TO THE EDITOR: THE NORTHFIELD NEWS AS OUR STATE struggles with an incredibly challenging economy and very difficult budget decisions, it is critical that these decisions reflect not only the line items in the budget, but also the underlying values and priorities upon which a budget is built. How and where we spend money on health care and the needs of the poor and our vulnerable neighbors are directly tied to economic challenges. They are inextricably linked.

We know that a good job is the best social policy. But a budget, as proposed by Governor Douglas for the Catamount Health Plan, that increases the deductibles for previously uninsured Vermonters from $250 a person to $1200, while also increasing the premiums and co-pays, is neither good economic nor good social policy. Highdeductible health plans work best when two conditions are present: you have money and you don’t get sick. This is not the profile of Vermonters covered by the Catamount Health Plan. If the Governor’s proposal is enacted by the Legislature, the outcome is predictable and certain: many Vermonters will return to the ranks of the uninsured.

Vermont’s long term care programs for elders and people with disabilities are national models. Our Choices for Care program has reduced nursing home admissions while offering many frail elders and their families the help to remain at home. And it costs less too.

But now, in a budget riddled with a thousand ‘paper cuts’, this common sense approach to care is threatened. For vulnerable Vermonters, for whom there is little difference between good times and bad times, the erosion of services by nicks and seemingly manageable cuts can quickly accelerate to a collapse of the ‘safety net’. A program intended to help people remain independent and self sufficient now feels like abandonment.

While I understand that we can’t spend our way to recovery, neither can we cut our way to economic health unless we are prepared to cut the bond between our values and our bottom line. There must be balance, to include consideration of new revenue. But when revenues are mentioned or even hinted at, we’re told by our Governor and legislative leaders -- “don’t go there, don’t even think of going there”— as we watch the dismantling of the safety net, one thin razor cut at a time.

Fear is often a more powerful emotion than hope, and insolvency a more powerful motivator than social justice. With so much at stake for our most vulnerable neighbors and relatives, the choice increasingly is looking like the worst choice, and that is to have no choice at all.

In these most challenging times, we ask our leaders to keep hope and social justice on the table.

JIM LEDDY AARP Vermont State President