Letters to the Editor (8/14/24) 

More Than Chittenden County

Wow, we don't need to be reminded again that areas outside Chittenden County barely exist [All the Best, July 31]; we get this message time and again. I had expected better of Seven Days. Your Daysies issue is allegedly the locals' guide to Vermont. More accurately, it is a guide to Chittenden County with some inclusion for the Milton, Stowe and Montpelier areas. I counted on one hand any mention of "bests" in the southern Vermont counties, the Upper Valley, the Northeast Kingdom: one in Middlebury, one in Windsor, one in Manchester, one for Jay Peak.

Do you honestly think there are no "bests" in the rest of Vermont? Yes, you distribute Seven Days in these areas, but based on the responses, how do you justify the claim to be the locals' guide to (all of) Vermont? You need to apologize to the rest of Vermont and do better in the future.

Pam Douglass

Brandon

Editor's note: The Daysies are chosen by our readers. All the Best is a reflection of their picks, not ours.

'Congrats, Mate'

[Re "Rod Stewart Double Who Charmed Vermont Meets the Real Deal," August 9, online]: Dan Bolles may have come up with the best/worst pun, "Maggie mea culpa," in Seven Days history. Congrats, mate.

Patrick Mullikin

Claremont, Calif.

Maple Is Maple

[Re "Creemee Confidential: What it Takes to Create Vermont's Treasured Summer Treat," July 16]: There are three kinds of maple creemees: maple creemees that have no maple syrup in them and are entirely fake maple flavored, ones that have some maple syrup in them but also fake maple flavoring, and those that have no flavoring other than maple syrup.

VSA Title 6, Chapter 32 sections 492 and 493 make a few things clear. A product may call itself "maple flavored" only if 100 percent of the flavoring comes from maple syrup or sugar. If not, it must say "artificially flavored." Further, if the product has the word "maple" on it, you are required to clearly state how much maple is in it — as in "0.001 percent maple syrup."

The fake flavoring dramatically reduces the amount of syrup in the creemee itself — stealing from Vermont farmers — and gives tourists an incorrect idea of what maple syrup tastes like. How could you not love the smooth, delicious flavor of maple syrup? Unfortunately, that's not the one many people associate with maple, and combating that perception is an unfair, expensive burden to put on those of us trying to sell actual, real maple syrup.

Let's fix this! The Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets could enforce two simple rules. If the creemee contains flavoring other than pure maple syrup, it is labeled as an "artificially flavored maple creemee." Second, if the creemee is advertised as "made with pure maple syrup," it lists how much syrup is in the creemee. For example: If you put a quart in per five gallons, you would list "5 percent maple syrup."

Roger Brown

Williston

Increase Reimbursement Rates

Thank you for covering this important issue that affects the health care of all Vermonters. I wanted to highlight some very important points that I feel were missed in ["Payback Time: Vermont Medicaid Overpaid Some Health Care Providers. Now It Wants the Money Back," August 7].

This repayment demand places an enormous financial burden on psychiatric nurse practitioners who already operate with limited resources and serve some of the state's most vulnerable populations.

The reimbursement inconsistency highlights a broader issue: Psychiatric NPs are reimbursed at 90 percent of the physician rate, despite providing essential mental health services.

Vermont relies heavily on psychiatric NPs due to a shortage of psychiatrists, especially in serving Medicaid patients who can have complex needs.

Vermont is already facing a mental health crisis, with increasing rates of trauma, substance abuse, poverty and isolation among Medicaid patients who are more severely ill and require more intensive support.

The current Medicaid reimbursement policies are inconsistent, as the general billing manual states that psychiatric NPs should receive 100 percent of the allowed fee, similar to psychiatrists.

These clawbacks and reimbursement disparities threaten the viability of psychiatric NPs' practices, potentially leading to a reduction in services for Vermont's most vulnerable populations.

Addressing these issues is crucial to addressing the mental health crisis in Vermont and ensuring that patients continue to receive the mental health care they need without interruption.

Katie Whitaker

Montpelier

Pondering Retirement

Paula's "Aging Out?" [From the Publisher, July 10] was compelling reading as she ponders retirement.

First, Paula has played more than a vital role in our community and state, working around the clock to preserve, protect and defend the need for community and the need to have a thriving free press in Vermont.

Paula's pondering brought two old movies to mind: The Best Years of Our Lives and About Schmidt. Both shine a light toward the sometimes dark and hard transition into transition itself — and retirement.

There are two camps: those with jobs that challenge us and allow us to grow, and those with jobs that are indeed work and a grind — employment as a life sentence.

The hardest reality going forward: What is now my validity in the world? What is my sense of purpose?

I'm confident Paula will stay on the balance beam of life and continue to contribute for the benefit of all of us. Knowing, too, the adjustment into retirement can be an occasional cliff walk in introspection.

On Sen. Peter Welch: He's nearing past Vermont legends senators George Aiken and Ralph Flanders in taking brave stands alone at critical moments in our history (Flanders during McCarthyism and Aiken on the Vietnam War).

I often disagree with Sen. Welch and on the role of government intervention in our lives, but bravo to Welch for being the Democratic's Senate sacrificial lamb in voicing President Joe Biden's serious decline physically and mentally.

Robert "Bob" Devost

Jericho