This doesn’t save money for everyone.  Some will have to pay more to cover those who will be paying less.  This is unsustainable- as they are finding out everywhere else that tries this.  The costs continue to rise for everyone.  The taxes rise for everyone to cover the cost.  Use goes up.  Eventually- as in France- 21% of income is required to sustain the beast.  That’s on top of all other taxation.

Have fun vermont.

Dear Folks,

Bragging about Vermont’s truly illustrious history may not, however, improve
the chances of attaining true National Single-Payer Health Care,

Let’s deal with facts: The effort by Single-Payer supporters to pass The
EXPANDED & IMPROVED MEDICARE FOR ALL ACT, sponsored by John Conyers
(H.R.676 now before the Congress with over 50 cosponsors and strong
national support from unions), is being diluted by wannabees like Vermont
looking for publicity!

Let Vermont pump up its own good image, and let he rest of us get back to
true NATIONAL Single-Payer Health care.  A word to the wise ,,,  JCH,  Wayne,
Maine

This is uncharacteristically sloppy reporting by Amy Goodman . . . and others who have echoed the leading falsehood of this piece—namely that Vermont has enacted some sort of single-payer system.

In fact, it has done no such thing. The bill retains the stranglehold of private insurers and drug companies on the state’s health system—in fact, all it does is clarify the means of enforcing the repugnant Affordable Care Act in the state while paying vague lip service to the idea of creating a single-payer system some time in the misty future.

For a reasonably accurate assessment of what’s really in this bill, see the following statement from Phyisicans for a National Health Plan (PNHP):

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2011/may/vermont-health-law-spurs-fresh-interest-in-single-payer-reform-doctors-group

The only question is why so many progressives are purveying misleading information about the reality of this Vermont bill, which in essence differs very little from the bitter gruel served up by Obama and the Democrats in the form of PPACA.

Here’s my hunch: many single-payer activists invested huge amounts of time and energy in pushing for a single-payer bill in Vermont—and have now turned so much of their attention (mistakenly, in my view) to achieving single-payer through the slow crawl of a state-by-state slog, even though there’s no guarantee that Congress will ever pass the waivers needed to allow state single payer plans. Thus overcommitted to this state-by-state strategy in general and to the Vermont fight in particular, they cannot face the grim reality staring them in the face: they have been rolled again by the oily Dems, just as badly in Vermont as they were in Congress during the national health-care reform debate of 2008-2010.

This is what happens to organizations that spend nearly all their resources and energy pleading and begging (the polite term is “lobbying”) bought-off Democrats rather than thinking about how to build an independent mass movement for single payer.

Just look at the plethora of PDA (Progressive Democrats of America) types on the board of the leading single payer groups, and you’ll see why this is a movement so misguided and so deluded that it now, in perverse Orwellian inversion of reality, celebrates yet another grim defeat as a glorious victory.

Vermont passed a good law, but it is not single payer.  It is important to get this right because it will not have the financial savings and efficiency that a real single payer system would have. We don’t want single payer blamed when it does not produce the hoped for cost savings.

The new Vermont Care only provides minimal coverage so private insurers will continue to have a major role in providing the full coverage people need.  Also, if a corporation provides insurance (internally, not with an insurance company) for its employees they will continue.  And, it is likely that the Vermont program will be managed by Blue Cross. 

In addition, they did not incorporate Medicare or Medicaid so those are two more payers.

As I said, this is a good law, probably the best state law in the country, but it is not single payer.

KZ

Tommy Douglas was voted the best by Canadians, second was another health care advocate, the young, handsome Terry Fox.  Fox started a run across Canada to raise money for the cancer that took his leg.  Sadly, he died before completing his run.  His family and all Canadians continue to honour Terry Fox with yearly cancer runs that give millions to his foundation to fight all cancers.  And third—who else, Pierre Trudeau.  I’m a proud Canadian, but if I weren’t, I’d choose Vermont.

Your a shining star Vermont and your politicians actually care more about thier people then getting corporate kickbacks into thier re-election campaign/Cayman Island accounts.And yes Tommy Douglas is a hero up here.He had ten pin bowling balls dangling between his legs and fought for us like your political wankers should be fighting for you.Fight the good fight Yanks and good luck finding justice.