The Vermont Teachers Union deserves lots of love- Biggest Union all in on Single Payer

The state’s largest union is throwing its weight, and its money, behind the push for single-payer health care. And the move by the Vermont teachers union lends considerable strength to what will be the heaviest political lift of Gov. Peter Shumlin’s career.

Labor groups have had good reason to be skeptical of single-payer. Their members already tend to enjoy premium health insurance benefits. And many union members fear they’ll be asked to pay more money for fewer benefits under Shumlin’s plan for a publicly financed system

<snip>

Allen heads a politically powerful union that has 12,000 members and covers more than 40,000 people through its insurance program, called the Vermont Education Health Initiative. The Vermont-NEA has long said it supports the move toward public financing in concept. But now it’s joining the push for single-payer in earnest.

With financial support from its national umbrella, the Vermont-NEA has committed $80,000 over the next six months to staff a single-payer advocacy organization based in Montpelier. The NEA spent another $35,000 on a poll that it says spotlights continuing support for single-payer among the Vermont electorate, even after the glitch-filled rollout of the state’s new online insurance exchange.

<snip>

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20140222/NEWS03/702229941