Burlington, Vermont - April 13, 2011
Primary care physician Frank Landry has been working in a private practice for the past 12 years.
Reporter Gina Bullard: Where did you go to school?
Dr. Frank Landry: I went to Tufts Medical School after graduating from St. Michael's.
Landry has also worked for Fletcher Allen Health Care and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. During his almost 10 years at Walter Reed he experienced government-run military health care which is a single-payer system.
"It's nice because it's simple," he said.
But according to Landry, simple isn't always better.
"The care was excellent and the system worked well, but there was an issue with availability and wait times that in the private sector we don't see," he explained.
He says people would wait more than six months for joint replacements. Some single-payer critics have similar concerns, like John McClaughry of the Ethan Allen Institute, a conservative think tank.
"It's not just about taking care of homeless and indigent, it's about changing health care providers and quality and access that's going to affect 100 percent of Vermonters," McClaughry said. "The providers have to limit the care that can be offered; that means long waiting lines. You can't find a primary care doctor anymore."
Many point to Canada which already has a single-payer system.
"In Quebec you will find people lined up in hallways for 10, 15, 20 hours waiting to be admitted," McClaughry said.
"Much of that is exaggerated first off. In terms of emergent and urgent care, Canadians don't wait. What happens is sometimes they wait for certain procedures that are more elective," Dr. Deborah Richter said.
Richter is for a single-payer system, pointing to the many countries that are successful with it.
"We know it works in other countries," she said. "Not only does it work, patients get the care they need and it's a much simpler way of paying for it."
Landry says his practice relies on subspecialists from Fletcher Allen. He says many of those doctors claim they'll have to leave the state because cost cutting could cut their salaries. He also says he could be forced to leave.
"It would be a disaster," Landry said.
"While there may be some doctors leaving there will be some coming into the state and many of them are specialists," Richter argued.
But critics say Vermont needs to be cautious and think things through more.
"None of my patients or families want to see Vermont as an experimental state where we're lab animals or guinea pigs," Landry said.
"What we're doing now is more experimental," Richter said. "At least we'd be doing something that's a sure thing."
Critics are still pointing to lack of details in this plan, like who the five board members would be and where exactly the money is going to be cut from. A Senate committee passed the plan unanimously Wednesday. The full Senate is expected to vote on it next week.
Gina Bullard - WCAX News
