MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at making insurance coverage more accessible and affordable, as spiraling health care costs continue to be a burden for employers, family budgets and even the cost of education.

Dawn Palowski works with O.M. Fisher Home Inc., helping seniors in several assisted living facilities in Central Vermont.

“We are a mission-driven organization that exists to serve our communities, not generate profits,” Palowski said.

And while their mission is to take care of elderly community members, they also help meet the health care needs of their staff. The organization pays 70% of the health insurance premiums for their 50 employees, purchased through the small group health insurance marketplace. Like other employers, they’ve seen the cost of those health care premiums skyrocket in recent years.

“While we are committed to remaining competitive and recruiting and retaining dedicated health care professionals, the cost of doing so continues to escalate,” Palowski said.

The Scott administration is pitching a plan to make Vermont a more friendly marketplace for insurance companies to operate. The idea is to attract more insurers, increase competition, and eventually bring rates down.

“To further modernize Vermont’s health care laws, remove barriers to affordable insurance options, expand consumer choice and make health care costs competitive with other states,” Scott said.

The executive order signed Wednesday would also adjust insurance rates depending on age. Vermont is one of only two states not to do this. The order would also allow small businesses to band together and buy insurance, as well as offer tax incentives for businesses to buy from the exchange.

“We will generate savings not through actual reduction in health care costs; we will generate savings through focusing on what little revenue reductions we can find on the exchange market,” said Vermont Financial Regulation Commissioner Kaj Sampson.

The executive order comes after Gov. Scott vetoed a bill in the Legislature to bring down the cost of care by putting limits on what hospitals can charge for health care.

The governor says Wednesday’s action is just the first phase of a multi-year health insurance reform effort, which will also require approval of the Legislature when they return in January.