(Host) Health care planners hope Vermonters are willing to answer questions in a poll this fall.
The Division for Health Care Administration Health conducts an extensive survey every few years.
Dian Kahn says it’s designed to measure how many people have health insurance coverage.
(Kahn) "Now that they’ve implemented Catamount Health and some of the other programs for premium assistance, it’s really important to keep a pulse on what’s going on with people’s coverage, especially related to employer-sponsored insurance. And also, for the first time we’re going to try to collect a little more specific information about medical expenses for people who even have insurance.”
(Host) Kahn says the state needs to interview 4,000 people for the survey.
But she’s concerned that some people won’t want to respond because they might assume it’s part of this year’s political campaigns.
(Kahn) "And I think when people have busy lives, it’s really hard to pick which things you’re really going to support. And I just wanted to get the message out that this is really important for Vermonters and to our state Legislature and to the administration.”
(Host) That’s because the results of the survey help to give policymakers a sense of what kind of health coverage people have.
They can use that information to make decisions about what changes are needed.