ease, since so many young people take jobs that don’t have health insurance.
Insurance companies can no longer cancel health insurance policies after policyholders get sick, he said, and there is no longer a lifetime limit on the treatment people can receive from their health insurance.
Welch said another significant change would be that Vermonters who are denied coverage of certain care deemed medically necessary by their doctors would now have a right to appeal the decision to a third party, independent panel.
Welch said that he and independent U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders are strong supporters of a single-payer health care system and would push hard for the state to obtain a federal waiver from the current 2017 deadline that would enable Vermont to set up its own single-payer system.
Welch said that he and Sanders would be seeking a waiver starting in 2014.
Welch was in Springfield to meet with Springfield Hospital medical leaders to discuss the progress of the new federally-qualified health care center.
Glenn Cordner, president of the hospital, said that so far 2,000 new patients have been added to the hospital’s list of patients due to its federally qualified health-care center status.
Cordner and Dr. Steve Reville, a Springfield Hospital pediatrician and medical director, said that the goal was to have every person in the Springfield Hospital service area have a “medical home.”
That will help drive down costs due to the high cost of emergency room care, and also improve the scope of care offered to people, with an emphasis on preventative care.
Welch said another aspect of the new legislation is that people would have “guaranteed choice” within their insurance’s network of providers.
Welch said the costs of the new system are still unknown, but he said there were both significant savings and costs associated with the changes.
The congressman is running for re-election against Republican challenger Paul Beaudry.
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