2 physicians appointed to Vermont health reform board

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin on Sept. 13 announced the five appointees to the Green Mountain Care Board. Board members will determine the benefits and craft a funding plan for Green Mountain Care, a state universal health plan. The board also will have wide authority over state health spending and health system reform.

Shumlin signed legislation creating the board in May. The board will begin work on Oct. 1.

"In putting together this team, I looked for five really smart people who are fully committed to the goal of controlling health care costs, achieving universal coverage, and who can work as a team," Shumlin said. More than 100 people applied for the five positions.

Shumlin appointed two physicians to the board: Allan Ramsey, MD, and Karen Hein, MD.

Dr. Ramsey, a family physician, has been a leader in palliative care. He has received the Vermont Medical Society's Distinguished Service Award, the society's highest member recognition. Dr. Ramsey also was the society's Physician of the Year in 2005.

Dr. Hein is immediate past president of the William T. Grant Foundation and a former executive director of the Institute of Medicine. She also is a faculty member at Columbia University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she has conducted extensive research on adolescent HIV/AIDS.

The other board members are Chair Anya Rader Wallack, PhD, who led Shumlin's legislative effort on health reform during the 2011 session and worked on health reform for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean; Al Gobeille, a member of Vermont's Payment Reform Advisory Group; and Con Hogan, an advocate of a single-payer health care system and secretary of human services under Vermont Govs. Dean and Richard Snelling.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/09/26/gvbf0926.htm.