St.Johnsbury-The Vermont Health connection had some diffcutly getting off the ground. According to health navigator, Gina O'Mera, "it started out a little difficult...there was a whole bunch of people trying to enrol at one time...we anticipated some problems, but everyday it gets better."
O'Mera is ready to help Vermonters navigate the state's new health system, which differs from the national system. The state program has seen nowhere near the same problems as the national program, which has President Obama voicing his frustations, "I think it's fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than I am...precisely because the product is good... I want the cash registers to work."
People appear to be very spilt on the issue. Many Northeast Vermonters are upset with the new health care reform.
Don Steen of Sutton said "I'm totally against it... I think that this whole entitlement attitude that people [are having]...the idea that healthcare is a right, is just fundamentally flawed."
Others, like Cath Fulkerson of St.Johnsbury, see the new health care act as a good thing, a money saver.
"The out of pocket costs that I'm paying right now are just exorbatent," said Fulkerson, "it will have a huge impact for me in terms of being able to save money... I have no complaints about the affordable care act...it's working."
O'Mera went on to say, "Alot of people might think it's better to pay that penalty at the end of the year, well it's $95 for the first year...or 1% of your income per person... and I really believe that people that have been frustrated with the system in the past... that feel like they might prefer the penalty... really come and look at the plans, they're so much more affordable."
Answers on how affordable health care could be for you can be found on the Vermont health care page which they say is becoing less buggy every day.